HIGH PLACES AND TEMPLES[195]

A Sanctuary of the Pre-Semitic Cave-dwellers. A Rock-altar at Megiddo. A Rock-altar at Jerusalem. High Place at Tell Es-Safi. High Place at Gezer: Choice of site. Child-sacrifice. Corrupt worship. At Taanach: Pillars. An altar of incense. High Places at Petra. A Supposed Philistine Temple. At Megiddo: A Hebrew temple. A palace chapel. Another chapel. The Temple to Augustus at Samaria.

1. A Sanctuary of the Pre-Semitic Cave-dwellers.—The oldest sanctuary which we can trace in Palestine appears to have been one of the caves at Gezer. This cave was 32 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 7 feet 11 inches at its maximum height. There were two entrances: one on the east, a tall, narrow doorway, was approached by a passage sloping downward; the other, on the west, was a low, narrow passage, just wide enough to admit a person. At the northern end there was a projection in the form of an apse, the floor of which was about 2 feet higher than that of the rest of the cave. In the roof of this apse there was an opening, about 1 foot wide at the bottom, leading to the upper air. The rock of the roof here was 3 feet 5½ inches thick. This opening was 2 feet 8 inches in diameter at the top, and a channel 4 feet 6 inches long cut in the surface of the rock was connected with it. On the surface of the rock above the cave and about this channel there were a number of “cup-marks” similar to those found near ancient sacred places. Some of these were, perhaps, intended for places to set jars, but some of them were connected with the channel which emptied into the opening in the roof of the cave[196]; (see Fig. 202).

The suggestion which the excavator, Prof. Macalister, makes is that this was a sanctuary of the cave-dwellers, that they killed their victims on the surface of the rock above, and let the blood run through the channel and the opening into the cave underneath, where their deity was supposed to dwell. They lived in caves themselves, and it was natural for them to think their deity did the same. This suggestion received some confirmation from the fact that on the floor of the apse under this opening there were found, upon removing a layer of earth, a number of pig bones. The presence of these might be accounted for on the supposition that they were offered in sacrifice by the cave-dwellers to their deity. Swine were unclean to all Semites, and, no doubt, the later Semitic inhabitants would have thrown the bones away, if they had ever cleaned out the cave sufficiently to discover them.

2. A Rock-altar at Megiddo.—Another rock-altar of high antiquity was discovered on the slope of the mound of Tell el-Mutesellim, the ancient Megiddo.[197] It was situated on the slope of the tell, about half-way down. Its surface was covered with “cup-marks,” like those on the altar at Gezer, and an opening about 2½ feet wide at the top and 1½ feet wide at the bottom made it possible for blood to trickle down through 3 feet of rock into a cave below. This cave contained several rooms, the largest of which was about 18 feet 6 inches long, 7 feet 8 inches wide, and 8 feet 6 inches high. In the most northerly of the rooms were found various implements of black flint, potsherds, coals of a wood-fire, the bones of sheep and goats, olive-stones, and ashes. In the midst of the central room there lay a heap of human bones, the skulls of which were badly destroyed. These human bones show that after the cave had been used as a sanctuary it was employed as a sepulcher. The same thing happened at Gezer and elsewhere; (see Fig. 205).

3. A Rock-altar at Jerusalem.—We are told in Gen. 22:2 that Abraham went to the land of Moriah to offer up Isaac, and in 2 Chron. 3:1, ff. that Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah on the threshing floor which David acquired from Ornan (Araunah) the Jebusite. Just to the east of the site of Solomon’s temple in the open court where the altar of burnt-offering stood, there was a rock surface similar to the two rock-altars described above. It is still visible in Jerusalem and is now enclosed in the Mosque of Omar. The Mohammedans regard it as a sacred rock. One can still trace on it the channels which conducted the blood to an opening which in turn conducted it to a cave underneath. This cave is still regarded by the Mohammedans as sacred. There is little doubt that the sacrificial victims offered in the temples of Solomon and Herod were slain on this stone, and that that part of the blood not used in sprinkling drained into the cave underneath. This rock-altar is on the hill to which we are told Abraham came for the sacrifice of Isaac[198]; (see Fig. 208).

