| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Jerusalem Explored, Volume I—Text - Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City, with Numerous Illustrations Consisting of Views, Ground Plans and Sections
Author: Pierotti, Ermete
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Jerusalem Explored, Volume I—Text - Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City, with Numerous Illustrations Consisting of Views, Ground Plans and Sections" ***
This book is indexed by ISYS Web Indexing system to allow the reader find any word or number within the document.
I--TEXT***
available by the Jewish National and University Library Digitized Book
Repository (http://jnul.huji.ac.il/eng/digibook.html)
Note: Images of the original pages are available through
the Jewish National and University Library Digitized
Book Repository. See
http://aleph.nli.org.il/nnl/dig/books/bk001202937.html
Transcriber's note:
Greek words and phrases in the Greek alphabet have been
transliterated and are surrounded by plus signs (+) in
this transcription (example: +spêlaiôn+).
Footnotes in the original publication were numbered at the
page level. E.g., if a page had three footnotes, they were
numbered 1, 2 & 3, and footnote numbering began with 1 on
each page on which notes appeared. For this transcription,
all 903 footnotes have been renumbered sequentially, from 1
to 903, and footnotes for a given chapter have been placed
at the end of the chapter.
JERUSALEM EXPLORED
Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City.
[Illustration: University Press Logo]
Cambridge:
Printed by C. J. Clay, M.A.
At the University Press.
JERUSALEM EXPLORED
Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City,
With Numerous Illustrations
Consisting of Views, Ground Plans, and Sections,
by
ERMETE PIEROTTI,
Doctor of Mathematics, and Architect-Engineer, Civil and Military, to
His Excellency Surraya Pasha of Jerusalem.
Translated by Thomas George Bonney, M.A., F.G.S.
Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.
VOLUME I.--TEXT.
[Illustration: Printer's Logo]
London: Bell and Daldy, Fleet Street.
Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, and Co.
M.DCCC.LXIV.
[The right of Translation is reserved.]
TO HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY
NAPOLEON III.
Emperor of the French,
PROTECTOR OF THE HOLY PLACES,
THIS CONTRIBUTION
TO ARCHÆOLOGICAL SCIENCE,
IN WHICH HE IS HIMSELF A PROFICIENT,
IS BY HIS MAJESTY'S AUGUST PERMISSION INSCRIBED,
BY HIS OBEDIENT SERVANT,
ERMETE PIEROTTI.
_PALAIS DES TUILERIES, LE 26 NOV. 1861._
_CABINET DE L'EMPEREUR._
_MONSIEUR,_
_L'EMPEREUR ME CHARGE D'AVOIR L'HONNEUR DE VOUS INFORMER QUE, SELON VOS
DÉSIRS, SA MAJESTÉ VEUT BIEN ACCEPTER LA DÉDICACE DE VOTRE OUVRAGE SUR
LES MONUMENTS ET LES LOCALITÉS DE LA PALESTINE[1]._
_AGRÉEZ, MONSIEUR, L'ASSURANCE DE MA CONSIDÉRATION DISTINGUÉE._
_POUR LE SECRÉTAIRE DE L'EMPEREUR, CHEF DU CABINET ET PAR AUTORISATION._
_LE Ss. CHEF._
_JACALEY._
_LE DR. E. PIEROTTI._
_11 RUE DES DEUX BOULES, PARIS._
[1] Of which Work this is intended as the first part.
PREFACE.
On the subject of Jerusalem many books in various languages have already
been published; but I venture to think that there is still room for
another, as most of them are open to objections of different kinds. Some
authors have erred in being carried away by their subject, and
disappoint the reader by substituting their own reflexions for the
information that he desires to acquire. Some, with the eye of fancy,
seem to behold the shades of Kings, of Prophets, and of Heroes,
wandering among their tombs, or haunting the ruins of Sion; others,
after a short stay in Jerusalem, return to their own homes and publish
books, composed of fragments of classic lore, and the traditions they
have gathered from the guides who have accompanied them in the visits to
the Holy Places; some indeed going so far as to denounce as heretics and
infidels all who do not lend a ready belief to these tales. Lastly,
there are some who, without visiting Jerusalem, and consequently without
a minute knowledge of its topography, rely upon the information they
have gathered from the accounts of others, to reconstruct the ancient
walls, the Temple, and other buildings, and endeavour to overthrow the
conclusions which have been formed after a prolonged residence in the
country and much careful observation.
In the works of all these authors there is much that is interesting, but
the description of what is really to be seen is always more or less
defective. I have accordingly endeavoured to supply this want during my
residence in the Holy City, and now present to my readers the fruits of
eight years of continual labour, devoted to a study of the topography of
Jerusalem upon the spot, in which I have been constantly occupied in
excavating and removing the rubbish accumulated over the place during so
many centuries, in retracing the walls, in examining the monuments and
ancient remains, and in penetrating and traversing the conduits and
vaults; so that I trust I am in a position to throw some fresh light
upon the subject of Jewish Archæology. In arranging the plan of my work,
I have rested chiefly upon the Bible, the traditions of the Rabbis, and
the works of Josephus, and have made but little use of any other
authorities upon the ancient topography of the city; but, to compensate
for this, I have made excavations and watched those made by others, have
formed intimacies with the inhabitants of the country, have sought for
information on the spot, regardless of personal risk, have worked with
my own hands under the ground, and so have obtained much knowledge of
that which lies below the surface of the soil in Jerusalem; and have
pursued my purpose, at one time with bribes, at another with force, and
always with patience, perseverance, and courage.
But my efforts would have been of little avail had it not been for the
constant protection and assistance of His Excellency Surraya Pasha, of
M. de Barrère, the French Consul, and his Chancellor, M. Aimé Dequié,
who lost no opportunity of publicly testifying their esteem and regard
for me. I must not forget to express my gratitude to the Ecclesiastical
authorities, who have also shewn me great kindness.
That I have been able to publish my book in England is due to the Rev.
George Williams, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, who, when he had
heard of my discoveries in the Holy City,--a place so dear and so full
of interest to him,--invited me to this University, gave me a truly
English welcome, and aided me to the utmost of his power in
accomplishing my desire.
For the translation of my Italian manuscript into English, I am indebted
to the Rev. T. G. Bonney, Fellow of St John's College, whom I have also
to thank for several useful suggestions and corrections. I must also
express my obligations to Mr R. W. Taylor, Fellow of the same College,
who, in order to expedite the publication of the book, kindly undertook
to assist his friend by translating the Notes.
The proof-sheets have been corrected by Mr Bonney, and revised by Mr
Williams, and by the Rev. John E. B. Mayor, Fellow of S. John's College,
who has not only been at the pains to collate them with my manuscript,
but has also aided me with his great learning and experience. I cannot
find terms adequate to express my gratitude to these three gentlemen for
their constant kindness and friendly care. Nor can I refrain from
thanking my numerous friends in this University, who have contributed to
render my sojourn among them at once pleasant and profitable; with whom
I have spent many happy hours, the memory of which will not leave me
during the rest of my life.
And now I present my book to the reader, apologizing for its many
deficiencies, and trusting that he will be an indulgent critic. It does
not profess to be more than a simple and strict record of facts, and
therefore I must ask him to pardon me if it be sometimes rather dull and
dry. I have purposely avoided, as much as possible, all that would
interfere with the main end of the work, such as personal reminiscences
and unimportant details; wishing rather to put forward facts than
theories, to rely upon sight rather than imagination. Most thankfully
shall I receive friendly correction and criticism, or suggestions and
advice for my conduct in the new investigations which I hope to make in
Palestine. As regards those which I have described in the following
pages, I can honestly say that I have spared no pains to make them as
complete as possible; and though they have cost me much time and money,
much anxiety and fatigue, still, if I succeed in throwing any additional
light upon Jewish antiquities, or in exciting a more general interest
upon such an important subject, I shall feel that I have not laboured in
vain.
ERMETE PIEROTTI.
CAMBRIDGE, _December 15th, 1863_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
ORIGIN OF THE NAME JERUSALEM--HISTORY--TOPOGRAPHY AND GENERAL
ASPECT--CLIMATE--POPULATION--WATERS 1
CHAPTER II.
ANCIENT TOPOGRAPHY OF JERUSALEM--IDENTIFICATION OF THE
MOUNTAINS, HILLS AND VALLEYS--JERUSALEM IN THE TIME OF THE
JEBUSITES, DAVID, SOLOMON, JOTHAM, HEZEKIAH, MANASSEH,
NEHEMIAH, HEROD--THE TESTIMONY OF JOSEPHUS EXAMINED--THE
SIEGE BY TITUS--FORMER EXTENT OF THE CITY--JERUSALEM IN THE
TIME OF HADRIAN, THE CRUSADERS AND SOLYMAN 16
CHAPTER III.
