Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/403

 ii s. XIL NOV. 20, 1915.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

395

composition of * Widsith J to c. 460, some two hundred years before it was accommodated to the Old Northumbrian dialect.

ALFRED ANSCOMBE.

JEWISH TREASURE - TROVE.

IN The Near East newspaper of 24 Sept., 1915, is an extract from a letter describing the grave of Capt. the Hon. M. Parker in a little wood somewhere on the fighting line in France, where the trees are blasted with shell-fire, and even the grave-cross has been riddled with bullets.

Capt, Parker was the hero of a most remarkable archaeological adventure just before the war, which should be recorded in ' N. & Q.' In or about 1909 he was induced, with some of his friends, to embark on a search for no less a treasure than the furniture of the Jewish Temple, which, according to ancient legends, was buried in or near Jerusalem.

Capt. Parker is said to have expended more than 60,OOOZ. on this remarkable quest, the greater part of which money went into the hands of Turkish officials and the natives in the village of Siloam. The work was almost confined to the cleansing and ex- ploration of the ancient Siloam tunnel and the intermittent " Spring " at its entrance, and the operations were carried out with the assistance of Turkish officials, zaptiehs, several English workmen, a " waterfinder," and others. This extraordinary work went on for two years Capt. Parker with his friends visiting Jerusalem from time to time, and always returning home for the autumn shooting in his steam yacht.

Capt. Parker stated publicly in 1911 that

' ' our quest was based on a cipher discovered by a Swede, which purported to show the exact position on Mount Ophel where lay buried old treasures of Israel, including vessels of ritual, manuscripts, &c. At this moment it is not possible to say now far the cipher is correct."

This apparently harmless inquiry led, how- ever, to serious results.

According to letters published in the London papers of the end of April, 1911, a most threatening fanatical outburst took place amongst the Moslems of Jerusalem on the 19th of that month. Shops were closed, the natives left the town, and it was said the Mohammedan pilgrims from Neby Musa were advancing on Jerusalem with the intention of massacring the Christians and the members of the Young Turk party f w r ho were accused of assisting Capt. Parker in

robbing the Mosque of Omar of its Solomonic treasures and conveying them to his yacht at Jaffa. Capt. Parker and his friends had made good their departure the night before, so the mob wreaked its vengeance on the Scheik Khalil, the guardian of the mosque r accused of assisting the Englishmen, and he r with some others, was imprisoned. Even the Governor- Pascha of Jerusalem, who had patronized the explorations, found himself in such bad odour with the Moslems as to prevent his official attendance as the Sultan's representative at the Neby Musa pilgrimage.

It might have been supposed that after all this the quest for Jewish treasures would have come to an end ; but, on the contrary f efforts were made to regain the confidence of the Turkish officials, and Capt. Parker's steam yacht visited the Levant seas on more than one occasion in subsequent years.

In the autumn of 1911 Capt. Parker caused to be published in The Field news- paper a detailed account of his exploration of the Siloam tunnel and " The Virgin's Spring," and he also published a pamphlet in English and French editions,' embodying these articles, with additional illustrations (vide Field, 16, 23, 30 Sept., 7, 14 Oct. r 1911).

It should be noted that a little while before this remarkable tre isure - quest in Jerusalem took place, Mr. William Le Queux, the novelist, had written a story called * Treasure of Israel,' which seems to- be founded upon the very same subject of a mysterious cipher belonging to a foreigner, and referring to treasures buried near the Holy City. It would be interesting to know how he was able to forestall Capt. Parker.

Turning back to the source or sources from which it is possible that this strange treasure-trove delusion of the twentieth century ,can have arisen, it becomes evi- dent that it originates in the following story :

Benjamin, a Jew of Tudela in Spain, travelled in the Levant towards the end of the twelfth century, and wrote of how the tombs of David and Solomon, filled with gold and silver treasures, were found by two workmen engaged in pulling down part of the ancient walls on Mount Sion. The work- men (presumably Christians), employed by the Patriarch to repair the " place of worship on Mount Sion," were removing stones from the old city wall when they came upon one which formed the mouth of a cavern. Entering in, they reached a large hall, supported by pillars of marble, encrusted with gold and silver, in which stood a table