4. High Place of Tell es-Safi.—In the Old Testament the “high place” is frequently mentioned as a place of worship. (See 1 Sam. 9:12, f.; 1 Kings 3:2; 2 Kings 23:5, 8, etc.) It follows from 2 Kings 23:14 that these high places contained “pillars” and “asherim.” The pillars were made of stone, and the asherim of wood.

Recent exploration has brought to light a number of these high places, and the revelations made by these discoveries greatly illuminate the Old Testament narrative. The first of these was discovered by Bliss and Macalister at Tell es-Safi.[199] The high place was enclosed by walls, but, as the upper courses of these had been destroyed, the original height of the walls could not be determined. Within the largest enclosure stood three monoliths or “pillars.” These rested on bases of stone. The pillars themselves were, respectively, 5 feet 10 inches, 6 feet 5 inches, and 7 feet 1 inch high. One of them was pointed, and one of them almost flat on the top. No tool-mark was discernible on any of them. All showed signs of having been rubbed. The fat and the blood of sacrifices were smeared over such stones, and the rubbing was probably produced by this. The walls enclosing these pillars formed an approximate square 30 feet from east to west and 32 feet from north to south. On the north a fairly large room was walled in, as shown in Fig. 212, and on the south three smaller rooms. In the wall to the north of the three pillars was a semicircular apse. Facing this apse was a low semicircle of stones 3 feet 7 inches in diameter, which is situated much nearer the “pillars.” The purpose of this semicircle is unknown. In the east wall of the court of the high place there was a “skewed” opening, or an opening which ran diagonally through the wall. The purpose of this is obscure. It has been suggested by Prof. Macalister that it was made to permit the rising sun to shine on a certain spot of the interior on a certain day of the year, but of this there is no proof.

5. High Place of Gezer.—The foundations of this high place were in the second stratum below that which contained Israelitish pottery. It was one of the high places of the Canaanites, therefore, or of one of the tribes that were in Palestine before the coming of Israel. This is the most interesting of the high places which have been discovered in Palestine.[200] It contained ten monoliths or upright “pillars,” the tallest of which was 10 feet 9 inches in height, and the shortest 5 feet 5 inches. These pillars ran in a curved line the general direction of which was from north to south. This was in striking contrast to the high place of Tell es-Safi, where the line of pillars ran from east to west. The center of the curved line of the pillars of Gezer was toward the east. All of these pillars except one were of the kind of stone abundant about Gezer. They had been found near by. None of them bore the mark of a tool. They had not been shaped by working. One of them (the one that was the sacred stone, as the smooth spots on it showed) was a different kind of stone—the kind found at Jerusalem and elsewhere, but not near Gezer. There were on it traces of an indentation, as though a rope for dragging it might have been fitted around it; (Fig. 206). As Mesha, King of Moab, tells us twice in his inscription that he dragged altar-hearths of other deities away from their original locations into the presence of his god Chemosh,[201] it seems likely that this stone was dragged to Gezer from some other sanctuary—possibly from Jerusalem. Perhaps it was its capture that first suggested to the inhabitants of Gezer the establishment of this high place. The other stones of the series were erected to keep this one company and to do it honor. These were probably not all set up at once. They were added from time to time by different rulers of Gezer, and we have no means of knowing when the latest of the pillars was erected; (see Fig. 204).