MOUNT MORIAH AND ITS ENVIRONS--HISTORY IN THE TIME OF
ABRAHAM, JACOB, DAVID, SOLOMON, ZERUBBABEL, ALEXANDER THE
GREAT, ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, THE MACCABEES, POMPEIUS, CRASSUS,
THE HERODS, TITUS, HADRIAN, CONSTANTINE, JULIAN THE APOSTATE,
OMAR, ABD-EL-MALEK, VALID OR ELULID, THE CRUSADERS, SALADIN,
SELIM I., SOLYMAN I.--GENERAL EXAMINATION OF MORIAH, WITH
DETAILS OF THE INVESTIGATIONS 45
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION, AND THE HOSPITAL OF S. JOHN,
WITH THEIR ENVIRONS--HISTORY OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE FROM THE
DEATH OF CHRIST TO THE PRESENT TIME--GENUINENESS OF THE
SEPULCHRE--GOLGOTHA--EXAMINATION OF THE EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR
OF THE CHURCH--RUINS OF THE HOSPITAL 102
CHAPTER V.
INVESTIGATIONS IN THE VIA DOLOROSA (OR THE WAY OF THE CROSS).
THE RELIGIOUS AND OTHER REMARKABLE BUILDINGS IN IT OR IN ITS
NEIGHBOURHOOD AND IN THE REST OF THE CITY, TOGETHER WITH ALL
THE CONVENTS OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES 135
CHAPTER VI.
EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE CITY ON THE EAST,
SOUTH, AND SOUTH-WEST--THE VALLEY OF KIDRON, CALLED ALSO THE
VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT, WITH ITS MONUMENTS AND REMARKABLE
PLACES--THE MOUNT OF OLIVES--BETHPHAGE--BETHANY--THE VALLEY
OF HINNOM--THE MOUNT OF EVIL COUNSEL--SOUTH-WESTERN PART OF
THE VALLEY OF GIHON--MOUNT SION--CHRISTIAN CEMETERIES--TOMB
OF DAVID, AND SUBTERRANEAN VAULTS--THE COENACULUM--THE HOUSE
OF CAIAPHAS--THE GROTTO OF S. PETER--THE LEPERS 167
CHAPTER VII.
EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE CITY ON THE NORTH AND
WEST--THE MONUMENT OF HELENA OF ADIABENE, AND THE CHURCH
DEDICATED TO S. STEPHEN--ROYAL CAVERNS--GROTTO OF
JEREMIAH--HOUSE OF THE VINE--TOMBS OF THE KINGS--SHEIKH
JERRAH--ANCIENT SYNAGOGUE--TOMB OF SIMON THE JUST--TOMBS AT
THE HEAD OF THE KIDRON VALLEY--KIDRON POOL--VARIOUS TOMBS ON
THE NORTH-WEST--TOMBS OF THE JUDGES--SHEIKH AYMAR--RUSSIAN
BUILDINGS--VALLEY OF GIHON--BIRKET MAMILLAH--MONUMENT OF
HEROD, AND RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF S. BABYLAS--GREEK CONVENT
OF THE HOLY CROSS--PROPERTY OF THE ARCHIMANDRITE NICOFORUS 223
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE WATERS, FIT OR UNFIT FOR DRINKING, IN JERUSALEM AND
ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD 245
CHAPTER IX.
GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CITY OF
JERUSALEM 262
* * * * *
NOTES 281
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 311
PRINCIPAL PASSAGES FROM THE HOLY BIBLE 315
PASSAGES FROM JOSEPHUS'S ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS 323
PASSAGES FROM JOSEPHUS'S HISTORY OF THE JEWISH WAR 327
INDEX 333
CORRIGENDA ET ADDENDA.
Page 7, line 30, _for_ Hulda _read_ Huldah
Page 10, line 33, _for_ and in 1859 _read_ and in 1861
Page 14, line 2, and page 15, lines 6 and 13, _for_ Sherif _read_
Sherîf
Page 37, line 8, _for_ Barrére _read_ Barrère
Page 43, line 28, _for_ Willebrand _read_ Willibrand
Page 106, line 5, and page 117, line 14, _for_ Abbot _read_ Abbé
Page 145, line 23, _for_ then _read_ be thou
Page 155, head line, _for_ Greek Synagogue _read_ Great Synagogue
Page 207, line 18, _for_ 260 _read_ 270
Page 210, last line, _for_ Note XXII. _read_ Note XVI.
Chapter 1. The numbers of the different nations and sects that inhabit
Jerusalem were taken by the Author, in the service of Surraya Pasha, in
the year 1861.
Vols. I. and II. of the Gesta Dei per Francos, referred to in the body
of the work, form 'Tomus Primus Orientalis Historiæ.' The pages are
numbered continuously, and, according to Dr Robinson, the book usually
forms only one volume. This, however, was not observed by the translator
in verifying the references until the earlier sheets were struck off.
Sanutus' Liber Secretorum fidelium Crucis forms 'Tomus Secundus
Orientalis Historiæ.' An account of most of the earlier books referred
to in this work will be found in Dr Robinson's Biblical Researches, Vol.
III. First Appendix, pp. 3-27 (1st Edition). La Citez de Jherusalem,
contained in M. de Vogüé's work, Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, is also
printed in the Rev. G. Williams' Holy City, Vol. 1. Appendix II. pp.
134--142 (2nd Edition).
JERUSALEM EXPLORED.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME JERUSALEM--HISTORY--TOPOGRAPHY AND GENERAL
ASPECT--CLIMATE--POPULATION--WATERS.
Most authors agree in identifying the Salem of Melchizedek[2] with
Jerusalem. S. Jerome[3] however asserts that the residence of the King
of Righteousness was in the east of Judea, three leagues to the south of
the city of Scythopolis, and not far from the Jordan, supporting his
opinion by the fact that in his time a town still existed there called
Salim (_Salumias_), not far from which was Ænon[4], where S. John
Baptist baptized. The Arabs of the Jordan guided me to Salumias and to a
neighbouring valley, which I identify with "the valley of Shaveh[5]
(_the plain_), which is the king's dale." We are told that Abraham met
Melchizedek and the king of Sodom on his return from the successful
attack on the invaders, and it seems incredible that he should have gone
by Jerusalem to Hebron, thus uselessly prolonging his journey by passing
through a strange country. Nor would it be said that the king of Sodom
went out "_to meet him in the valley of the plain_," but rather "_to
seek him in the king's dale in the mountains_," nor would Melchizedek
have been received by Abraham, but they would have met in Salem[6]. For
these reasons I believe Salem and Jerusalem to be two distinct places.
There is, however, no doubt that Jerusalem was the city of the
Jebusites, a nation descended and named from Jebus, son of Canaan.
It is difficult to fix the period when it acquired the name of Jerusalem
(_Yerush-shalom_, Inheritance of Peace,) for the use of the word in
Joshua x. 1, xii. 10, Judges i. 21, does not prove that it was older
than the period of the conquest. The Emperor Hadrian called it _Ælia
Capitolina_. The City is named _El Kuds_, or _Beit el Makdus_ (the Holy
House), by the Arabic writers of the middle ages. It is possible that it
may have borne this name at a much earlier period, as Cadytis[7], a
great city of Syria, taken by Necho, king of Egypt, may be Jerusalem;
Cadytis being only a corruption of the Aramaic _Kadishtha_ (the Holy).
Some suppose that _Jerusalem_ has been formed by the union of _Jebus_
and _Salem_, the _b_ being changed into _r_, but the Hebrew form of the
word does not admit of this transformation. The derivation given by
Lysimachus[8] is amusing from its absurdity. He asserts that in the time
of Bocchoris, king of Egypt, the Jews were expelled from that country by
the order of the Sun-god, who was disgusted at the diseased and leprous
condition of the race, and visited the land with a famine; that being
led by Moses, they travelled over the desert; and "the difficulties of
the journey being over, they came to a country inhabited; and there they
abused the men, and plundered and burnt their temples; and then came
into that land which is called Judea, and there they built a city and
dwelt therein; and that their city was named _Hierosyla_, from this
robbing of the temples; but that still, upon the success they had
afterwards, they in time changed its denomination, that it might not be
a reproach to them, and called the city _Hierosolyma_, and themselves
_Hierosolymites_."
