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  • Sept. 1, 1874
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The Masonic Magazine, Sept. 1, 1874: Page 25

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    Article THE SURVEY OF PALESTINE. ← Page 2 of 2
Page 25

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Survey Of Palestine.

names , the same portion on the Vandevelde contains not more than 250 ; and this is the part of Palestine best knoAvn and most frequently visited . Of course this enormous increase in the number of names does not mean that Lieutenant Conder has actually discovered all these

neAv places , most of Avhich Avere already knoAvn to tiOTellers ; hut that he has fixed their positions and noted , them for the first time on a map . Many of them are modern villages , many are ruins , some are mounds— "tells "—hills , or Avatercourses .

Side by side Avith the beautifully clraAvn maps are the hill contours , clraAvn by Lieutenant Conder himself . In those labyrinthine hues lies an amount of vrork not likely to be suspected by an outsider . There is no single line that has not been laid doA \ n after scientific observation , both in breadth and length , and from these

contours , properly laid in their places , it will be possible , when the whole is finished , to construct an accurate model of the Holy Land , as Avell as a map shoAving tho position of tho villages , and a collection of names . The importance of the latter is easily estimated Avhen Ave

remember the tenacity with which the ancient names cling to the soil . The Avavos of conquest pass over the country ; but the Greek , Eoman , and Christian names have all given way successfully , leaving the ancient Jewish names yet

clearly traceable in the degenerate forms used by the modern fellaheen . It is in the recovery of these names , as was first shoAvn by Dr . Eobinson , that the chief hope lies of completing the identification of Biblical names . The portion of the map noAV completed is about 3 , 000 square miles , or nearly half of Western Palestine .

There are , next , the water-colour sketches taken by Lieutenant Conder on the spot , to illustrate places , manners , and incidents . Many of these are of great beauty , and deserve to bo finished and exhibited by themselves . Geological notes

and natural history collections have occupied the attention of the officers of the survey during their leisure moments , the results of which are also brought home and are HOAV at the office of the Fund . Perhaps tho most interesting part of Lieutenant Condor ' s work -will be found in the " special survej's ; " that is , the

plans and measurements taken of the rums over Avhich his surveys has extended . There are fifty of these , every one of which has been scientifically examined by the surveyors for the first time . Among them is the remarkable circular fortress in the Prank MountainAvhere Avas Herod's

, summer-palace , and perhaps his tomb : a complete plan of the traditional cave of Aduliam , forming a network of passages and cavern , large enough and complicated enough to give concealment and safety to David and all his men . Here is the castle

of King BaldAvin , second of the Christian kings ; here the ruins of the convent built in the 5 th century over the traditional site of Gilgal : here is Joshua's tomb : here the traditional site of Abraham ' s altar , near Bethel : here the remains of Athlit

( castellum pcregrinum ) , Avhere tho pilgrims disembarked under the protection of the Christian fort : and here are the probable tombs of the Maccabees . The ruins of Palestine are of every age . Often a shattered toAver of crusadins' times is found

to have been built up with materials taken from ruins of earlier date , and Lieutenant Condor ' s sketches SIIOAV Avith remarkable impartiality tombs , synagogues , churches , mosques , and temples . TAVO of his " special surveys" are those of tAvo previously unknoAvn toAvnsone on Mount

, Cannel , and the other called Esrur , about ten miles Avest of Samaria . The latter , Avhich must have been an important place , has Avails , towers , fortresses , and the remains of its houses . It Avas previously entirely unknoAvn , and as yet no clue has

been found to its identification Avith any place , mentioned in history . The ruins appear to be Herodian . It is hoped that the Committee of the Fund will be enabled to publish the AAdiole of this important collection of plans , Avith the others yet to be made .

To have faith and hope in God , the Supreme Architect , and charity towards man , the master workmanship of His hands , is the keystone of the arch , on Avhich every other bears ; Avhich unites all to itself , and cements the several parts into one strong , solid and beautiful Avhole .