(1) Choice of Site.—Judging from the scarabs found about the foundations of the high place, its beginnings date from 2000 B. C. or earlier, and it continued in use down to the Babylonian Exile. Curiously enough, this high place is not situated on the highest part of the hill. The land is higher both to the east and to the west of it. It is situated in a sort of saddle to the east of the middle of the mound. Why was this spot chosen for it? Two considerations, perhaps, led to the choice of the site. A great ramifying cave on a higher part of the hill had already been appropriated by Semites as a sepulcher, and was, therefore, unclean. The cave which the earlier inhabitants had used as a crematorium was for the same reason unacceptable. Why the high place was not built near the cave that the cave-dwellers had used as a temple, we cannot now conjecture. Perhaps in some way the memory that that had been a sacred spot had faded from men’s minds. Macalister thinks that the choice of the site was determined by the presence at this point of the two caves shown in Fig. 203. These caves had been dwellings of cave-men in the pre-Semitic time. They were now connected by a narrow, crooked passage, so that they could be utilized for the giving of oracles. Macalister conjectures that a priest or priestess would go into one, while the devotee who wished to inquire of the god was sent into the other, and that the inquirer would hear his oracle through this passage. This theory is plausible, though incapable of full proof.

Just back of one of the pillars a square stone was found with a deep hole cut in its upper side; (see Fig. 209). Several theories as to the use of this have been put forward; the most probable one is that it was a laver.

The area of the high place seems to have been approximately 150 feet from north to south and 120 feet from east to west. Some few walls were found of the same date as the high place, but it was impossible to tell their purpose. There seem to have been no buildings that could be regarded as a part of the sanctuary. It seems to have been entirely open to the air. Two circular structures, one at the north and the other to the south of the sacred stones, were found. The one at the south was badly ruined; that to the north was in a good state of preservation. This structure had a pavement of stones on a level with the bottom of the sacred pillars. It was entirely surrounded by a wall 2 feet thick at the bottom and 1 foot 6 inches thick at the top and 6 feet high. There was no doorway. The wall leaned outward. The diameter of the structure was 13 feet 8 inches at the bottom and 16 feet 6 inches at the top; (see Fig. 207). On the pavement in this enclosure were the fragments of many clay bowls, of a type found in Cyprus, but common at Gezer from 1400-800 B. C., and among these fragments a brazen serpent, evidently the model of a cobra. This discovery suggests the possibility that the structure may have been a pen in which sacred serpents were kept. The practice of venerating serpents as sacred is found in many parts of the world.[202] This brazen serpent reminds one of Nehushtan, the brazen serpent worshiped by the JudÆans until it was destroyed by King Hezekiah. (See 2 Kings 18:4, and Fig. 219a.)(2) Child-sacrifice.—The whole area of the high place was found to be a cemetery of new-born infants. These were in all probability first-born children who had been sacrificed to the deity of the high place. Two of them displayed marks of fire, but most of them had been simply enclosed in large jars. The body was usually put in head first. Two or three smaller vessels were put in with them. These generally included a bowl and a jug. They were usually inside the jar between the body and the jar’s mouth; sometimes they were outside near the mouth of the jar. That these were sacrifices is shown by the fact that they were children. It was not, therefore, a general place of burial. Indeed, had these children not been sacrificial, they could not have been buried in the sanctuary, as dead bodies were unclean.

The Semites generally believed that the first-born were sacred to deity and must be sacrificed to it. This sort of human sacrifice persisted for a long time among the Phoenicians. It was said that God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and that he then permitted him to offer a ram instead (Gen. 22). The law provided for the redemption of Hebrew first-born by the sacrifice of a lamb (Exod. 34:20), but in the time of King Manasseh the old custom was revived and men “made their children pass through the fire.” (See 2 Kings 21:6; 23:10; Jer. 7:31; 32:35.) The gruesome discoveries of this high place have made very real these horrible practices and the inhuman fate from which Isaac and other Hebrew children were delivered.

With the exception of a little unhewn stone about 18 inches square, found in one of the caves connected with the high place, and which might possibly have served as an altar, no altar was found. Possibly none was needed in the rites practised there, but it is more likely that the altar was simply a mound of earth such as is prescribed in Exod. 20:24—a mound which could not be distinguished, in excavating, from the common earth.