Adonizedek was king of Jerusalem at the time of the conquest under
Joshua[9]. He fell in battle against the Jews, near Gibeon, and some
time after the lower town was taken by them. The Jebusites[10], however,
still remained in it, among the descendants of Judah and Benjamin, and
were not driven from the upper town till the eighth year of David's
reign, when their stronghold was taken by storm[11], and the place
became the capital of his kingdom. Jerusalem attained to its highest
pitch of grandeur under the government of Solomon, being the centre of
commerce, civilization, and religion. After the division of the Tribes,
it continued to be the capital of the kingdom of Judah. In the fifth
year of Rehoboam it was taken and sacked by Shishak[12], king of Egypt.
In the reign of Jehoram[13] bands of Philistines and Arabs entered the
city, plundered the king's palace, and carried his wives and sons into
captivity. In the reign of Amaziah[14] it was sacked by Joash king of
Israel. It was unsuccessfully threatened by the Assyrians in the days of
Hezekiah[15]. Manasseh[16] fortified the western side of the city and
Ophel, but it was laid waste by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar[17].
After a captivity of half a century, the Jews were permitted by Cyrus to
rebuild it, but, owing to the opposition of their enemies, the work was
not completed till the time of Nehemiah. Jerusalem was involved in the
troubles caused by the fall of the Persian Empire. The city opened its
gates to Alexander, who not only treated it with humanity, but also
conferred upon it several privileges. After his death it was taken by
Ptolemy, son of Lagus, king of Egypt. Under the Ptolemies, and for a
while under the Seleucidæ, it on the whole enjoyed peace and honour,
until the barbarity of the tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes renewed the
sorrows of the unhappy city. The heroic sons of the house of Mattathias
delivered their country from this yoke, and it remained under the
princes of the Asmonean family until Palestine was conquered by the
Romans. Pompeius the Great, who entered Jerusalem as a conqueror 63
B.C., respected the lives and property of the inhabitants. The temple
was protected by him, only to be plundered by Crassus. The liberality of
Herod the Great added much to the splendour of Jerusalem; but after his
death the spirit of sedition spread more and more every day among the
Jews, producing frequent revolts against the Romans, which were
terminated by the destruction of the city by Titus, A.D. 71. Thus were
the predictions of the prophets fulfilled.
After lying in ruins for sixty years it was rebuilt by the Emperor
Hadrian upon a part of its former site, and called Ælia Capitolina[18];
but the Jews were forbidden to enter it under pain of death. When
Christianity triumphed in the reign of Constantine, the heathen temples
were replaced by churches in honour of every memorial of the Saviour's
life and death.
Chosroes II., king of the Persians, took the city by assault, A.D. 614;
it was regained by the Emperor Heraclius A.D. 629, and again taken by
the Khalif Omar A.D. 636. After this it was successively under the
dominion of the Persian Khalifs, of the Fatimites of Egypt, and of the
Seljukians, in whose time the Crusades were commenced, owing to the
preaching of Peter the Hermit. The Christian army, led by Godfrey of
Bouillon, entered the Holy City A.D. 1099. The Latin kingdom was brought
to an end by the victories of Saladin A.D. 1187. Sultan Malek el-Kamel
ceded the city to Frederick II. of Germany, but it was recovered by the
Mohammedans under Jenghiz Khan, A.D. 1244. It then remained subject to
the different dynasties of the Sultans of Egypt and Syria, until it was
conquered by the Turks under Selim I. A.D. 1517. Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
took possession of it A.D. 1832, but the Great Powers restored it to the
Porte A.D. 1840[19]. The spirit of the present Turkish government,
influenced as it is by the nations of Europe, induces us to think that a
happier and more peaceful future is in store for Jerusalem, and that
under their protection the furious contests, so common among the rival
sects of Christians, who struggle for the possession of the Holy
Places, will be appeased. By these quarrels only will the soil of
Jerusalem be stained with blood, not by the fanaticism of the
Mohammedan; he is, and will be, restrained by the power of the local
authorities, the energy of the Consuls, and the bribes paid by the
Convents to pacify the more restless spirits. We may also hope that
European civilization will speedily penetrate into Palestine, and that
Jerusalem will become an inviolable asylum, open to every devout man;
for all, without distinction of creed, are entitled to mourn, to hope,
and to pray, on the spot consecrated by the sacrifice of our Divine
Master.
The city of Jerusalem[20] is situated about 31° 47' north latitude and
33° east longitude (Paris) in the highest part of the mountains of
Judea, and upon the ancient boundaries of the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin (Joshua xviii. 6). It is surrounded on every side by rising
ground, and therefore cannot be seen by the traveller until he
approaches near it. The most distant view of it is obtained from the
village of _Neby Samwîl_[21] (Prophet Samuel), three hours (about twelve
miles) distant on the north-west; and it was from this height that the
first Crusaders, under Godfrey of Bouillon, saluted Jerusalem with
shouts of exultation.
On the north the city is overshadowed by the mountain of _Shafat_ (fair
prospect), the ancient Scopus. It was from this position that Titus made
his first general survey of the city, which at that time he had no
intention of destroying[22]. On the east rises Mount Olivet; on the
south, an eminence known as the Hill of Evil Counsel, and also as the
Mount of the Sepulchres, from the great number of tombs existing there.
To the west are the summits of Mount Gihon. Valleys separate all these
mountains from the city and the high table-land to the north, entirely
surrounding it except on the north-west and a small portion of the north
side, where the ground is so nearly level as to admit of an easy
approach.
On the north commences the valley of Kidron, at first not deep but
sinking as it approaches the east, and continuing to do so along the
whole of that side, until it reaches the lower extremity of the gardens
of Siloam. Here it unites with the valley of Hinnom, which runs parallel
to the south of the city. On the west is the valley of Gihon, which is
very deep at the point where it takes the name of Hinnom, on the
south-west. From this conformation of the ground, it is obvious that, in
times when only the weapons and military engines of ancient warfare were
employed, the city was an important stronghold, well defended by nature,
except on the north-west and a small portion of the north side, where
the almost level ground exposed it to an attack. From the most remote
periods of antiquity until the time of the Crusades and Saladin,
Jerusalem was invariably assaulted at these points by those who made
themselves masters of the city.
A few olive-trees, a bare argillaceous soil scattered over with stones
and flints, some ruins of ancient sepulchres, four water-tanks, some
cisterns almost entirely dilapidated, and bare rocks, some of which
exhibit traces of chiselling, are the only objects that meet the eye
throughout the whole region of the north and north-west.
On the east, along the course of the valley of Kidron, nothing is seen
but rocks and accumulations of earth and rubbish: these continue
likewise along the south, but the desolate effect is somewhat concealed
by the growth of vegetation, and by the gardens of the peasants of
Siloam. The ruins still existing, and the nature of the soil, which is
mostly grey in colour and full of lime, shew that the ground on this
side was once occupied by houses. Finally, on the west are seen the
reservoir of Mamillah, accumulations of earth and rubbish, argillaceous
soil, bare rocks, and a few recent plantations,--the work of the
improver of cultivation in Palestine, the Greek Archimandrite,
Nicoferus.
As may be inferred from this description, the environs of Jerusalem
present an appearance of wretchedness and desolation, that cannot fail
to strike the eye of the traveller: and the feeling of melancholy is
further increased by the thought that the Holy City itself is surrounded
by tombs which are daily being opened, and that the inhabitants have
only cemeteries for their public promenades. The memories of the past
alone are able to attract the traveller and the pilgrim to
Jerusalem,--not its present condition; for the miserable spectacle
presented by the monuments still existing above ground would certainly
not repay the trouble and fatigue of so long a journey. But those
memories, together with the subterranean remains, afford ample
recompense to any one possessing imagination and religious feeling, who
wishes to study the Bible in its own peculiar country, where its use
will inevitably lead him to the truth.
During the past few years several buildings have been erected in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem, more especially on the north-west. Of these,
the most remarkable, both for their extent and for their site, which
commands the city on every side, are those belonging to Russia. This
great nation, though the last to establish a mission here, has been the
first to choose a fine situation and erect suitable buildings upon it.
The occupants have also the advantage of escaping from the bad smells of
the city. I was the first to offer this site to Cyril, Bishop of
Melitopolis, and head of the Mission, but it was declined. I renewed the
offer to His Excellency M. de Mansouroff, who at first refused it, but
afterwards gave orders that the purchase should be made.
