CHAPTER XXII

EL ARÎSH AND C.M.S. MISSION

The border town of Egypt, El Arîsh, seventy miles south of Gaza, is generally identified as the "River of Egypt," which was the most southern boundary of the Holy Land in patriarchal times. At present the actual boundary between Palestine and Egypt is a line running from Rafah, the ancient Rhaphia, some thirty miles to the north of El Arîsh, to Akaba.[49]

The country between Rafah and El Arîsh is desolate. The large sand dunes, the dust of ages, have encroached upon the land, whereas the Land of Promise may be recognised by its fertility. Around the villages which lie between Gaza and Rafah are orchards which produce an abundance of fruit; the fig, vine, pomegranate, almond, olive, apricot, date, mulberry, palm, apple, orange, and banana, are all grown, besides vegetables of all kinds, of a size rarely met with in Great Britain.

El Arîsh, the ancient Rhinocolura, the chief town of the Sinai Peninsula, possesses some eight thousand inhabitants. The "River of Egypt," so called, is conspicuous by its absence, except in the rainy season, when a large portion of the water from the peninsula courses through its bed to the sea. The river-bed is very wide, and many hundreds of poplar trees are scattered over it, with numerous wells for irrigation.

The most striking building is the Government Fort. It is some five hundred years old, and bears evidence of attacks made by invaders.

Owing to the barrenness of the land the people are exempted from all taxation. Some five thousand camels are owned by these Sawârikeh Beduins, and these "ships of the desert" do much of the carrying trade between Egypt and Syria, and in Egypt itself during the cotton season.

The people are exclusively Muslims, with the exception of two Coptic officials. The town is beautifully clean.

There is here a magnificent field for missionary enterprise. No mission work of any kind had ever been attempted in the town until Dr. Sterling opened a boys' school in 1906.

The people are friendly, and come to the hospital at Gaza in goodly numbers.

In 1908 Dr. Sterling was able to purchase a beautiful site of four and a half acres. A native master from Gaza, M. Nasri, and pupil teacher, are now at work in a school attended by sixty or seventy scholars. This school is dependent upon voluntary help, and Mr. W. Watson and Dr. Sterling are responsible for its maintenance.

Not only is Holy Scripture taught, but the master has many opportunities of bearing witness to the truths of Christianity.

This station ought to be properly supported, and can be more easily worked from Gaza than from Egypt.

Dr. Sterling has the plans for building schools for boys and girls, a teachers' house, a house for dispensary attached for two English ladies, preferably one an educationalist and the other a nurse. At present there is only money in hand for the proposed girls' school.

I am indebted to three numbers of _Jottings and Snapshots from Gaza, Southern Palestine_, for some of the above information.

NOTE.--On Feb. 20, 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte took El Arîsh. At the capitulation of the town the French were permitted to evacuate Egypt with all the honours of war.

FOOTNOTE:

[49] For additional information see Palmer's _The Desert of the Exodus_, vol. ii. pp. 286-8.

APPENDIX I

PUBLIC GAMES AT GAZA[50]

Periodical games were often closely connected with the religious rites. The great importance of public games in Imperial times is well known. Not a provincial town of any consequence was without them. This was especially the case with those in connection with the games in honour of the Emperor, which were everywhere in vogue, even in the time of Augustus.

In Gaza a πανήγυρις Ἁδριανή (an assembly of a whole nation for a public festival) was celebrated from the time of Hadrian. A παγκράτιον (the joint contest which comprises both wrestling and boxing) is mentioned as held there in the inscription of Aphrodisias. These wrestlers and boxers of Gaza were, in the fourth century, the most famous in Syria. St. Jerome, in his _Life of St. Hilarion_, mentions the Circensian games there.[51]

Pharisaic Judaism has always repudiated this heathen kind of games (1 Maccabees i. 14, 15; 2 Maccabees iv. 9-17).

Judaism, however, was unable, in spite of this theoretic repudiation, to prevent the pageantry of heathen games from developing every fourth year, in the midst of the Holy Land, during and after the Herodian period.[52]

THE CIRCUS OF GAZA[53]

Moonrise on the desert. Above the dark ridges of rocks which rose from the tawny waste of sand, a pale faint light poured down on the wilderness of Gaza. An aged man, yet apparently more worn with labour than with years, was standing at the entrance of a cave, which, dark and silent, pierced one of the mountain ridges.