(3) Corrupt Worship.—Of the nature of some of the services that went on in this high place in the name of Ashtoreth eloquent testimony was borne by unnumbered Ashtoreth-plaques that had been presented as votive offerings by the worshipers. These varied in form and in artistic merit, but were all designed to foster in the worshiper that type of debasing service described in Isa. 57:3, ff., as Fig. 214 shows. Symbols of this nature were abundant during all the period while the high place was in use. No one who was not, like the writer, at Gezer during the excavation, can realize how demoralizing the whole atmosphere of such worship must have been. ArchÆology has here revealed to us in a most vivid way the tremendous power of those corrupting religious influences which the Hebrew prophets so vigorously denounced. These practices were deeply rooted in the customs of the Canaanites; they were sanctified by a supposed divine sanction of immemorial antiquity, and they made an all-powerful appeal to the animal instincts in human nature. We can realize now as never before the social and religious task which confronted the prophets. That Israel was by prophetic teaching purged of this cult is due to the power of God!

6. At Taanach.

(1) Pillars.—Sellin[203] discovered two monoliths which he believed to be the pillars of a high place. These stones had, however, been hewn, which does not accord with the general Semitic requirement that no tool should be lifted up upon such stones; (see Fig. 211). However, the indentation in one of the sacred stones of Gezer, apparently made to keep a rope from slipping, shows that exceptions to the rule against cutting a sacred stone were allowed. The two pillars at Taanach were situated over a cave and figures of Ashtoreth were found in connection with them, so that they probably constituted another high place. The stratum in which this was found proves that it belongs to the same period as the high place at Gezer. In connection with this high place an interesting libation bowl was found which is shown in Fig. 213.

(2) An Altar of Incense.—In another part of the mound at Taanach Sellin discovered a remarkable incense altar of terra-cotta, 3 feet in height, and 18 inches in diameter at the base, adorned with protruding animal heads, which remind one of shortened gargoyles. On one side of it was the figure of a palm-tree, with two ibexes descending a mountain. Part of an Ashtoreth figure and fragments of another altar were found near. Sellin thought that the building that contained these was a private house, and, if so, we have in these objects some of the implements of private worship employed by Israelites; (see Fig. 210).

7. High Places at Petra.—One of the most interesting high places is cut out of the solid rock at Petra. Petra may possibly be the Sela of 2 Kings 14:7, since Sela means “crag” or “rock” in Hebrew, and Petra has the same meaning in Greek. The identity of Petra with Sela is not, however, certain. Petra lies in the southeastern part of ancient Edom, and was, before the end of the fourth century B. C., occupied by the NabathÆans, a Semitic tribe. These NabathÆans established a kingdom which continued until 106 A. D. One of its kings, Haretat IV, is called Aretas in 2 Cor. 11:32.[204] When the Roman Emperor Trajan overthrew this kingdom he organized its territory into the Province of Arabia, and the beautiful buildings, the remains of which make Petra such an interesting ruin today, date mostly from the Roman period of its history. During the NabathÆan period of Petra they constructed three high places, which are high places indeed, since they are perched on ledges of rock above the ancient town. The largest of these high places is still in an excellent state of preservation. It is a little to the north of the citadel on a ledge which rises about 700 feet above the town. The ledge is 520 feet long by 90 feet wide; it runs nearly north and south with a slight inclination to the east.[205] The principal features of this ancient place of worship are an altar on the west side of the ledge, a platform immediately south of this, a large sunken area directly in front of the altar, and a little to the south of this area a vat or laver.