We will now proceed to a survey of the city itself. The whole _terrain_
slopes sensibly in an easterly direction; its highest point is at the
north-western angle of the walls; but between this position and the
highest part of Sion to the south the difference of level is not so
great as to forbid us to conjecture that it was originally one hill. The
accumulations of soil have so much altered the surface of the ground
that it is impossible to recognize ancient localities in the modern city
without making excavations: this I have done to an extent that enables
me to speak confidently on the point. Believing that in an undertaking
of this kind it is useless to form an opinion without an accurate
investigation of the soil and a careful study of the subject, I could
not be content to remain merely a few days in the country.
Modern Jerusalem does not occupy the whole of the space covered by the
ancient city in the days of Herod; the greater part of Mount Sion (to
the south) being excluded, as it has been since the time when Hadrian
rebuilt the city under the name of _Ælia Capitolina_. The agreement
between the descriptions of the town, given by William of Tyre, James of
Vitri, Brocardus and many others in the middle ages, and those of modern
writers, shews that its limits have not since undergone any changes. The
wall, which now surrounds the city, was built from the foundations at
that time, and only restored in some parts by order of Sultan Solyman
the Magnificent, son of Selim I. in 1534, as declared by the
inscriptions over the gates[23]. This wall is not of uniform height, but
varies from thirty-six to forty-two feet. Its thickness also varies in
different parts, from four to five and five and a half feet. The whole
wall is crowned by battlements, and makes a great number of angles; of
these there are more on the south than on the north; while on the east
it forms nearly a straight line, and on the west, two segments, meeting
in a very obtuse angle at the Jaffa gate. Here rise some towers[24], and
the old fortress, called the Castle of David[25]. This constitutes the
feeble nucleus of the fortification of the city, and is of no importance
whatever in the present state of military science. The form of the city
is an irregular trapezium, the longest side of which is the north, the
next the south; the east is shorter than either of the former, the west
the shortest of all.
The walls contain eleven gateways[26], five of which are closed up.
1st. On the north, the gate of Damascus, called by the Arabs
_Bâb-el-'Amud_, or The Gate of the Column[27]. Through this is the road
to the ancient land of Ephraim, and so to Nablûs and Damascus. It is
also the gate of honour by which all the Mohammedan authorities who
arrive as governors or as visitors to the Holy City make their first
entry. This gate is better built than any of the others, and presents a
fine appearance; its Saracenic architecture is magnificent; the few
arabesques and ornaments are of excellent workmanship. Inside, on the
right-hand wall on entering, is a Cufic inscription.
2nd. Proceeding eastwards, about 780 feet from the gate just described,
is the gate, commonly called that of Herod, which has been walled up for
some few years, to save the expense of a guard. The Arabs call it
_Bâb-ez-Zaheri_, which some translate as Gate of Gardens. Close to this
gate is a small reservoir, called the Pilgrim's Pool, in memory of a
maiden who made a vow to walk to Jerusalem barefoot and fasting, and
died of exhaustion on reaching this spot.
3rd. Continuing along the eastern side and turning to the south, after
passing by a ditch excavated in the rock, we come to a pool and to the
Gate of Saint Mary, _Bâb-Sitti-Mariam_ of the Arabs, called by many S.
Stephen's Gate. Over the gateway are four lions in _bas relief_, said
traditionally to have been placed there by the Khalif Omar[28]. The pool
is called _Birket-Hammam-Sitti-Mariam_, or the Pool of the Bath of our
Lady Mary. This gate leads to the valley of Kidron, commonly called the
valley of Jehoshaphat, to Bethany, and to Jericho.
4th. At a short distance, towards the south, is the Golden Gate[29],
which would open upon the area of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_. This is the
most richly ornamented of all, and is remarkable for its architecture,
of which I shall presently speak at greater length. It has long been
closed up, doubtless on account of a legend, to which much importance is
attached by the natives, which states that through this gate a sovereign
from the west will enter, on a Friday, and make himself master of the
city. In consequence, many resort to the gate every Friday to offer
their mid-day prayer and to entreat God to deliver them from foreign
invasions.
5th. Within a short distance is a very small gate, also built up, which
M. de Saulcy was the first to recognize, (in my opinion wrongly,) as the
gate of Jehoshaphat of the period of the Crusades.
6th. Passing the south-east corner of the wall, and proceeding westward,
we observe a gate with a pointed arch, also walled up.
7th. Continuing in the same direction we find a triple gate, also closed
with masonry.
8th. The southern gate, called by the Mohammedans _Bâb-el-Huldah_, Gate
of Huldah[30]. This gate, now disused, is under the Mosque _el-Aksa_. Of
its ornamentation I shall speak more fully in another place.
9th. Still keeping along the southern wall in a westerly direction we
find the small Dung Gate, called by the Arabs _Bâb-el-Mogharibeh_, Gate
of the western Africans. It is not kept open throughout the year; but
when there is a scarcity of water in the city, it is used by the
water-carriers.
10th. Ascending towards Sion, we reach the Sion Gate, _Bâb-Neby-Daûd_,
(The Gate of the prophet David,) so called because it leads to the
Sepulchre of David, which is at a short distance. Through it too is the
way to the Christian and Jewish cemeteries.
11th. Lastly, on the west is the Jaffa Gate[31], or in Arabic,
_Bâb-el-Khalíl_, (Gate of Hebron,) because through this gate is the best
and shortest road to Hebron.
The appearance of Jerusalem within the walls is sombre and sad, offering
no attraction to the eye, and filling the mind with deep melancholy.
With the exception of the esplanade of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_, the city
presents but a mass of buildings without order or design, very few of
which deserve special attention. The cupolas of the Church of the
Resurrection, that of the new Jewish Synagogue, and some minarets, are
the only edifices which tower above the others, and the forms even of
these are not pleasing. The panorama of Jerusalem, as seen from
Olivet[32], is striking from the feelings it awakens and the
reminiscences it calls up; but it conveys no idea of life. It is in
truth the panorama of a Deicide city. The streets and lanes entangled in
the labyrinth of houses are irregular, narrow, dirty, and ill-paved;
through many of them flow open sewers, receiving the drainage from the
houses, and filth of all kinds abounds. There was a period when it was
even thought desirable to leave the gates of the city open at night, in
order that hyenas and jackals might enter and purify the streets by
devouring the carcases of animals that were lying about.
The vaulted bazaars, which in many cities of the East are so full of
life and activity, at Jerusalem look rather like caves containing
sepulchral cells, and the visitor must be careful where he stands, lest
some portion of the ruinous wall fall upon him, where he sets his foot,
or against whom he brushes in the street. With few exceptions, the
fronts of the houses present nothing but rows of windows with iron-bars,
or heavy wooden _jalousies_, that give them the appearance of
prisons--weeds and hyssop are growing upon many--others are fast falling
to decay--the whole is a sad picture of neglect and indifference.
There are three great divisions of the city. A central valley,
commencing at the N.W., outside the Damascus gate, and terminating at
the S.E., below the Pool of Siloam, separates it into two parts, of
which that on the west of the valley may be considered as the first
division, being larger than both the others together. These are
separated one from another by a street, now called (for the greater part
of its length) the Via Dolorosa, which begins at the Gate of Saint Mary,
whence it rises westward until it meets the central valley. The hill to
the north of this street forms the second division, and the platform on
the south, occupied by the _Haram-es-Sherîf_ and its precincts, the
third division.
The first division is traversed from north to south by a street[33]
extending from the Damascus Gate to the Gate of Sion. The part to the
west of this is chiefly inhabited by Christians, and may therefore be
considered as the Christian Quarter; the part to the east, as far as the
central valley, is occupied by people of various creeds. From the Jaffa
Gate as far as the western side of the _Haram_, the city is traversed by
another street, called in the time of the Crusaders the Street of David.
The district, then, east of the street leading to the Gate of Sion, and
S.E. of the Street of David, is the Jewish Quarter; and that north of
the Street of David, together with the western side of the central
valley, the Mohammedan Quarter, although many Christians and Jews also
dwell in it.
The second division may be considered as partly a Christian and partly a
Mohammedan Quarter, because in the last few years the Christians have
become possessed of much of it, especially along the northern side of
the Via Dolorosa.
The third division is entirely a Mohammedan Quarter, except that the
Armenian Catholics possess a small plot of ground in the angle formed by
the junction of the Via Dolorosa with the central valley.