The time of which I am speaking was about 350 years after the birth of our LORD; the place was one of the deserts which stretched themselves between the Nile and the Holy Land. Already innumerable hosts of monks occupied the wilderness of Egypt; and if St. Antony had attained the greatest reputation for the holiness of his life and the wonders of his miracles, St. Hilarion among the monks of the solitudes held the second place. Many times he had fled from the concourse of people that the fame of his powers of healing had drawn to him; and now, in one of the wildest and most unfrequented parts of the wilderness, he hoped to find a place where he might serve GOD without the interruption of men.

The moonlight showed distinctly the furthest objects on the horizon; and as the hermit stood gazing around him, and thinking, perhaps, of that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, which shall be the abode of those who have been CHRIST'S faithful servants here, he noticed a dark spot in the far distance, which gradually drew nearer, and took form and shape.

Half-an-hour brought to the entrance of his cave a large company of Christians. Camels there were to carry those who were of rank to need such a conveyance, and attendants and slaves in abundance. For already, in part, the kingdoms of this world were become the kingdoms of our LORD and of His CHRIST; and to be a Christian was no longer, as fifty years before it had been, a badge of infamy; although in the south-western part of Palestine the worshippers of idols still outnumbered the holders of the true faith.

"Are we happy enough," said one of them who arrived first, a tall and somewhat portly man, who had just descended from his camel before speaking; "are we happy enough to stand in the presence of Hilarion, of whose fame all Egypt and Palestine are full?"

"My name is Hilarion, my son," said the hermit; "and if ye seek anything with so miserable a sinner as myself, I am ready, GOD helping, to assist you so far as may lie in my power, He enabling me."

"Well, then, this is the case," said the stranger. "I am a citizen of Gaza; my name is Italicus; and I come to you for that which may much assist in promoting the glory of Him that is our LORD and SAVIOUR."

"If it be to His glory, my son," said Hilarion, "ask what you will, and in His Name I promise to fulfil, so far as I may, your desires."

"I will tell you, holy father," said Italicus. "It is the custom of our city that the two most wealthy inhabitants should try the speed of their horses against each other in the circus. Now, for this year I am appointed to exhibit these races on the one side, and Ælius Flaccus, who is a worshipper of idols, on the other. He has dedicated his horses and his chariots to the ancient idol of the city, Marnas, and he boasts that no Christian can conquer those which have been so consecrated. All our fellow-citizens know me to be a Christian; they know that I put my only trust in our LORD whom the Gentiles blaspheme; and they know also that the horses of Flaccus are the best breed in the country, and that mine, although I have done my best, are inferior, and give no promise of victory. Wherefore I have betaken myself to you, holy father, to entreat you to assist me, if it may so be, in this great strait."

"And are you not ashamed," said Hilarion, "to trouble a servant of CHRIST with matters such as these? Why not, rather, sell your miserable horses, and give the price of them to the poor? according to that saying, 'Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.'"

"But, my father," returned Italicus, "you must consider that this office is none of my seeking; it is thrust upon me by the laws of the city. I desire not victory for mine own honour; but the heathen look upon this race as a trial between Marnas and the GOD whom the Christians worship. It is for CHRIST'S sake, not for mine, that I desire the victory."

"Is this so?" inquired Hilarion, looking round on the little company that had gathered about him.

"It is so," said an old Christian, stepping forward from the rest. "It is no vainglory that brings us hither; we who have seen the true glory of the martyrs of Palestine, who by divers torments rendered up their most blessed souls to GOD. It is as Italicus says. The horses of Flaccus are dedicated to Marnas; they are the fleetest that the whole province of Palestine can show; those of Italicus, though he has done his best, cannot be compared to them; and yet the voice of the people has consecrated them to the GOD whom we worship. For any common victory we should not have sought assistance from you; as it is, we do not think that we are preferring an unworthy request. If Flaccus wins, Marnas conquers also; if Italicus is first in the race, then, as the multitude will deem, the LORD CHRIST will show Himself to be superior to the idols of the heathen."

"It is a hard case," said Hilarion, "when such rivalships find place. Nevertheless we must not quench the smoking flax. All that a Christian man may lawfully do to destroy the works of the devil, that it is the bounden duty of Italicus, and of myself, and of every one that bears the name of CHRIST, to take in hand. Wherefore bring me a bowl of water."

One of the attendants ran to the little stream by which the hermit had taken up his abode, filled a vessel, and brought it to him. He made the sign of the cross over it and drank.

