Speeches on Samarian Excavations

Professor D. G. Lyon h.'01, curator of the Semitic Museum, will speak on "Roman Remains Discovered in Samaria" at the classical conference to be held in Harvard 1 at 4.30 o'clock this afternoon. Professor G. F. Moore and W. H. Freeinan 3G. will speak on "Two New Roman Inscriptions from Samaria" and "Sophocles and Asclepias," respectively. The conference will be open to members of the University.

The excavations carried out by the Harvard expedition to Samaria were made possible by Mr. Jacob H. Schiff who, in 1905 offered to provide the money for excavating the mound which buries Samaria, the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Professor Lyon, who left last spring on leave of absence to supervise the excavations, returned recently and reports gratifying results. The work was carried on at two sites intermittently from the middle of April until August 21. The first site is near the modern village of Sebastiyeh, and is marked by a cluster of columns, belonging, supposedly, to a temple erected by Herod the Great.

The main work was done on the summit of the mound. The walls discovered show that massive and important buildings of various periods stood here. A broad stairway is Roman, at the foot of which were found an altar, two small culumns bearing Latin inscriptions, and the figure of a Roman emperor in marble. At one side of the stairway there is a large vaulted chamber cut partly in the rock. Remains of Greek and Roman pottery were found in great quantities.

Mr. Schiff has made provision for the resumption of the work, which will probably be in charge of Professor G. A. Reisner '89 next summer.