Of all these quarters, the dirtiest, most fetid, and wretched, is that
of the Jews, and this not on account of its topographical position,
which is undoubtedly the best of any, but entirely from the habits of
the people, who pay no attention to cleanliness either in their houses
or dress; they wallow in the mire, so to speak, and carry it on their
persons as though fearing to be robbed of it. They dwell in small
houses, huddled together in great numbers, like moving heaps of filth,
and seem only to use their reason for the purpose of plunging more
deeply into the dirt. I have repeatedly entered their habitations, and
observed that in the courts masses of filth were accumulating year by
year and producing various physical evils, simply because the occupants
would not spend the few _piastres_ necessary for its removal. It is
impossible to persuade them of the unhealthiness of their way of living,
because they would themselves have to pay for any improvements in it;
while, if they fall ill, the hospitals are chargeable with the expense.
Moreover, in two rooms, measuring from twelve to fourteen feet square,
it is by no means rare to find a whole family of six or eight persons.
The mere sight of these things enables one to understand, in some
measure, the statements of Josephus in his "Wars of the Jews," both as
to the number of deaths during the siege by the Romans, and the causes
which produced such mortality. In visiting this quarter, it is
impossible to forget the curse that hangs over the children of Israel,
and the words of Deuteronomy ix. 6: "Understand, therefore, that the
Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy
righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people." Alas! no longer can
any one exclaim at sight of Jerusalem: "Beautiful for situation, the joy
of the whole earth, is mount Sion, on the sides of the north, the city
of the great King[34]."
The climate of Jerusalem would not be unhealthy, if the streets were
kept cleaner, if the heaps of refuse were deposited further from the
walls, and if the lazy agriculturists would avail themselves of it for
manuring the ground; if the houses were kept in a more cleanly state,
and the drains were better attended to; if the rain-water, by which the
cisterns are fed, passed through filters which were themselves free from
impurity; if the dead, especially among the Mohammedans, were interred
at a greater depth; if all the cemeteries were at a distance from human
habitations, and so situated, that the prevalent winds of the country
would not carry their exhalations over the city; if the carrion and
offal, now often found in the city itself, and always abounding in the
immediate vicinity, were buried; if, in short, there existed a board for
the maintenance of sanitary regulations. His Excellency Surraya Pasha
has made every effort to remedy all these evils, and something has been
done to promote the healthiness of the place since he removed the
slaughter-houses and tannery from the centre of the city. But he has
stood alone in his endeavours. His subordinates, not being animated by
the same spirit, according to their custom, have neglected to see his
commands carried into execution. Hence the result of his measures,
though very perceptible, has not yet been proportionate to just
expectation.
Although the climate is not subject to the frequent and sudden changes
that occur in western countries, yet it is necessary to guard against
the variation of temperature in the morning and evening, which is very
great, and an ordinary cause of violent attacks of fever, not
unfrequently fatal. Affections of the eyes are common among the lower
classes, who so seldom wash their faces. Those of cleanly habits rarely
suffer.
From the month of October until the end of March the temperature is much
lowered by the rains. In December and January snow occasionally falls.
From the beginning of April to the month of October there is great heat
during the day and much dew by night. At this season the greatest care
must be taken of the health.
The ordinary population of Jerusalem comprises about 20,453 souls, but
at the Easter season this number is more or less increased, according to
the concourse of pilgrims, and it is impossible to fix the numbers, even
approximately. In 1856 about 12,800 pilgrims arrived in the Holy City;
in 1859, 7000; and in 1859 not more than 1200. The following are the
religious communities in Jerusalem:--
1st. The Jews, whose numbers amount to 7,738: of these, 5,200 are called
_Sephardim_, and derive their origin from the Jews driven out of Spain
A.D. 1497, under the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic and Isabella. Their
Spanish tongue, mixed with many expressions from the Arabic and other
languages, is the sole trace they have preserved of their former
temporary home. The second branch is composed of 2,500 _Ashkenazim_,
from the countries of the north and west of Europe, who have taken up
their abode at Jerusalem: some moved solely by the desire to die in the
land of their patriarchs, others to exercise their industry, the greater
number to profit, with the _Sephardim_, by the abundant alms sent
thither by their co-religionists of Europe, and badly distributed by a
wretched administration. Finally, the _Karaites_,--a sect which sprang
up about the decline of the Jewish kingdom, and admits no human
interpretation of the Old Testament, nor any Rabbinical book--number
about 38, and are superior to all the rest in intelligence, education,
cleanliness, and probity. They belong to the country, though they may
have occasionally abandoned it for a short time during periods of
trouble.
The head of the whole Jewish community is the Grand Rabbi
(_Khakam-bashi_), to whom all look up, both as the head of their
religion, and as the one to whom the distribution of the alms chiefly
belongs. He it is who gives civil protection to the _Sephardim_ and
_Karaites_, and supports their interests with the local government;
while the _Ashkenazim_ are protected by the Consuls of the different
nations whose subjects they are. Their synagogues are numerous but
unimportant[35]; a hospital, a dispensary, and a house of refuge,
outside the Jaffa gate, are due to the kindness of their co-religionists
in Europe, among the most distinguished of whom are the Messrs.
Rothschild and Sir Moses Montefiore. It is to be hoped that their public
schools for both sexes will for the future be better managed and more
effective than they have hitherto been.
The Mohammedans number 7,598; thus divided, Arabs 6,854, Turks 680,
Lepers (a separate class) 64. The first are the proprietors of the
country, and govern it with moderation; less, however, from natural
inclination, than from the advantages resulting to themselves from this
course. They are aware that any excesses committed by them at Jerusalem
would not only entail severe punishment, but involve them in the
greatest distress, for but few of them live on their property or by
commerce. Many are employed in public offices or under the civil and
ecclesiastical authorities; others derive the means of subsistence from
the influx of pilgrims and travellers; and the rest subsist upon the
alms distributed by the convents, and in some cases by the Consuls. From
all these sources the Mohammedan prospers in Jerusalem, and consequently
is generally not averse to the Christian. Even at the time of the late
disasters in the Lebanon and the massacres of Damascus, His Excellency
Surraya Pasha by his activity and force of character was able to prevent
any outbreak in Palestine, thus earning the gratitude of every
Christian.
The Lepers are separated from all, and inhabit a very filthy quarter,
near the gate of Sion. The reader must not believe that they live in
abject misery; they have property of their own and beasts of burden to
fetch and carry their provisions, and each one has his special duty
assigned to him by the head of their community (chosen from among
themselves); either to provide in some way for the common wants, or, in
the case of the most diseased, to solicit alms incessantly, which is
done with so much success that no one of them would submit to be cured,
for fear of losing so profitable a profession.
The orthodox Greeks are in number about 2,700; they are chiefly subjects
of the Sublime Porte, and acknowledge as their religious head the
Patriarch of Jerusalem, who also, in virtue of his high position,
directs and counsels them in their civil affairs. The great Greek
convent of Saint Constantine at Jerusalem is the light-tower that sheds
its beneficent rays not only over the city but through the whole
country: being very rich, it exercises the greatest influence; modifies
the policy of the government; curbs fanaticism; rouses the idle; finds
work for the poor; acquires very large landed possessions, and
encourages an enlightened system of cultivation; in a word, it greatly
fosters the small amount of prosperity visible in the country.
The Greek Church has many convents, hospices, seminaries, schools, and a
hospital; but of these, and of those belonging to the other communities,
I will speak in detail in another chapter.
The number of the Latins or Roman Catholics is about 1,270. Except a few
who are under the protection of the different Consuls, they are all
subject to the Porte, but yield religious submission to a Patriarch,
delegated by the Pope, who resides in Jerusalem. The inability to lavish
money, as the Greek convent does, would limit the influence of the
Patriarch and the Franciscan Fathers of the Holy Land, but that happily
this want is largely compensated by the special protection accorded to
the Holy Places officially by France, and also by other Christian
Powers, which, though not called upon to give protection, yield it from
devotion. Chief among these is Spain, who, both in times past and
present, has liberally aided in supporting the religious communities
that have the care of the Holy Places. Hence it comes that from these
resources, in addition to those supplied by the French Government, the
Propaganda of Rome, Lyons, and other places, both the Patriarch and the
Guardian of the Holy Land are so well able to minister to the wants of
the members of their Church, to assist the sick, to entertain the
pilgrims, and to maintain seminaries and schools for the civil and
religious education of the youth of both sexes.