"Now, my son," he said to Italicus, "take this water and sprinkle your horses, and their manger, and their stable therewith. Thus you shall find in the day of trial, that the meanest of GOD'S servants, even though he be like myself, has power to confound the idol Marnas, and all his priests, and all his worshippers."

Thankfully and carefully Italicus received the water; and after expressing his gratitude to the hermit, he and his company returned over the desert towards Gaza.

Now we will pass over ten days.

A bright spring morning shone over the ancient city of the Philistines. Here and there the white marble temples of Jupiter, and of Minerva, and of Apollo, glittered in all the beauty of their pillars, and their friezes, and their bas-reliefs. But high above the rest, and more sumptuous than all, glowed that of the god Marnas, the idol whom the inhabitants of Gaza delighted to honour. Had you stood by the great door of his temple, you might have seen a crowd of worshippers and a little company of priests offering their sacrifices, and praying that he would be pleased to prosper his own worshippers on his own day; that he would give fleetness to their horses; and that he would assist in rooting out the execrable sect of the Nazarenes and their crucified GOD from the face of the earth. The oxen were garlanded with flowers, the altars were wreathed with laurel, and the augurs were taking omens as to the success of the contest. The laurel leaves when cast into the fire gave a good omen; the chickens when fed at their troughs promised victory; and from the large size of the heart in one of the sacrificed beasts, the soothsayers drew the conclusion that the god had bid Ælius Flaccus to be of good courage.

The report had spread through the city that Hilarion the wonder-worker had interested himself in the success of the Christian. Half-an-hour before midday crowds were flocking to the circus; the pagans, who were of the Red faction, wearing badges of that colour, and outnumbering their opponents, who were of the Green party, six or seven to one. They flocked in through the various doors of the circus; the officers whose duty it was marshalled the way for the more influential citizens; the poor locarii, who had come early to take the best places, sold them at the best bargain they could to the wealthier spectators; and so great was the interest in a contest, not so much between Italicus and Flaccus as between Marnas and the GOD of the Christians, that never had so brisk a trade been driven in the letting and underletting of seats as on that day.

I have many times described to you the amphitheatres as they were in that age. Now I will tell you what the circus was like; and attend, or you will not understand the story.

Imagine a long oval space of ground, a quarter of a mile in length, and surrounded with seats, rising in tiers, one above the other, the lowest of stone and the highest of wood; these tiers of seats were divided by narrow passages called _vomitories_, which gave entrance to the spectators. At one end of the enclosed space was a wooden erection, containing a series of wooden seats, or rather boxes, handsomely curtained and cushioned, for the use of the magistrates. As it is not yet the hour of the race we shall be able, as we enter, to examine the place without disturbance. This spot, immediately in front of the magistrates' seats, is the starting-place for the chariots; they call it the _carceres_; in front of it, you see, are four images of Mercury, with chains stretched from one to the other, behind which the horses will presently be stationed; the men standing by them, two of the Red, two of the Green faction, are called the _moratores_; their business is to see that it is a fair start. From the carceres, as you will observe, there runs almost to the other end of the circus a very broad brick wall, some three feet high, and twelve in thickness; at both ends of this are three little pyramids, which they call _metæ_; the wall itself they name the _spina_. The horses, then, starting from the carcer, under the magistrates, run seven times round the spina, going in what seems to us a very unnatural fashion, from left to right. In order that there may be no mistake, that man who is leaning idly against the spina, and chatting with one of moratores, has it in charge to set up a little wooden obelisk close to the carcer--you will see the sockets in the ground--for each turn that the chariots make. Thus, when the Red horses have made one circle, he will erect a red obelisk; when the Green ones have done the same, a green one, and so on.

Now all the seats are so full that it seems impossible for more spectators to be accommodated; nevertheless, still they come pouring in. It is not only from Gaza and the neighbouring country that they are flocking, but from Joppa, from Cæsarea, and even from Ælia Capitolina--as they now call Jerusalem--many of its inhabitants are come up to these games. The priests of Marnas will feast for many a day on the proceeds of this; and if it should so happen that the horses of Marnas conquer, his worshippers will say, what King Darius said to another idol, "Great art thou, O Bel, and there is no deceit in thee!" As to Didymus the Christian priest, he had at first held back from expressing any interest in the matter; but when he was told that Hilarion had consented to assist Italicus, he encouraged to the best of his powers the Christian candidate, and though he would not himself attend the games, he awaited the result in his own house with no small anxiety.

