Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

RESEARCHES IN PALESTINE
BY LIC. DR. J.
BENZINGER
Palestine became the object of most general interest
earlier than any other Oriental country. It was known to
Christendom from
The so-called Tomb ot Absalom
its earliest days as
the
" Holy Land,"
being regarded as
the land where God
frequently had revealed
himself and
where sacred history
had been enacted.
Nevertheless
Palestine
research is but
a child of the century
just
systematic
closed, die
exploration
of the land in
all its aspects beginning,
properly
speaking, with the
foundation of the
English Palestine
Exploration
Fund
in the year 1865.
This late awakening
of scientific
interest
in Palestine is quite in accordance with its associations and
with the character of the land, as
being a " holy" one.