The Armenians do not exceed 526 in number, and belong to the Monophysite
sect, declared heretical by the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451. They are
subject to the Porte, but yield religious submission to their Patriarch,
who sometimes gives them excellent advice in civil matters. The
Armenians are few and well governed. They are industrious and free from
abject poverty, applying themselves to trade and commerce, and may be
truly said to live by the sweat of their brows.
Of the Protestants, about 206 belong to the Anglican Church, and 62 to
the Lutheran; total 268.
The Copts are so few in number, and so entirely engrossed in their
commercial pursuits, that there is nothing whatever to be said about
them; they live a quiet unobtrusive life, and are 130 in all.
The Abyssinians are so wretchedly poor that they have ceded, or at least
leased out in perpetuity, most of their rights in the Holy Places to the
Armenians, who, in return, furnish them with the means of daily
subsistence. Their number does not exceed 80.
Notwithstanding the numerous caravans of pilgrims which Russia annually
sent to the Holy Land, that country formerly did not possess a foot of
ground in Jerusalem. But a few years before the last Eastern war, Russia
established in the Holy City an Archimandrite, for whom the Greeks
themselves supplied a fitting residence. The jealousy of the latter,
however, was soon aroused, and they were foolish enough to treat as
dangerous intruders those whom a more prudent course of conduct might
have made valuable allies. The plans of Russia have perhaps changed
since the late war; that which she has been unable to secure at once by
force of arms, she will doubtless acquire more slowly by other means,
which time will bring more fully to light. Meanwhile she is at present
taking the lead in the restoration of the cupola of the Holy Sepulchre.
In February 1858 a Russian Bishop, accompanied by his clergy, took up
his abode in Jerusalem; in October of the same year, the Russian
consulate was established, and a temporary hospice opened pending the
erection of a permanent one.
The new buildings are nearly finished, but not yet inhabited. The
community numbers 68.
The Syrians, who possess a convent presided over by a Bishop, are in
number 32.
The Greek Catholics have a well-built convent. The number of those
permanently established in the city is 24.
The Armenian Catholics possess an estate, on which they intend to erect
a church, a convent, and a Bishop's house. Their number will then
increase, at present they are but 6.
The Ammonites are 8 in number, the Disciples 3, and the Sabbatarians 2:
these three sects have arrived during the last few years from America,
but have not made any proselytes.
From these numbers it results that the whole population, as I have
already stated, amounts to 20,453.
Compared with the space surrounded by the walls the population is very
small. Without including the large area of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_,
Jerusalem could easily contain at least three times as many inhabitants
as it now does. If indeed the houses were built two or three stories
high, if those belonging to the Government and the mosques were
occupied, if those now tottering or in ruins were rebuilt and made
habitable, if the numerous convents of the different religious
communities contained a number of inhabitants in proportion to their
sizes, if also the plots of land now abandoned, covered with rubbish or
occupied by gardens, were partially built over, there would be no lack
of room for a greatly increased population. From this it is evident
that, even if the city did not contain the exaggerated number of more
than a million at the time of the siege by Titus, the amount of its
inhabitants might have been considerable, especially when Ophel and the
southern part of Sion were within the enclosure, thus augmenting the
habitable space by more than a third.
To complete the description of the present state of Jerusalem, a few
words may be said about the sources of water and the sewers, which at
present so insufficiently supply the wants of the city. First come the
cisterns for rain-water, which are thickly sprinkled over Jerusalem and
its suburbs; one at least being possessed by every landholder and
community. When, during the summer-months, the supply of rain-water
fails, the peasants of the neighbouring villages, especially of Siloam
(where it is drawn from the well of Joab, _Bir-el-Eyub_), drive a
thriving trade as water-carriers. Such is the sad state of a city once
so well supplied with water from the works constructed by its former
kings and the Herods, which are now for the most part in ruins.
The conduit of Solomon (by many called that of Pilate), which constantly
supplied Jerusalem from the fountains of Etham, still exists, and by it
during the last few years (by direction of Kiamil Pasha and Surraya
Pasha) the water was, under my care, again brought into the city. Owing
to the length of the aqueduct (about three hours' journey) it was
impossible to protect it from the Arabs, whose wanton injuries before
long cut off the supply of water. On the west, the Pool of Mamillah,
though partly filled with earth, catches the rain-water, which is
conveyed from it by a dilapidated conduit into the so-called Pool of
Hezekiah, inside the city. This, during a few months of the year,
supplies a bath. The water, being mixed with dirt and the drainings from
the sepulchres round Mamillah, is not fit to drink. The Pool by St
Mary's Gate, being in bad repair, contains very little water; during
twenty or thirty days in the year it supplies the bath close to the
wall, within the city, called _Hamman-sitti-Mariam_. A similar reason to
that mentioned above renders this water also unfit for drinking. The
Pilgrims' Pool, on the north, close to Herod's Gate, is too small to be
worth further notice. The Pool at the head of the Valley of Kidron, on
the north, is filled with earth and stones. That of _Birket-es-Sultan_
on the west cannot hold water, as it escapes by the south wall. The
great Pool of Siloam is now filled with earth and converted into a
garden. The Pool of Bethesda, within the walls, is almost choked with
earth and refuse that has been thrown into it; by this time it would
have been quite filled up, had not Kiamil Pasha, at my earnest request,
put a stop to the practice in 1856. Within the _Haram-es-Sherîf_ the
great cistern at the south-east corner is not only in ruins but so
filled with rubbish as to be useless. This is the effect not so much of
time as of Vandalism and of the carelessness of Mohammedans about
keeping up ancient monuments; when they are gone they regret their loss,
but take no pains whatever to preserve them.
The waters naturally unfit for drinking are, inside the city, the
springs of the _Hammam-es-shefa_ (Bath of Shefa), situated near the
western side of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_. The water supplies the
neighbouring bath, but has a disagreeable taste. Outside the city is the
spring called the Fountain of the Virgin, that runs into the Pool of
Siloam. It is used for irrigating the gardens of Siloam and for domestic
purposes. Neither of these springs gives a copious supply of water.
The city is full of sewers, the principal being that which, beginning
from the Damascus Gate and following the line of the central valley,
goes out under the south wall at the Dung Gate, and continues along the
western side of the same valley till it comes to the great Pool of
Siloam. Another goes along the Street of David, joining the former on
the east. All are in the worst possible condition, and annually stand in
need of repair, as they frequently become choked up by the accumulated
filth.
The above brief sketch may suffice for the present; the subject will be
treated in detail, and further information given in a future chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] Gen. xiv. 18.
[3] Ep. ad Evang. Presb. § 7.
[4] S. John iii. 23.
[5] Gen. xiv. 17.
[6] Advocates of the other opinion rely on 2 Sam. xviii. 18, but in this
passage _the king's dale_ only is mentioned, without the specification
of _the valley of the plain_. These last words could not be used of a
place overhung by the steep slopes of Mount Moriah and Mount Olivet.
[7] Herod, II. 159; III. 5.
[8] Josephus, c. Ap. I. 34.
[9] Josh. x. 1-27.
[10] Judg. i. 21; Josephus, Ant. V. 2, §§ 2, 3.
[11] 2 Sam. v. 6-9.
[12] 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26.
[13] 2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17.
[14] 2 Chron. xxv. 23, 24.
[15] 2 Kings xix. 35.
[16] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.
[17] 2 Kings xxv. 9, 10.
[18] Note I.
[19] See the Chronology in Appendix.
[20] Plates II., IV.
[21] Note II.
[22] Note III.
[23] Note IV.
[24] Plate V.
[25] Plate VI.
[26] Note V.
[27] Plate VII.
[28] Images of animals are not forbidden to Mohammedans; see for example
the Court of Lions in the Alhambra.
[29] Plate XVIII.
[30] Plate XX.
[31] Plate V.
[32] Plate I.
[33] Note VI.
[34] Psalm xlviii. 2.
[35] The Great Synagogue and the Polish are the only two worth mention.
CHAPTER II.
ANCIENT TOPOGRAPHY OF JERUSALEM--IDENTIFICATION OF THE MOUNTAINS,
HILLS AND VALLEYS--JERUSALEM IN THE TIME OF THE JEBUSITES, DAVID,
SOLOMON, JOTHAM, HEZEKIAH, MANASSEH, NEHEMIAH, HEROD--THE TESTIMONY
OF JOSEPHUS EXAMINED--THE SIEGE BY TITUS--FORMER EXTENT OF THE
CITY--JERUSALEM IN THE TIME OF HADRIAN, THE CRUSADERS AND SOLYMAN.
