mately were lost and buried in the soil, so that many, many coins have been brought to light by archæological research. We have space here to mention only those that are of the greatest interest to students of the Bible.

Palestine passed under the sway of Alexander the Great in 332 B. C., and after his death in 323 it was attached to the territory of Ptolemy Lagi of Egypt and his successors. In 199 B. C. Antiochus III wrested it from the Ptolemies and the Jews passed under the sway of the Syrians. During this time the coins of these rulers circulated in the country and are still frequently dug up there, although they are not mentioned in the Bible. Samples of these coins are shown in Figs. 190, 195. Not until the Jews had gained their independence under Simon the Maccabee, in the year 143 B. C., did they issue any coinage of their own. Indeed, it now seems clear that no coins were issued by Simon until after the year 139-138 B. C., when the Syrian king by an especial grant accorded him that liberty. The coins then issued appear to have been made of bronze only.1 A silver coinage formerly attributed to Simon the Maccabee is now regarded as belonging to the time of the Jewish revolt of 66-70

A. D.

(3) Maccabean Coins.-The coins of Simon consist of bronze halfshekels and quarter-shekels all dated in the year four. Antiochus VII of Syria apparently prevented the issue of others during the reign of Simon. His coins bear on their face the picture of a citron between two bundles of twigs. Around the border runs the inscription in old Hebrew characters, "year four; one-half." On the other side is a palm-tree with two bunches of fruit between two baskets filled with fruits, and around the border runs the inscription, "belonging to the redemption of Zion;" (see Fig. 192). The weights of these coins vary from 232.6 to 237 grains. The lighter ones are considerably worn.

The quarter-shekels have on one side two bundles of twigs, around which run the words, "year four; one-fourth." On the other side is pictured a citron with the stalk upward, around which runs the inscription, "belonging to the redemption of Zion." The weights of the known coins of this denomination vary from 113.7 to 192.3 grains. The form of the letters on these coins shows that they are older than other Jewish coins.

(4) Asmonæan Coins.-There are many coins from the reign of

1 See Hill, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Palestine, London, 1914, p. xciii, ff.

John Hyrcanus, the son and successor of Simon, but they are all of copper; (see Fig. 193). They bear on their face the inscription: "Johanan, the high priest and the congregation of the Jews"; on the reverse is a poppy head between two cornucopias. Similar coins were issued by the other Asmonæan princes.

(5) Herodian Coins.-As Herod the Great was a vassal of Rome, he was permitted to issue copper coins only. These exist in considerable variety. Figure 198 shows one, the face of which is stamped with the image of a vessel with a bell-shaped cover, above which are two palm-branches; on the reverse the words meaning "of King Herod" run around the edge, while a tripod occupies the center. At the left of the tripod is an abbreviation for "year 3"; at the right is a monogram. Several other patterns are known.

Coins of Archælaus, Antipas, Herod Philip (Matt. 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3: 19), and of Herod Agrippa I are known. One is shown in Fig. 200.

(6) Roman Coins.-The most common silver Roman coin was the denarius, rendered in the Authorized Version "penny" and in the Revised Version "shilling." Its weight varied at different times. In the time of Christ it weighed about 61.3 grains Troy, and was worth 163 cents of American money. As the ministry of Christ occurred in the reign of Tiberius, the tribute money shown to Christ (Matt. 22: 19; Mark 12: 15-17) was probably a denarius of Tiberius, such as is shown in Fig. 196. The denarius was so named because it originally was equivalent to ten asses or small copper coins, but the as was afterward reduced to of the denarius. The as is mentioned in Matt. 10: 29; Luke 12:6, where A. V. renders it "farthing" and R. V. "penny." It was worth about a cent. The Roman coin quadrans, or the fourth part of an as, worth about of a cent, is mentioned in Matt. 5:26; Mark 12:42. It is translated "farthing"; (see Fig. 199).

(7) The Widow's Mite.-Another coin, translated "mite," is in Greek lepton, "the small one" or the "bit." It was two of these that the widow cast into the treasury, Mark 12:42,1 where it is said that two of them equaled a quadrans. The "mite" was, then, of the value of of a cent. It was doubtless the smallest coin in circulation, but it has not yet been identified with certainty with any coin that archæology has discovered.

(8) The Piece of Silver.-In Luke 15: 8 the Greek drachma is

1 Cf. Luke 21: 2.

mentioned. It is translated "piece of silver." The drachma corresponded roughly in value to the denarius. Drachmas had been issued by many different cities and many different kings, and were still in circulation in Palestine in the time of Christ. One still sees in that country today coins of the first Napoleon, and of many other sovereigns who have been long dead, passing from hand to hand as media of value; (see Fig. 194).

(9) Coinage of the Revolt of 66-70 a. D.—Two silver coins, a shekel and a half-shekel (see Fig. 201), were formerly attributed to Simon the Maccabee. The shekels weigh 212.3 to 217.9 grains and bear on their face above a cup or chalice the legend "shekel of Israel" and a numeral. The numeral stands for the first year. Examples are known which carry the enumeration up to the year "five." On the reverse a triple lily is pictured, and in similar Hebrew characters the words "Jerusalem, the holy" are inscribed. The half-shekel is smaller and has the same markings except that the legend on its face is simply "half-shekel." On the coins issued after the first year a Hebrew sh precedes the number of the year. The sh is an abbreviation of the Hebrew word shana, year. For various reasons the consensus of expert opinion now is that these coins were issued during the Jewish war of 66-70 A. D., which, according to Jewish reckoning, extended into the fifth year.

Coins of the Roman Emperors, Augustus and Claudius, are shown in Figs. 195, 197.

CHAPTER XI

HIGH PLACES AND TEMPLES1

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 5 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 cave2; (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.

1 The temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod are treated in Chapter XIII, on Jerusalem. 2 See Macalister, The Excavation of Gezer, I, 102; II, 378. ff.

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. 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 2 feet wide at the top and 1 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. 1 See Schumacher, Tell el-Mutesellim, 156, ff.