This high place is approached by a flight of steps cut in the solid rock; (see Fig. 215). The main area, which corresponds to the enclosure of the high place at Tell es-Safi, is 47 feet 4 inches long, 24 feet 4 inches wide, and 15 to 18 inches deep, though this depth is not uniform. In some parts it falls to 10 inches. About midway of the length of this area and 5 feet from its west side, there is a rock platform 5 feet in length, 2 feet 7½ inches wide, and 4 inches high. It has been suggested that this platform was intended for the offerer of a victim to stand upon, in order that he might be distinguished from other worshipers who were crowding the area. Another possible view is that the sacred “pillars” stood upon this platform. No pillars were found in connection with it. Probably such pillars were not cut out of the solid rock, but were, like the sacred stone of Gezer, brought from elsewhere. The arrangement of other high places would indicate that they stood on or near this platform. As this high place was not buried, but exposed on the mountain top, such pillars have in the course of the ages disappeared. The altar is separated from the adjoining rock by a passageway which was cut on its north, south, and west sides. It is of the same height as the adjoining rock. On the east the ledge has been cut down to the level of the foot of the altar. The altar is 9 feet 1 inch in length from north to south and 6 feet 2 inches wide. It is 3 feet high at its highest point. On the top of the altar is a hollow pan, perhaps to receive the fire. This is 3 feet 8 inches long, 1 foot 2 inches wide, and 3½ inches deep. Ascent to the altar was made by a flight of steps leading up to its top on the east side. The top step is wider than the others and forms a platform on which the officiating priest might stand; (see Fig. 217).

Just south of the altar and separated from it by the passageway was the place where the victims were slain. This has been called the round altar; (see Fig. 218). This consists of a platform 16 feet 6 inches long from east to west, 11 feet 9 inches wide. It is approached by a flight of steps. Near its center are two circular and concentric pans, the larger 3 feet 8 inches in diameter with a depth of 3 inches, the smaller 1 foot 5 inches in diameter with a depth of 2 inches. From this inner basin a conduit 3 feet 2 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 3 inches deep conducted the blood to the edge of the platform. This platform was undoubtedly intended for the place of slaughter. The Samaritans, when they assemble on Mount Gerizim for the celebration of the Passover, still dig a round hole in the turf, over which to slay the victim. This hole is about 18 inches in diameter and 10 inches deep. From it a conduit is dug, through which the blood flows off to be absorbed by the earth.[206]

The supposed laver at Petra is to the south of the area of the high place. It is 9 feet 9 inches in length and 8 feet 6 inches in width. It is now partially filled with earth, and has above the earth an average depth of 3 feet.

The remains of three other supposed high places have been found at Petra, but lack of space forbids their description here.[207] The pillars supposed to have been connected with one of them are shown in Fig. 219.

8. A Supposed Philistine Temple.—Turning now to Palestinian temples: Macalister discovered the remains of a building at Gezer which he thinks may have been a temple.[208] This building belonged to the third Semitic stratum; in other words, to the period just before the coming of the Israelites. A general plan of its walls is shown in Fig. 220. In a court in one part of the structure were five pillars which may have had the same religious significance as the pillars of the high place. The two circular structures f f remind one of the circular structures of the high place of Gezer. These were filled with the fragments of the bones of sheep and goats. As these bore no marks of cooking, they could not have been mere domestic ash-pits, and it is plausible to think of them as receptacles for the bodies of slaughtered victims. In a forecourt of the structure a line of bases, apparently intended for the support of columns, was found. Macalister conjectured that these supported a roof over a part of the portico, and it reminded him of the story of Samson in the temple of Dagon. (See Judges 16:23-30.) It is quite possible that the feast of Dagon described in Judges 16 may have been held in a structure similar to this, that the lords of the Philistines may have been gathered in such a porch, and that Samson may have pulled such pillars as rested upon these bases from under the roof that sheltered them, and caused their destruction and his own death. It is all possible, but conjectural.

9. At Megiddo.

(1) A Hebrew Temple.—In the course of the excavation at Megiddo a temple was found concerning the sacred nature of which there can be no such doubts as in the case of the building just mentioned[209]; (Fig. 222). This temple was in the Israelitish stratum, and so is of especial interest to the students of the Bible. It was situated in the highest part of the city. The whole space was not excavated, but the portion uncovered was 131 feet long and 115 wide. It was of the same period as the palace in which the seal of Shema the servant of Jeroboam was found, and contained more drafted stones than the walls of that palace. In one of the rooms of the temple stood two stones that were certainly “pillars” such as are denounced in Deuteronomy. One of these was 7 feet 8 inches high; the other, 7 feet high. The room in which these pillars stood was 30 feet long and 10 feet 7 inches wide. In building the wall of this temple a stone was used that had once formed the voluted capital of a column; (Fig. 224). Probably this stone was taken from an earlier Philistine building.In the grounds of the temple, which were once regarded as holy, several jars containing the skeletons of children were unearthed. These had apparently been offered in sacrifice and buried like those found in the high place of Gezer.