Having thus described the existing city, let us pass on to consider the
ancient, and endeavour to recognise in its mountains and hills, its
valleys and other landmarks, points corresponding to the allusions of
the Bible and the writings of Josephus. We will suppose the reader to be
standing with us on the summit of the Mount of Olives, and will point
out the chief features of the view before him[36]. At the first glance
we see that the city is built upon two nearly parallel ranges of hills,
separated by a central valley. These we proceed to examine in detail.
The summit of the western part forms a kind of plateau, extending from
the north-west to the south, whose highest points are at the southern
extremity, at the Armenian convent, at the castle of David, and at the
north-west corner; but on closer examination we see that the plateau,
which commences at the castle and terminates at the south, forms a hill
sloping sensibly on the west, east, south, and slightly on the north as
far as the street of David, where there is nothing to be seen which
would induce us to suppose that a valley had once existed there. I
believe that the fortress of the Jebusites, and afterwards that of Sion,
used to stand on the upper part of this hill, and that the city of
David[37] extended over the whole of its irregular quadrilateral area.
This opinion is confirmed by Josephus, who says[38] it was defended by
precipices on every side, except the north, which, being the weakest,
was guarded by a triple wall. This hill then has on the west the valley
of Gihon[39], on the south the valley of Hinnom[40], on the east the
continuation of the central valley, while on the north it is open to
attack, and consequently in former time was fortified there more
strongly than on the other sides, which were inaccessible. Sion is then
the spot on which the _upper city_ of Josephus was situated.
A street, rising from the Gate of S. Mary and running in a westerly
direction to meet the central valley, distinctly divides the eastern
range. North of this division is the highest ground; on the south there
is the great plateau of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_. Outside the west wall of
the _Haram_ a gentle slope leads towards the central valley, which is
covered by houses. The testimony of Josephus[41] is consequently
verified, that "the city was built on two hills, which are opposite one
to another, and have a valley to divide them asunder; at which valley
the corresponding rows of houses on both hills end."
Having thus pointed out the western hill, Sion, and the valley indicated
by Josephus, which we call the central valley, let us examine that part
of the eastern range, which is to the south of the dividing street, in
order to identify Moriah and Acra. Josephus[42] states that "the other
hill which was called Acra, and sustains the lower city, slopes[43] on
all sides; over against this there was a third hill, but naturally lower
than Acra, and parted formerly from the other by a broad valley.
However, in those times when the Asamoneans reigned, they filled up that
valley with earth, and had a mind to join the city to the Temple. They
then took off part of the height of Acra, and reduced it to be of less
elevation than it was before, that the Temple might be superior to it."
Hence it appears why we no longer see the broad valley and the two
separate hills, but an area in which the site of the ancient Temple
overtops the rest. We consider Moriah to be the third hill, and Acra the
part lying between the west side of Moriah and the central valley.
The identification of Moriah does not admit of any doubt. The name and
its probable equivalent Jehovah-jireh, are found in the story of
Abraham's sacrifice[44]; there Solomon[45] built the Temple, whose
precious remains still indicate its position: of these we will speak at
length in a future chapter. The name Moriah is not used by Josephus, but
the place can be identified with certainty from his description. We are
told by him[46] that the platform of the temple was defended on the
north-west by the tower Antonia, which was itself protected by a ditch.
An examination of the Pool of Bethesda and the excavations, which I
made by the foundations of the barracks of the _Haram_, have convinced
me of the historian's accuracy. In his description of the Temple[47] it
is stated that the hill-side to the east of it was precipitous, and that
Solomon was obliged to build a wall to support the made ground. The
ancient wall and the valley of Kidron still exist, in confirmation of
this statement. It is also implied that the south side was precipitous,
which is proved by the remains of buildings still to be seen and the
actual declivity of Ophel. That there was once a large valley on the
west side, is proved by the following fact: on the west of the area of
the _Haram-es-Sherîf_ the rock runs up to the inside of the boundary
wall, but on the outside it disappears, and is replaced by made ground
of very great depth. I have inspected several excavations in the
neighbourhood, and examined the tanks which are just outside the
_Haram_, usually not less than 50 or 56 feet deep, the shaft (passing
through the earth) being generally from 30 to 36 feet, and built with
masonry. Hence I infer that a valley once existed on this spot, and that
the made ground was obtained by the demolition of Acra; by this means
Moriah was thrown open to every part of the city, which surrounded it
like a theatre[48], and so was made 'superior to Acra.' But on examining
the tanks nearer to the Tyropoeon valley, I found the shafts not more
than 12 feet deep: here then was Acra in former times. These few feet of
made ground were probably formed by the destruction of the city by
Titus. Acra was said to 'slope on all sides,' because it had on the east
the 'broad valley,' on the south the descent to the central valley, on
the west the central valley itself, and on the north the valley, which,
starting from the central valley, went in an easterly direction to that
of Kidron. How this last has been filled up I will presently explain. In
the time of Josephus these hills were already united, and so, speaking
generally, the city appeared to be 'built on two hills opposite to one
another.'
In the northern part of the eastern range we find _Bezetha_, or the 'New
city' of Josephus, which was entirely surrounded by valleys or
ditches[49] artificially made. This position is elevated and opposite to
the north[50] side of the _Haram_, and must therefore be identical with
_Bezetha_, which had the central valley on the west, ditches on the
north and east, and on the south the valley dividing it from the Tower
of Antonia: all which characteristics may still be recognised on the
spot.
There is yet another hill in Jerusalem, called _Gareb_. The only
instance we have of the use of the name in former times is in Jer. xxxi.
39. Josephus does not mention it, either considering it as part of Mount
Sion, with which it was continuous, or, more probably, comprehending it
in the 'New city.' It bears the name _Gareb_ among the Arabs at the
present day. When I speak of the walls of the city, the Temple, and the
tower Antonia, I will bring forward other arguments to confirm my
assertions about the hills; for the present I reserve them, and pass on
to the valleys.
The central valley has already been mentioned several times. It agrees
in every respect with the Tyropoeon of Josephus[51], which
"distinguished the hill of the upper city from that of the lower, (and)
extended as far as Siloam." Many who have written on the topography of
ancient Jerusalem, especially Dr Robinson, assert that the Tyropoeon
valley ran eastwards from the Jaffa Gate till it joined the central
valley, at the point where the latter bends to the south-east, in its
course to the Pool of Siloam. In opposition to this opinion, and in
confirmation of my own, I have certain facts to bring forward. The
valley which I consider the Tyropoeon still drains the whole city; all
along it runs a sewer receiving those from the eastern and western
divisions. I have had frequent opportunities of ascertaining this, while
repairs were being carried on[52]. I found that the central sewer,
although 12, 16, and sometimes even 18 feet below the surface, was not
based upon rock, but upon made ground. During the repairs I searched for
the rock in the upper part of the valley, and found it at a depth of 18
feet, near the Damascus Gate, of 26 feet near the Temple Bazaar, of 22
feet at a few paces to the north of the Dung Gate. These facts shew that
there was formerly a valley in this part of Jerusalem. Now we cannot
adopt the position assigned to the Tyropoeon by Dr Robinson, for the
following reasons: (1) In the north ditch of the Castle of David we find
the rock, which extends thence in a north-west direction. I came upon it
in 1860, when a building (now used as a custom-house) was erected by the
Greek convent outside the wall adjoining the Jaffa Gate. (2) The rock,
found under the new buildings belonging to the Latin Patriarch a little
to the north of the castle, under the English church and under a new
building to the north of it, plainly shews that the head of the valley
could not be at this spot. On the south side of the Christian Bazaar is
the Greek Convent of S. John, and a few paces to the south of this the
Prussian hospital. While this was being built in 1858, I examined its
foundations, and ascertained the shelving stratum on which they rest to
be a continuation of the rock beneath the convent. Where then could the
valley be? (3) A similar state of things is found on descending about
350 feet to the east. (4) From west to east along the course of the
supposed valley runs a sewer, 6 feet below the ground, cut in some parts
in the rock. This I helped to repair at several points in 1856, and was
able to ascertain that there was but very little made ground anywhere
near it; I cannot therefore allow that there ever was a valley at this
place. Brocardus about A.D. 1283, Adrichomius and Villalpandus near the
close of the sixteenth century, assert that this valley existed, but to
prove their statement they ought to have made excavations. They must
have seen Jerusalem in a condition very like its present, especially as
regards its valleys, which must have been already filled up, either at
the time of the destruction by Titus or of the rebuilding by Hadrian;
for since these periods the city cannot have undergone any material
change. The above authors inferred the existence of a valley from seeing
that the south side of the street of David was considerably upraised,
while the north was nearly level. Had they searched for the rock, they
would have found the higher ground to the south to be nothing but a mass
of rubbish, while the south front of the Convent of S. John, and the
rest of the buildings on the same side, rest upon rock a few feet below
the surface.