Now the magistrates are taking their places in their robes of office. He in the centre, who has just taken his seat in that projecting balcony, is Asinius Gallus, edile of the place; a noted favourer of the old religion, and the great friend of Flaccus. Next to him are the principal magistrates of some of the neighbouring towns; and on each side of them, the inferior officials of Gaza itself. There also are Italicus and Ælius Flaccus; but of the twenty or thirty persons who thus occupy the seats of honour, not more than three are of the Green faction.

Presently, the doors under the balcony occupied by the magistrates, and opening on the hither end of the circus, are thrown open; and the chariots and horses enter. The moratores cast lots for the respective position of each. For, as you will see, the chariot that was on the left, or, as we should now call it, the near side, had the disadvantage of being compelled to make a larger circle each time; this was, however, a little made up for by the danger that the chariot on the off side experienced in rounding the metæ at the end. They cast two pieces of ivory into a bowl, and shook them; that which bore the name of Flaccus first leaped out; his morator had therefore the choice of ground; and his chariot took the right-hand place.

These chariots, as you see, have only two wheels, are low, have the front part bulging out in a circle, and are entirely open behind; they are intended only to carry one man. As that of Ælius Flaccus takes up its position, the Red faction through the circus rise, clap their hands, stamp with their feet, and cheer. And well they may; for every one agrees that finer animals than the three black horses yoked abreast which draw it were never seen in Gaza. There is also some applause bestowed on the three bay horses of Italicus, but poor and faint indeed, as compared with the thunder that had greeted the other. As you may well imagine, their master has carefully observed the directions of Hilarion; horses and manger and provender have been sprinkled with the water; and Italicus himself entertains not the least doubt of success; though the edile of Joppa has just offered to him of Lydda an even bet that the red chariot will have finished its seventh course before the green has reached the meta which will form its sixth and a half. Now, silence; for Asinius Gallus is about to speak. His voice can only be heard down a short space of that enormous length; but the purport of what he says is soon passed on to its very extremity.

"Good men and true,"--such are his words--"it is well known to all that this city of Gaza has been for now many hundred years a worshipper of the great god Marnas, and that we, the larger part of its citizens, still cleave to the religion of our forefathers. It is also well known to all that, as elsewhere throughout the world, so here more especially, there are not wanting those who ridicule our faith, they themselves worshipping One that was crucified in this land, more than three hundred years ago. These games, therefore, which we are this day met to celebrate, have more than the common interest that in other years we have taken in them. Our worthy fellow-citizen, Ælius Flaccus, has dedicated his horses to Marnas, and the soothsayers have assured him of victory. His rival, who follows the faith of the emperors, Junius Italicus, has in like manner sought the assistance of his GOD, and has availed himself of I know not what incantations performed by one of the savage and brutish race of men now beginning to people the wilderness to the south. Thus this day will be made manifest which of these two gods can best hear the prayers of his servant. As a magistrate of this city, I am bound to judge and decide impartially; but as a believer in our ancient faith, I am not ashamed to express my hope that Marnas will vindicate his honour by giving the victory to his worshipper. And this, men of Gaza, I know to be your wish as well as my own; the soothsayers have given us the promise of success; our god himself is on our side; and the prayers of all that have the ancient fame of Gaza at heart will be joined with mine that Ælius Flaccus may prove the victor in this race."

The people, of course, applauded loudly; and Asinius Gallus resumed his seat. Immediately, the moratores disengaged the chains from the images of Mercury; the drivers grasped their reins and their whips; deep silence fell upon the multitude; and the edile again stood up, and gave the white napkin, which was the signal for the start, to the official whose business it was to make the sign. He then, mounting on the spina, stood a little before the two chariots, holding the linen in his hand, and keeping his eyes fixed on Asinius Gallus. The magistrate, after having cast his eyes right and left to see that his brother functionaries were comfortably settled, and ready to look on at their ease, nodded to the officer; the napkin fell; and the chariots started.

