Fkr.6] PROCEEDINGS. [1894.ANCIENT METALS FROM TELLEL-HESY.By J. H. Gladstone, D.Sc,F.R.S.Through the kindness cf Mr. BlissI have latelyhad the oppor
tunityof examining a series of metal implementsfromvariousparts
of Tell-el-Hesy, the mound in Southern Palestinewhichis supposed
to cover the site of the city of Lachish. Accordingto the Bible
account thiswasa city of the Amorites whichwastaken by the
Israeliteson their conquest of Canaan, and became one of the
citiesof Judah. We read of its being afterwardsrebuiltas a fortified
cityby Rehoboam ; and at the time of Hezekiah we find it taken
andoccupied by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. We possess an
accountof this campaign againstLachish in the cuneiform inscrip
tionsandmural picturesthat narrate the history of that monarch.
In the time of Nebuchadnezzar it was still a fenced city; and it
was one of the towns inhabitedby the Jews on their returnfromthe
Captivity. Lachishis also mentionedin the correspondence of the
kingKhu-n-Aten,foundat Tell-el-Amarna, onetablet of which has
beenunearthedin Tell-el-Hesy itself. As the date of Khu-n-Aten's
reign is about d.c. 1450,a period somewhatearlier thanthe first
Biblicalrecord of Lachish, we have a series of dates fairlyfixed.
ProfessorFlindersPetrie,whowas its first explorer,was also ableto
determineits approximate chronologyby means of the character of
the pottery foundthere.
Themounditselfhas been cut down to the level of the valley by
Mr. Bliss, whofindsit to consist of the ruins of a series of Amorite
townsoneaboveanother,overlaid by a stratum of ashes and sand,
and thenthe ruins of the Israelite towns. Veryfar down in the
series,at a period which,accordingto Bliss,was earlier than 1 500 b.C.,
werefoundsomecoppertools. A portion of one of the adzes was
brokenoff and given me for examination, withthe following results.
CopperAdze. Themetal presentedoutside a little corrosion,
withindicationsof oxide and subchloride. Theinterior wasex
tremely red in colour, and very hard, but brittle. Its specific
95 > 2