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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 626 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FROM A . D. 70] There is no See also:

evidence that the earliest Christians' were imbued with the archaeological spirit that interested itself in sites which the Risen See also:Lord had vacated. The site of Golgotha and of the the See also:Holy See also:Sepulchre, of the manger or of the See also:home at See also:Bethany, were to them of no See also:special moment in comparison with the one all-important fact that " See also:Christ was risen." It was not till the clear-cut impress of the events of Christ's See also:life, See also:death and resurrection had with the See also:lapse of years faded from human recollection, that there arose a See also:desire to " seek the living among the dead." The See also:story begins with See also:Helena, See also:mother of Constan- tine the See also:Great, who became fired with zeal to See also:fix definitely the spots where the great events of See also:Christianity had taken See also:place, and in A.D. 326 visited See also:Palestine for the purpose. Helena's See also:pilgrimage was, as might be expected, The Holy attended with See also:complete success. The True See also:Cross Sepulchre. was discovered; and by excavation conducted under See also:Constantine's auspices, the Holy Sepulchre, " contrary to all expectation " as See also:Eusebius naively says, was discovered also (see See also:JERUSALEM; and SEPULCHRE, THE HOLY). The See also:seed thus sown rapidly germinated and multiplied. The stream of pilgrimage to the Holy See also:Land began immediately, and has been flowing ever since. Onwards from A.D. 333, when an See also:anonymous See also:pilgrim from See also:Bordeaux visited the " holy places " and See also:left a succinct See also:account of his route and of the See also:sights which came under his See also:notice, we possess a continuous See also:chain of testimony written by pilgrims See also:relating what they See also:beard and saw.

It is a pathetic See also:

record. No site, no See also:legend, is too impossible for the unquestioning faith of these See also:simple-minded men and See also:women. And by comparing one record with another, we can follow the multiplication of " holy places," and sometimes can even see them being shifted from one spot to another, as the centuries pass. Not one of these devout souls had any See also:shadow of suspicion that, except natural features (such as the See also:Mount of See also:Olives, the See also:Jordan, Ebal, See also:Gerizim, &c.) and possibly a very few individual sites (such as See also:Jacob's well at See also:Shechem), there was not a single spot in the whole elaborate See also:system that could show even the flimsiest evidence of authenticity! The growth and development of " holy sites " can best be illustrated, in an See also:article like the See also:present, by a few figures. The account of the " holy places " seen in Palestine by the Bordeaux pilgrim, just mentioned, occupies twelve pages in the See also:translation of the Palestine Pilgrims' See also:Text Society (in whose publications the records of these See also:early travellers can most conveniently be studied) : and those twelve pages may be reduced to seven or eight as they are printed with wide margins, and have many footnotes added by the editor. On the other See also:hand the experiences and observations of See also:Felix Fabri, a Dominican See also:monk who came to Palestine about A.D. 1480, occupies in the same See also:series two large volumes of over 60o pages each! 1 This See also:process of development has been illustrated in our own time—a single instance will suffice. In the so-called " Via Dolorosa " is a See also:cave which was opened and planned about 1870. It subsequently became closed and forgotten, houses covering its entrance. In Igo6 it was re-opened, the houses being cleared away, and a See also:hospice for See also:Greek pilgrims erected in place of them.

During these See also:

works some See also:local archaeologists attempted to penetrate the cave but were driven away by the labourers with curses. At last the hospice was finished and the cave opened for inspection. A pair of See also:stocks was then shown beautifully cut in the See also:rock, where no stocks appeared in the See also:plan of 1870; with a crude See also:painting suspended on the See also:wall above, blasphemously representing the See also:Messiah confined in them! 2 The See also:Franciscans were nominated custodians of the " holy places " by See also:Pope See also:Gregory IX. in 1230. Certain sites have, however, always been held by the See also:Oriental sects, and since 1808, when the Holy Sepulchre See also:church was destroyed by See also:fire, the number of these has greatly increased. Indeed the 19th 1 This comparison is made in full realization of the fact that the Bordeaux record is a dry See also:catalogue, and that Fabri's See also:work is swelled by the See also:miscellaneous See also:gossip and " See also:padding " which makes it one of the most delightful books ever written in the See also:middle ages. 2 See the exposure in the Revue Biblique (the See also:organ of the Dominican school of St See also:Stephen at Jerusalem) for 1907.625 See also:century was disgraced, in Palestine, by a feverish " scramble " for sacred sites, in which the most rudimentary See also:ethics of Christianity were forgotten in the all-mastering desire to oust See also:rival sects and orders. See also:Bribery, See also:fraud, even violence, have in turn been employed to serve the end in view: and churches, chapels and monasteries, most of -them in the worst architectural See also:taste, have sprung up like mushrooms over the See also:surface of the See also:country, and are perpetuating the memory of pseudo-sanctuaries which from every point of view were best relegated to oblivion. The zeal and self-sacrificing devotion which some of these establishments, and their inmates, display, and their See also:noble labours on behalf of the country, its See also:people and its See also:history throw into yet more painful See also:relief the actions and attitudes of some of their See also:fellow-Christians. The authenticity of the " holy places " was first attacked seriously in the 18th century by a bookseller of See also:Altona named Korte; and since he led the way, a steady fire of See also:criticism has been poured at this huge See also:mass of invention. The process of manufacturing new sites, however, continues unchecked. Even the See also:Protestant churches are not exempt from blame in the See also:matter; a small See also:tomb near the See also:Damascus See also:Gate of Jerusalem has been fixed upon by a number of See also:English enthusiasts as the true " Holy Sepulchre," an See also:identification for which there is nothing to be said.

The monasteries of the See also:

Roman communion and their residents were under See also:French See also:protection until the disturbance between Greek and Franciscan monks in the Holy Sepulchre church (Nov. 4, 1901), which arose over the question as to the right to sweep a certain See also:flight of stairs. Stones and other weapons were freely used, and several of the combatants and bystanders were seriously injured. As one result of the subsequent investigations, Latin monks of other countries were assigned to the protection of the consuls of those countries. 3. Colonization.—Down to the See also:time of Mehemet See also:Ali the only foreigners permanently See also:resident in the country were the members of various monastic orders, and a few traders, such as the French merchants of See also:Acre. The first protestant missionaries (those under the See also:London Society for the Promotion of Christianity among the See also:Jews), settled in Jerusalem in 1823; to them is due the inception of the See also:trade in See also:olive-See also:wood articles, invented for the support of their converts. In 1846–1848 a remarkable religious brotherhood (the Britderhaus, founded by Spittler of See also:Basel) settled in Jerusalem: it was originally intended to be a See also:settlement of celibate See also:mechanics that would See also:form a See also:nucleus of See also:mission work to evangelize the See also:world. One of this community was Dr C. Schick, who lived over 5o years in Jerusalem, and made many valuable contributions to its See also:archaeology. In 1849 came the first of several examples that have appeared in Palestine from time to time of that curious product of See also:American religious life—a community of dupes or visionaries led by a See also:prophet or prophetess with claims to divine guidance. The See also:leader in this See also:case was one Mrs See also:Minor, who, came to prepare the land for the expected Second See also:Advent.

Her followers quarrelled and separated in 1853. This event is of importance, as it had much to do with the remarkable development of Jewish colonization which is a special feature of the latter See also:

part of the history of the 19th century in Palestine. For Mrs Minor, having an See also:interest in the Jewish people, was befriended by See also:Sir See also:Moses See also:Montefiore; after her death her See also:property was placed in See also:charge of a See also:Jew, and later passed into the hands of the See also:Alliance Israelite Universelle. This See also:body in 187o established an agricultural See also:colony for Jews on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem (" Mikweh See also:Israel "). Another visionary American colony, led by a certain See also:Adams, came in 1866. They brought with them framed houses from See also:America, which are still See also:standing at Jaffa. But the Adamsites suffered from disease and poverty, and lost See also:heart in a couple of years: returning to America, they sold their property to a See also:German community, the Tempelgemeinde, a Unitarian See also:sect led by Messrs See also:Hoffmann and Hardegg who established themselves in Jaffa in 1868. Unlike the See also:ill-fated American communities, these See also:hardy See also:Wurttemberg peasants have flourished in Palestine, and their three colonies—at Jaffa, See also:Haifa, and Jerusalem—are the most important See also:European communities now in the country Since 187o there has been a steady development of Jewish See also:immigration, consisting principally of refugees from countries where See also:anti-Semitism is an important See also:element in politics. See also:Baron de See also:Rothschild has invested large sums in Jewish colonies, but at the commencement of the present century he handed over their See also:administration to the Jewish Colonization Association. Time alone can show how far these colonies are likely to be permanently successful, or how the subtly enervating See also:influence of the See also:climate will affect later generations. 4. Exploration.—Previous to the 19th century the turbulent See also:condition of the country made exploration difficult, and, off the beaten track, impossible.

There are many books written by early pilgrims and by more See also:

secular travellers who visited the country, which—when they are not devoted to the setting forth of valueless traditions, as is too often the case—give very useful and interesting pictures of the conditions of life and of travel in the country. Scientific exploration does not begin before See also:Edward See also:Robinson, an American clergyman, who, after devoting many years to study to See also:fit himself for the work, made a series of journeys through the country, and under the See also:title of Biblical Researches in Palestine (1841-1856) published his itineraries and observations. His work is marred by the hastiness of his visits and consequent superficiality of his descriptions of sites, and by some rash and untenable identifications: but it is at once a See also:standard and the See also:foundation of all subsequent topographical work in the country. He was worthily followed by See also:Titus Tobler, who in 1853 and later years published volumes abounding in exact observation; and by V. See also:Guerin, whose Description geographique, historique, et archeologique de la Palestine, in 7 vols. (1868-188o), contains an extraordinary mass of material collected in See also:personal travel through the country. In 1864 was founded the Palestine Exploration Fund, under the auspices of which an See also:ordnance survey See also:map of the country was completed (published 1881), and accompanied by volumes containing See also:memoirs on the See also:topography, See also:orography, See also:hydrography, archaeology, See also:fauna and See also:flora, and other details. A similar work See also:east of the Jordan was begun but (1882) stopped by the See also:Ottoman See also:government. The same society initiated the scientific exploration of the mounds of Palestine. In 1891 it excavated Tell el-Hesi (See also:Lachish) ; in 1896-1898 the See also:south wail of Jerusalem; in 1898-r9oo Tell es-Safi (See also:Gath) and some smaller mounds in the Shephelah; all under the direction of Dr F. J. See also:Bliss.

In 1902 it began the excavation of See also:

Gezer under the direction of R. A. S. Macalister (see GEZER). The example thus set has been followed by French, German and American explorers. The Deutscher Faidstina-Verein was founded in 1878, and under its auspices important surveys have been carried out, especially those of G. See also:Schumacher east of the Jordan; Tell el-Muteseffim (Megiddo) has also been excavated. The See also:Austrian Dr E. Sellin, working independently, has excavated Tell Ta'nuk (Taanach), and in 1907 began work upon the mount of See also:Jericho. An admirable biblical and archaeological school, under the See also:control of the Dominican See also:order, exists at Jerusalem; and German and American archaeological institutions, educational in purpose, are also there established. Valuable work in exploration is annually done by the See also:directors of these See also:schools and by their pupils. Under this See also:head we must not omit to mention A.

Musil's investigations of some remote parts of Eastern Palestine, and R. E. See also:

Brunnow's great survey of See also:Petra, with part of See also:Moab and See also:Edom.

End of Article: FROM A

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