“The Masonic Magazine: 1874-09-01, Page 25” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 20 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01091874/page/25/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 1
ANCIENT MASONIC LODGES, NO. IV. Article 2
THE OLD MASONIC POEM. Article 5
THE NEW MORALITY. Article 6
UNDER A MASK. Article 7
THE SEASON. Article 11
MASONIC ARCHAEOLOGY. Article 12
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA. Article 14
UNVEILED. Article 15
DIFFICULTY OF ASCERTAINING THE AGE OF UNDATED OLD MASONIC MSS. Article 17
JAM SATIS EST! Article 22
LET THERE BE LIGHT. Article 22
Untitled Article 23
Our Archaeological Corner. Article 24
THE SURVEY OF PALESTINE. Article 24
HOW HE LOST HER. Article 26
OLD AND NEW LODGES. Article 28
BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING. Article 29
ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY. Article 29
THE GOOD FELLOW. Article 31
TIRED. Article 32
DISTINCTIONS OF LANGUAGE. Article 32
"BROTHERLY LOVE" WEIGHT, AND HIS TRIAL. Article 33
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Survey Of Palestine.

names , the same portion on the Vandevelde contains not more than 250 ; and this is the part of Palestine best knoAvn and most frequently visited . Of course this enormous increase in the number of names does not mean that Lieutenant Conder has actually discovered all these

neAv places , most of Avhich Avere already knoAvn to tiOTellers ; hut that he has fixed their positions and noted , them for the first time on a map . Many of them are modern villages , many are ruins , some are mounds— "tells "—hills , or Avatercourses .

Side by side Avith the beautifully clraAvn maps are the hill contours , clraAvn by Lieutenant Conder himself . In those labyrinthine hues lies an amount of vrork not likely to be suspected by an outsider . There is no single line that has not been laid doA \ n after scientific observation , both in breadth and length , and from these

contours , properly laid in their places , it will be possible , when the whole is finished , to construct an accurate model of the Holy Land , as Avell as a map shoAving tho position of tho villages , and a collection of names . The importance of the latter is easily estimated Avhen Ave

remember the tenacity with which the ancient names cling to the soil . The Avavos of conquest pass over the country ; but the Greek , Eoman , and Christian names have all given way successfully , leaving the ancient Jewish names yet

clearly traceable in the degenerate forms used by the modern fellaheen . It is in the recovery of these names , as was first shoAvn by Dr . Eobinson , that the chief hope lies of completing the identification of Biblical names . The portion of the map noAV completed is about 3 , 000 square miles , or nearly half of Western Palestine .

There are , next , the water-colour sketches taken by Lieutenant Conder on the spot , to illustrate places , manners , and incidents . Many of these are of great beauty , and deserve to bo finished and exhibited by themselves . Geological notes

and natural history collections have occupied the attention of the officers of the survey during their leisure moments , the results of which are also brought home and are HOAV at the office of the Fund . Perhaps tho most interesting part of Lieutenant Condor ' s work -will be found in the " special survej's ; " that is , the

plans and measurements taken of the rums over Avhich his surveys has extended . There are fifty of these , every one of which has been scientifically examined by the surveyors for the first time . Among them is the remarkable circular fortress in the Prank MountainAvhere Avas Herod's

, summer-palace , and perhaps his tomb : a complete plan of the traditional cave of Aduliam , forming a network of passages and cavern , large enough and complicated enough to give concealment and safety to David and all his men . Here is the castle

of King BaldAvin , second of the Christian kings ; here the ruins of the convent built in the 5 th century over the traditional site of Gilgal : here is Joshua's tomb : here the traditional site of Abraham ' s altar , near Bethel : here the remains of Athlit

( castellum pcregrinum ) , Avhere tho pilgrims disembarked under the protection of the Christian fort : and here are the probable tombs of the Maccabees . The ruins of Palestine are of every age . Often a shattered toAver of crusadins' times is found

to have been built up with materials taken from ruins of earlier date , and Lieutenant Condor ' s sketches SIIOAV Avith remarkable impartiality tombs , synagogues , churches , mosques , and temples . TAVO of his " special surveys" are those of tAvo previously unknoAvn toAvnsone on Mount

, Cannel , and the other called Esrur , about ten miles Avest of Samaria . The latter , Avhich must have been an important place , has Avails , towers , fortresses , and the remains of its houses . It Avas previously entirely unknoAvn , and as yet no clue has

been found to its identification Avith any place , mentioned in history . The ruins appear to be Herodian . It is hoped that the Committee of the Fund will be enabled to publish the AAdiole of this important collection of plans , Avith the others yet to be made .

To have faith and hope in God , the Supreme Architect , and charity towards man , the master workmanship of His hands , is the keystone of the arch , on Avhich every other bears ; Avhich unites all to itself , and cements the several parts into one strong , solid and beautiful Avhole .

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