Hyksos and Israelite cities

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 Excerpt: ...and entrances. But as we have no evidences about these, no attempt is here made to restore them in the modeI. 32. We may now notice the stone-work and Thus they average 211 inches, and the variations of the stones from that size have been sorted into each course, so as to get them to rank more evenly together. The lengths are not uniform, varying thus:--38, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 49, 50, 50, 50, 51, and 53 inches, The breadths are 21, 21,21,21,23, 24, 24,24, 24, 25,25, 25,27, 29, 37, the latter three being in the lowest course, which is a less regular foundation. It seems then that the standard size for the blocks was 50 x 25 inches and 21 inches thick. The surface is the original quarry face with pick-marks on it; but round the edge is a draft about 4 inches wide, slightly sloping down to the joint line. The drafting is seen to be cut with a claw tool where the marks are visible (shown in the elevation, PI. XXVI), such as is very plainly seen in the dressing of the piece of cornice photographed above the view of the walI. The quality of the stone is not so good as that of the Hyksos wall, or the chips of the upper structures; it is full yellow, and inclined to powder away if exposed. At the base the lowest course rests in part on the desert gezireh surface, which is supplemented by lower blocks in some places. The finish of this wall above was with a cornice of white limestone. A piece of this was found in digging to trace the north-east corner. The profile of the fragment is on PI. XXVII, scale 2: 3, and the photograph of it on PI. XXV. The use of it was evidently for caves to shoot off rain, clear of the wall face, as is' shown by the under-cut slope and drip edge below. Now such a feature is quite needless at Tell el Yehudiyeh, and would never be invented ...