Inferior as were the horses of Italicus to those of his opponent, the spectators had imagined that for the first three or four courses round the circus the race would be closely contested. But scarcely had a minute elapsed, when the green chariot, surrounded by whirlwinds of dust, was already half-way to the further meta, while that which had been dedicated to Marnas, in spite of the vociferations and lashings of the driver, was lagging far behind. Those at the further end of the circus fancied that its driver, secure in the excellence of his horses, had given his rival a long start, in order to make his own victory the more triumphant. But those who could see better were not so deceived. Flaccus and the edile interchanged glances of astonishment and vexation; one or two of the other magistrates whispered to each other that it must be witchcraft; it was in vain that the Reds shouted, clapped their hands, and endeavoured to encourage the charioteer; vast majority as they were, their voices were drowned in the thunder of applause which welcomed the green chariot as it now flew towards the carceres, having made one circle, while the other had scarcely yet turned the meta at the further end. Up went the green obelisk; and the Christian chariot started on its second course. It was in vain that Ælius Flaccus stamped with rage, ground his teeth, and shook his fist at his own unfortunate driver, now creeping up towards the magistrates' seat. As of old time, the chariot drave heavily; and even from some of the Red faction there burst forth a shout of "Marnas is conquered!" But when the green chariot, now making its fifth round, passed its rival which had not yet completed its fourth, such a thunder of applause echoed through the circus as Gaza had never heard before--unless it might be when, some fifteen hundred years further back, Samson had made sport for the lords of the Philistines on the roof of the temple of Marnas, then better known by his other name of Dagon. The priests of the idol will do well to treasure up the offerings they have received to-day; for, depend upon it, they will never have any more. I can already hear some words that sound exceedingly like "Impostor!" in the mouths of their adherents; and now that the green chariot comes bounding along to the conclusion of its final course, and its driver throws his reins into the hands of the morator, and leaps, well pleased, to the ground, and it is evident to all that the horses are not distressed, and have scarcely even turned a hair, while those of Marnas are labouring at the further end of the circus, and have its full length to traverse before they finish their sixth course--now I say, that the idol has been utterly confounded, and the faith of one poor hermit has triumphed over all the charms of a college of pagan priests, the shout that bursts from every part of the benches seems to me to ring the death knell of idolatry in Palestine.[54]

FOOTNOTES:

[50] For this information I am indebted to Schürer's _History of the Jewish People in the Time of Christ_.

[51] See "Circus, games of," _A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities_, etc. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Ltd., 1891.

[52] For a description and plans of Herod the Great's _Theatre_ (not Amphitheatre as in text) outside Jerusalem, see Herr Schick's Report, _Quarterly Statement_ P. E. F., July 1887, pp. 161-6.

[53] This tale (No. X) by the late Dr. Neale appears in his _Lent Legends: Stories for Children from Church History_.

[54] The Editorial Secretary of the _Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge_ informs me that "No permission is required to reprint from Neale's _Lent Legends_, as the copyright has now expired." It was written at Sackville College in 1855, and reprinted in 1905 by the S.P.C.K.

APPENDIX II

DESTRUCTION OF THE EIGHT HEATHEN TEMPLES OF GAZA (A.D. 401)

During the Episcopate of St. Porphyrius, A.D. 395-420, there were eight State-property temples in the city of Gaza: (1) Helios--the Sun; (2) Aphroditus--Venus; (3) Apollo; (4) Persephone; (5) Hecate; (6) the Hiereion (or Heroon); (7) the Tychæon; (8) the Marneion.

Their names imply that purely Greek worship prevailed in them.

1. THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN.--In Greek mythology the sun-god, son of the Titan Hyperion and the Titaness Theia, is himself often called Hyperion.

Helios was worshipped in many places. The Island of Rhodes was entirely consecrated to him. The worship of this sun-god was with great difficulty eventually suppressed by substituting for him the prophet Ἡλίας. In modern times Helios seems to be identified with St. Elias, whose chapels are built chiefly on hill-tops.

It was this particular worship to which the Antonines showed special favour. The name of Antoninus Pius is connected with the building of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbec.

The late Lieut. Conder wrote an interesting article on "Sun Worship in Syria," in the _Quarterly Statement_ of the P. E. F., April 1881, pp. 80-4. Prof. Sayce, in _Patriarchal Palestine_, p. 218, ed. 1912, states that with both the Semites of Babylonia and of Canaan the supreme object of worship was Baal or Bel, "the Lord," who was but the Sun-god under a variety of names.[55]

2. APHRODITE (called _Venus_ by the Romans).

In Greek, the goddess of love and beauty.

The worship of the Phœnician goddess Astarte, brought in by Phœnician traders in early days, helped to form the conception which the Greeks had of Aphrodite.

A Sanctuary of Aphrodite (Astarte) stood on the place where, according to Christian tradition, was the Sepulchre of CHRIST.

A chief worship of Ascalon was that of Ἀφροδίτη Οὐρανία, _i.e._ of Astarte, as Queen of Heaven. Herodotus mentions her as the deity of Ascalon.

