More Olden Tomes of Olden Times YOUR turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potters clay, said the prophet, Isaiah. Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of the wise men shall perish and the understanding of prudent men be hid. Out of Jerusalem came a story the other day informing the world that twelve important pieces of broken pottery had been found on the site of Lachish, a stronghold of the Philistines, which was captured by Abiri more than 1500 years before the birth of Christ. About 16 miles east of Gaza, where Samson pulled down the pillars of a temple and perished with thousands of his enemies, eight cities have been excavated each of seven built over the ruins of another. Among the relics found are medallions and seals of Pharoah 3500 years old besides other fragments shedding light on ancient history. Professor Harry Torcznyer, Semitic language expert in the University of Jerusalem, ascribes the potsherds to the time of Jeremiah. Archeological authorities are agreed that this is the most valuable find ever made belonging to the period of Solomons temple, and the greatest discovery since the Siloam inscriptions were found and deciphered. Conclusions of students and skeptics alike are that the writing on these potsherds furnishes ample corroboration of the authenticity of the Bible, which was evidently written in the same manner with the same characters and materials as were these tablets; that chronicles and accounts comprising books of the old testament were carefully set down by eyewitnesses during the periods in which the recorded events transpired. This contradicts the theory of critics who have assumed that the narratives were repeated from hearsay many centuries later. Inasmuch as the Bible is admittedly a historical document, one may wonder why so called higher critics sought confirmation of its narrations and genealogical statistics. Some may insist that books of the Bible need no corroboration, and that the inscriptions on these newly discovered potsherds should rather look to the memoirs of the prophets for support. As an imperishable work of history and literature and a lasting monument to the ancient scribes who bequeathed to mankind its records for posterity to peruse, the Old Testament has been accepted by Catholics, Protestants and Jews. But there have been translations, revisions and eliminations until questions are occasionally raised as to its uniform accuracy. In January, 1604, King James of England, called an assembly of 54 scholars, identified with what was known as the high and low ecclesiastical orders, to translate the original documents into the English language. Only 47 of those named actually took part in the work. Collecting materials occupied a couple of years and the actual translation took three years more. The commission was divided into six groups, assigned to different books. Two committees met in Oxford, two at Cambridge and two at Westminster, with a final revision conducted in London. The king approved results and the accepted edition became known as the King James Translation. To multitudes of the human race this book is not only the foundation of their religious faith, but a daily guide in the affairs of life. No other volume, or compilation, ever took hold of the intellectual world as this book has. It is printed in more languages with a wider circulation and more zealous readers than any other publication of the past or present. One American society has issued 237,979,404 copies of the Bible in more than 300 tongues, and a British concern claims to have surpassed this record. Aside from being the worlds best seller in every age, it is regarded as the basis of Blackstone, the inspiration of great composers and musicians, the fountain from which poetic genius is regaled, the lamp by which the hands of the old masters were guided over their treasured canvases. In the Pentateuch one reads the first chapters in the written history of the human race, and notes the first command of Omnipotence to Nature: And God said, Let there be light and there was light. Four thousand years the world is known to have had light the light of day, light of reason, light of the morning star of promise, light of the evening star of hope, light to guide the faltering feet of mankind through perils and pitfalls to heights of achievement covered with marvels and miracles which might raise more doubts than are now voiced, if the course of time were reversed and the accepted facts of today could be read to the wise men of yore.