Major-General Sir
C. W. Wilson
Letter
From A Pioneer of Biblical Archaeology
On
November 30th, 1864 the late Major-General Sir C.W. Wilson
wrote this letter to home:
"The
work goes on slowly, as the country is rough and difficult,
and will keep us out here much longer than expected. I have
been doing a great deal of underground work lately, and have
been rewarded by several discoveries, the most important
being an entire arch of one of the approaches to the Temple
in a beautiful state of preservation, and a fine portion of
the old wall. It is rather dirty work, crawling about in the
middle of the earth, but very interesting.
Last week I made an expedition with Dr. Chaplin through a
passage cut in the solid rock to conduct water from the
Kedron Valley into the Pool of Siloam. At first we were able
to stand up, but were soon brought down to our hands and
knees, and for some distance had to lie down on our sides
and wriggle along like eels: not a comfortable sort of
locomotion at anytime. But when it has to be done in six
inches of water and mud, dreadfully unpleasant. There was
just room between the water and the top of the passage to
carry our heads along and breathe. I was leading, and
managed to carry my candle through in safety, but Dr.
Chaplin lost his, and got several mouthfuls of dirty water
in forcing his way through.
I find much less difficulty than I expected in getting about
to different places, and, from working quietly at first,
have established a sort of right to go wherever I like, and
the inhabitants are now quite accustomed to see my head
suddenly appearing out of wells and cisterns. The greatest
difficulty I have is in getting into the interior of private
houses, especially amongst the Jews, and they live just in
the place that I want to work, in what is called by josephus,
the Lower City."
Colonel Sir
Charles Watson "Fifty Years' Work in the Holy Land" p.
13-14
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