This female deity is represented on coins of the Imperial epoch chiefly as the tutelary goddess of the City.

As goddess of the _sea_, and maritime traffic, especially of calm seas, and prosperous voyages, she was widely worshipped by sailors and fishermen as the goddess of _calm_.

Her influence was also felt in the gardens among the flowers in the spring-time. It was then that her principal festivals occurred.

A chief seat of her worship was Cyprus.

Additional information on this independent, unmarried goddess is to be found in Sayce's _Patriarchal Palestine_, pp. 218-21.

3. APOLLO (Greek Ἀπόλλων), son of Zeus and Leto, brother of Artemis, portrayed with flowing hair, as ever being young.

Apollo appears originally as a god of _light_. As the god of spiritual light, his festivals are all in spring and summer. He is one of the great gods of the Greeks, and next to Zeus the most widely worshipped.

Josephus speaks of a Temple of Apollo at Gaza, 96 B.C. (_Antiq._, xiii. 13, 3), at the time when the city fell into the hands of Alexander Jannæus. "The Senators, who were in all five hundred, fled to Apollo's Temple (for this attack happened to be made as they were sitting), whom Alexander slew."

The worship of Apollo is to be traced to Seleucid influence, for Apollo was the ancestral god of the Seleucids, and a great favourite with them.

3. PERSEPHONE (Latin Proserpina), daughter of Zeus and the earth-goddess Demeter, the goddess of the lower world.[56]

Her special name in Attic cult is CORÊ, lit. "the maiden."

Persephone is emblematic of vegetable life that comes and goes with the changing seasons.

Her festivals were celebrated in spring, and after the harvest.

The pomegranate was Proserpine's symbol, and the pigeon and the cock were sacred to her.

5. HECATE, a Greek moon-goddess, perhaps of non-Hellenic origin. Her appearance is frightful. She is generally represented as a daughter of Perses.

As a goddess of the lower world she was the patroness of all enchanters and enchantresses, who were her disciples and protegés.

6. HEROON. THE HIEREION.

Heroon is the shrine of a hero, from ἥρως, a hero. Hesiod reserves this name for mortals of divine origin, who are therefore also known as demigods.

7. THE TYCHE, identified with the Roman Fortuna. A female deity--the daughter of Zeus. She was of more importance in Italy than among the Greeks.

In Greek mythology she was originally the goddess of chance. In the course of time she came to be extensively worshipped as a goddess of prosperity, who had cities under her special protection.

Meyer (pp. 122 and 158), refers to the Tyche as a familiar figure upon Gazæan coins, having a woman's head, with a turreted crown consisting of three towers, one of which is pierced with a door, and with a veil over the back of her head.

The reverse side of the coin of Antoninus in Plate XI, No. 7, of De Saulcy's _Numismatique de la Palestine_, is a good representation of the Gaza Tyche.

8. THE MARNEION.

The Temple of Marnas is spoken of as the Marneion, a home of the city's god.

Marnas was the Baal of Gaza.

In the Roman period Marnas was the chief deity of the city. St. Jerome mentions this Temple of Marnas.

The oldest express testimony of the cult of Marnas is, according to De Saulcy, that of certain coins of Hadrian, with the superscription GAZA MARNA.

"In the last days of paganism, as we learn from Marcus Diaconus, in his _Life of Porphyry of Gaza_, this great god of Gaza was regarded as the god of rains, and invoked against famine. That Marnas was lineally descended from Dagon is probable in every way, and it is therefore interesting to note that he gave oracles, that he had a circular temple, where he was sometimes worshipped by human sacrifices, that there were twenty wells in the sacred circuit, and that there was also a place of adoration to him, situated, in old Semitic fashion, outside the town."[57]

This temple outside the town was possibly the place called Bethelia, one and three-quarter miles north of Gaza.

FOOTNOTES:

[55] A few traces of the cult of Baal and Astarte are to be found in England.--_Quarterly Statement_ of P. E. F., Oct. 1909, pp. 280-4.

[56] See the story of Demeter and Persephone in Neale's _Stories of Heathen Mythology_, pp. 102-10. S.P.C.K. 1905.

[57] _Encyclopædia Britannica_, vol. xviii, ninth edition, p. 756.

APPENDIX III

PASSAGES OF THE HOLY BIBLE, THE DEUTERO-CANONICAL BOOKS, AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

Genesis. PAGE