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Bible relics found at Samaria.
p. 180
The following appeared in The News Chronicle of June 16th, 1932:--
Beautiful ivory panels, dating from the year B.C.800 and depicting lotus buds and
flowers, strange animals and celestial beings from the Egyptian Pantheon, have been
discovered at Samaria, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel.
The site of this discovery leaves no doubt that these ivories belonged to the
`House of Ivory' mentioned in the Bible (I Kings 22: 39), for the inscription carved on
one of them bears the name of Hazael, King of Damascus, B.C.850-800.
One panel shows a fight between a bull and a lion, in relief. Others show cherubs and
sphinxes. A third represents the personification of eternity.
These discoveries, which are due to the joint work of British and American
archæologists, are of the greatest importance in illustrating the civilization of the
period.--Reuter.
The passage in the Book of Kings referred to reads:--
"Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he
made and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles
of the Kings of Israel?"