Jerusalem by Sennacherib, in B.c. 701, failed in consequence of the success of Tirhakah, the Ethi-
opian king of Egypt, after his defeat near J orp: Sennacherib ‘dwelt at Nineveh’ (2 K 1955) till his death twenty years later, and Judah was saved foracentury. The great inscription of Sennacherib attests the wealth of Hezekiah, and mentions his ivory throne. The Siloam inscription, belonging to this age, not ante gives us the characters then in use,—closely like the Phenician,—but also shows us that the language of Judah was the ure Heb. in which the earlier books of the
T are written. Sennacherib speaks of 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver given as tribute by Hezekiah, with precious woods, gems, eunuchs of the palace, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep. Forty-six fortresses were be- sieged with battering-rams in Judea. Manasseh is again noticed as tributary to Esarhaddon, who rebuilt Babylon (cf. 2 Ch 33") and conquered Egypt. Very few Palestine antiquities are as yet recovered previous to the time of Nebuchadnezzar B.c. 600), excepting those noticed above. At amaria a Heb. quarter-shekel weight * has been found (about 40 grains), and in the ruins of Lachish clay images, with pottery and seals. Certain in- scribed seals from Jerusalem and Northern Pales- tine bear Hebrew personal names compounded with the sacred name Jah, which occurs on the Moabite Stone, and also early in Assyria and Syria. The
* The old Jerusalem shekel, according to Maimonides, weighed about 320 grains, but the Galilean shekel was half the weight of the Jerusalem shekel. The weight has on it the words reba’ nezep, ‘quarter of half’ (Clermont-Ganneau), and reba’ she-l for ‘quarter shekel’ (Robertson Smith). See the discussion by the latter in the Academy, 18th Nov. 1893, p. 443 f1., or PE FS, July 1894, p. 225 ff. The weight agrees with that of the quarter of a Galilwan shekel. After the Captivity the shekel weighed only 220 grains (see also PEFSt, July and Oct. 1899 and Jan, 1900, for further papers on the metrology). A specimen, appar-
ently of the full nezep, weighing 156 grs., has recently been found by Bliss at Tell Zakariya (PEFSt July 1899, p. 307 1.)
PALESTINE 655
Siloam aqueduct, and probably many rock - cut tombs of the old Phcnician character, date from this period.
ter the Captivity we silver sheke coins (worth about 2s. Sa. ) ademed with the pome- granate, which appear to be earlier than the 2nd or 3rd cent. B.c.; and the great inscription of Eshmunazar (probably of the 3rd cent. B.C.) shows that Sharon was ruled by the Sidonian kings under the Ptolemies, while dated texts of the same period attest the worship of Baal near Tyre. The Greek influence which began to affect Palestine after the conquest by Alexander the Great is witnessed by the ruins of Tyrus in Gilead, where the palace of the priest Hyreanus (built in B.C. 176) is adorned with gigantic figures of lions, and with semi-Gr. semi-Egyp. pillars and cornices. To the 2nd cent. B.c. belong the coins of the Hasmoneean kings, inscribed in the later Heb. character, and also (from the time of Alexander Jannzus) in Greek. The Gr. masonry (like that of the Acropolis), with drafted margins to the stones, is found at Tyrus and in Pheenicia, and continued in use in the time of Herod the Great. About the Christian era the Gr. tomb also began to supersede the earlier Heb. tomb with kokim or tunnel graves, and the adornment of the facades was executed in a peculiar native style, much influenced by Greek ideas, the best examples of which occur near Jerusalem.
The second cent of the Christian era was a
eat building period in Palestine. Roman cities ike Gadara and Gerasa sprang up, and the temple of Baalbek was built. Numerous family areata —towers containing sarcophagi—were erected, esp. in Bashan and Gilead, and Gr. inscriptions prove that they were built in the lifetime of the owner. Bashan presents us with hundreds of Gr. texts of this age, dating from the time of Herod onwards, and witnessing to the existence of a mingled Arab- Gr. population, adoring Arab and Gr. gods. The synagogues of Upper Galilee (to which probably others on Carmel and at Shiloh may be added) are equally influenced by Gr. art, though in some cases giving square Heb. inscriptions. ‘The most notable examples occur at Chorazin, Tell Him, Irbid, and in the mountains of Naphtali. Roman roads, with milestones inscribed in Gr. and in Latin, belong to the same period (esp. under the Antonines, A.D. 140 to 180); and at Gerasa we find a very perfect example of a Roman city, with its streets of columns, forum, theatres, naumachia basin, triumphal arch, baths, judgment basilica, and temples. To the 2nd and 3rd cents. A.D. belong also the Jewish and Christian osteophagi (or bone boxes) found on Olivet with Gr. and Heb. texts, and the tombstones of the old Jewish cemetery at Jaffa. The tomb of Eleazar bar Zachariah (A.D. 135) bearing his name has perhaps been found on Carmel, and that of a descendant of Rabbi Tarphon at Jaffa.
The Palestine ruins of the Byzantine period (4th to 7th cent.) are extremely numerous, includ- ing fortifications, churches, chapels, and monas- teries in all parts of the country. Gr.-Christian texts are commonly found. The Gr. tomb con- tinued in general use, and copper coins of the later emperors are found in great numbers. The remains of the Arab period before the crusades (especially the mosques at Jerusalem, Damascus, and ‘Ammifin) are teas numerous. A text from Harrfn (south-east of Damascus) proves the use of the Kufic character in Palestine before the time of Omar. The Norman buildings of the 12th and 13th cents. represent a new and foreign element in architecture, and to this age belong many coins, seals, inscribed tombstones, yvlass mosaics, and frescoes, with other art objects, The