While the walls of this temple were built of larger and more carefully cut stones than most of the other walls in the city, no effort seems to have been made to give the temple a definite architectural plan. Large towers were found near it, but, as the temple was at the east end of the city, these formed part of fortifications. The fortifications and other buildings crowded upon the temple, so that, had an effort been made to make it architecturally imposing, the effect would have been lost.

(2) A Palace Chapel.—The people of Megiddo seem to have been particularly fond of the type of worship represented by this temple, for in a room to the east of the palace of the Hebrew governor was a room containing three “pillars,” in which the remains of a number of terra-cotta goddesses were found.[210] This was apparently the private chapel of the palace. This room was almost 40 feet long and 32 feet 10 inches wide; (Fig. 223). Its beginnings antedate the Israelitish period, since they come from the stratum before the conquest.

(3) Another Chapel.—What seems to have been still another place of worship equipped with the necessary “pillars” was found in the Hebrew stratum between the governor’s palace and the southern gate of the city.[211] It would appear from the connecting walls that this sacred place may also have been intended for the special use of the occupants of the palace. This room was not quite 30 feet long and a little less than 20 feet wide. It contained six stones which Dr. Schumacher took to be “pillars.” Like those at Petra and Taanach, they had evidently been shaped with tools. They did not stand in a row or in any regular relation to one another. This might throw some doubt upon the religious significance of the stones. Could they not have been columns used in supporting the roof of the building? Since a small stone object that had religious significance in the high places was found in this room, together with a most remarkable incense burner, it is probable that these were religious “pillars” and that the room was a little chapel. The object was of limestone and about 7 inches long. It was lying at the foot of one of the “pillars.” The incense burner was made of a greyish soft limestone. It was a little over 9 inches in height. The diameter of the bowl was 6? inches. The stone was cut so that the bowl rested on a pedestal, which was divided by rings into two portions, each of which was cut so as to represent a circle of overhanging leaves; (see Fig. 225). The whole was decorated with reddish-brown and cobalt-blue paints. The decoration of the rim of the bowl is a geometrical design, that on the bowl itself represents a sort of conventionalized lily blossom, while the leaves suggest those of the palm.

These discoveries make it plain that the Canaanite temples of Palestine, which the Hebrews took over, were simply high places in miniature, enclosed in walls and probably roofed over, though the roofs have disappeared. The feeling that led to the change from the open air high place was the same as that underlying the saying of David: “I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains” (2 Sam. 7:2).

10. The Temple to Augustus at Samaria.—The excavations at Samaria[212] have brought to light the foundation of the temple erected by Herod the Great in honor of Augustus.[213] This was a temple of a very different type. It was patterned on GrÆco-Roman models and everything was done to make it architecturally impressive. Unfortunately, the results of the Harvard expedition have not yet been given to the public in detail, but from the imposing stairway, discovered during the first season of the excavation, together with the partial plan of the building as then uncovered, and the outlines of its walls as a later season’s work disclosed them, one can form some idea of the imposing appearance of this structure. A massive stairway led up to a large platform surrounded by large pillars. This formed the portico. Back of this stretched the walls of the temple. The general form of the building seems to have been similar to that of the large temple at Jerash, which will be described in Chapter XIV.[214] At the foot of the stairway leading up to the temple was found a large altar, and near this a fallen statue of Augustus. For outlines of the temple, see Figs. 216 and 221.

These ancient places of worship which archÆology has brought to light are eloquent witnesses of the pathetic way the men of Palestine “felt after God, if haply they might find him” (Acts 17:27), and the pathos is not lessened by the fact that they thus continued to grope, even after the clearer light was shining about them.