The supposed existence of this valley has led some to think that the
ground, now occupied by the Church of the Resurrection, was the hill
Acra; but this locality does not correspond with any of the
topographical _data_ of Josephus. How could the citadel[53] of Antiochus
Epiphanes be built in this position to command the Temple? How could the
Macedonian garrison from this place harass and even kill the Jews who
were going to the Temple? Could this be Acra 'sloping on all sides'
which was 'levelled that the temple might be higher than it[54]'? None
of these conditions are satisfied, therefore this theory must be
rejected. In the Tyropoeon of Dr Robinson I place the Quarter of
_Millo_: my reasons for doing so I will give at the proper place.
A valley has already been mentioned as dividing Moriah from Bezetha;
only the eastern extremity of this is now visible, at the Pool of
Bethesda, at which place we will examine it. The north and south side
walls of the pool are founded upon and rest against the rock, while on
the east, as the valley once extended down to Kidron, a solid sloping
wall has been built solely to confine the water. There is also a wall on
the west, and all the observations that I have made in this direction,
as far as the Tyropoeon, have convinced me of the existence of a
valley; and on questioning the old masons who in the time of Ibrahim
Pasha, A.D. 1836, laid the foundations of the Barrack of the
_Haram-es-Sherîf_, I was assured that on the north side they had gone
down not less than 26 or 30 feet before they came to the rock. On the
south side of the Latin Chapel of the Flagellation, which lies directly
north of the Barrack, the Franciscans had to dig 16 or 18 feet for the
same purpose. In laying the foundations of the Austrian Hospice above
the eastern verge of the Tyropoeon, A.D. 1856, I clearly ascertained
the existence of the valley on the south side, and have done the same on
the property of the Armenian Catholics, called 'the first fall of
Christ.' Hence I conclude that there was a valley in this part of the
city, which divided Bezetha from Moriah and the north-west corner of
Acra.
A small valley, commencing on the north near Herod's Gate, runs into the
city, and terminates at the Pool of Bethesda, thus dividing Bezetha into
two parts. Inside the city it can hardly be distinguished, owing to the
quantity of rubbish by which it has been filled up. Its existence
however is proved by the water-courses that descend from the east slope
of the western part of Bezetha.
Let us now proceed to examine the exterior of the city. Ophel or Ophlas
is to the south of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_. Its position corresponds
exactly with the statement of Josephus[55], that it adjoins the Temple
on the south. Its form is that of a triangle with the base resting
against the south side of the _Haram_ and the vertex directed towards
the Pool of Siloam. It is bounded on the east by the sloping sides of
the valley of Kidron, on the west by those of the Tyropoeon valley.
Its defences were carefully attended to by different kings of Judah,
because its fortifications greatly increased the strength of the Temple,
which otherwise would have been exposed to an attack from the south. The
position is a sufficient argument for its identity.
The positions of Mount Olivet and the Mount of Offence are indisputable.
David[56] went up Mount Olivet, weeping, after crossing the torrent
Kidron, and the Mount of Offence[57] is 'before Jerusalem.' Olivet is
frequently mentioned in the New Testament, especially in the Acts of the
Apostles, where its distance from the city is fixed by the words
"Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath-day's journey[58]," that is,
a little more than 2000 cubits, according to the rabbinical writers; and
so we find it to be. We may also cite in confirmation the testimony of
Josephus, who says that it "lies over against the city on the east side,
and is parted from it by a deep valley interposed between them, which is
named Kidron[59]."
Authors differ about the site of Mount Gihon[60], or Guihon, but I place
it on the west, because we find that Hezekiah "stopped the upper
water-course of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of
the city of David[61]," and Manasseh "built a wall without the city of
David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in
at the Fish-gate[62]." This gate was probably the same as that of Jaffa,
which might very likely bear this name, because through it the produce
of the sea would be brought into Jerusalem. If Gihon does not correspond
with the hill on the west, outside the city, I cannot understand the two
verses cited above; especially since Hezekiah could not have brought
water into the city from any other point, without either cutting through
the hills with great trouble and expense, or making an aqueduct over a
valley.
The Hill of Evil Counsel is probably the same as Tophet[63]. We find
from the prophet Jeremiah that it was a place of sepulture, and indeed
it was only there that room could be found for the purpose. Even now
the Arabs call it the _Mount of the Sepulchres_, from the number of
graves there. They call Hinnom the _Valley of the Fire_; in Syriac it is
_Gehenna_ (Hell). This nearly corresponds with the _Valley of
Slaughter_, as it is called by Jeremiah[64]. It is not impossible that
the fortress of Bethsura[65] stood on this mount, which was distant from
the city about five[66] stadia, towards the south. Mount Shafat, or
Scopus, is the northern part of the range of Olivet, which runs in a
north-west direction; the account of it given by Josephus, the distance
from the city of seven stadia, the use made of it in the strategic
operations of Titus[67], all correspond exactly with this position.
Having thus gone through the chief points of topographic interest, let
us glance at the condition of the city during the different epochs of
its existence. First, then, in the time of the Jebusites. On this
subject the Bible only tells us, that it was defended on the south by
the valley of Hinnom[68], that it was on high ground, and, in the then
state of the art of war, nearly impregnable, so that its inhabitants
thought it could be defended against the army of David by the blind and
the lame[69]. Jerusalem was then divided into two parts, the Fortress
and the Lower City[70]. Hence we can understand how it was that the
descendants of Benjamin[71] dwelt at Jerusalem with the Jebusites; the
former dwelling in the Lower City, the latter in the Fortress. This we
find confirmed by the statement of Josephus[72]. It is very probable
that the fortress of the Jebusites covered the platform of Sion, which
reaches from its southern extremity to the castle still existing on the
north, and is bounded on the east by the Tomb of David, the Armenian
convent[73], and the English church. This opinion is confirmed by the
remains of an old wall, which the Armenians found on building a seminary
and rooms for pilgrims, and by the discovery of an ancient pool. Both
these appear to be the work of a very early age, and anterior to the
introduction of Phoenician art into Jerusalem. The lower city must
have occupied the eastern slope of Sion near the western side of the
Tyropoeon. Owing to the scanty materials that have come down to us, we
cannot add anything more about the city of the Jebusites.
The form and size of the City of David have already been mentioned in
the account of Mount Sion. It is stated in the Bible, that David,
directly after his conquest, began to strengthen not only the fortress
but the whole city, that he dwelt in the fortress[74], that the King of
Tyre sent labourers to build his house[75], which was certainly the
whole fortress, that "David built round about from Millo and
inward[76]," and that "Joab repaired the rest of the city[77]." We are
not told that David enlarged the city, but unquestionably he fortified
it; possibly however he may have made its form more regular by bringing
the houses up to the edge of the declivities of the valleys on the west,
south, and east. To test this opinion I examined the part of Mount Sion
which is outside the present wall, and found in the Protestant cemetery
the vertical hewn rock, and a flight of steps close by cut out of it,
which were discovered by the workmen employed by the Mission; at the
same time large stones were also dug up in the ground, such as are
frequently thrown out by the spades of the husbandmen. On questioning
some of them, more particularly the older men, I heard that, for a long
time past, large stones had been found in considerable quantities, and
sold by the landowners to the builders in the city, who, in order to
remove them more easily, broke them up on the spot. I was able to
satisfy myself of the truth of this statement at the place itself[78]. I
then asked them about the shape of the stones, and inquired whether
those found near the surface corresponded with those found at a greater
depth, and was told that the former were usually rusticated, and also
almost calcined, while the latter were large irregular blocks in
excellent preservation. I satisfied myself of the truth of this by
examining the two kinds of stone. I then inquired about the direction in
which the greatest number of stones were discovered, but their answers
on this point were so vague, that I determined to make some excavations
on my own account. With some difficulty permission was obtained from the
owners of the land, under the condition that I should use their workmen,
give them all that might be found, and make them a present in addition.
As I was only anxious to obtain proof of the position of the wall of
David, I willingly agreed to this. The attempt was successful; at
certain points on the south and east[79] I found the rock hewn vertical
or cut into steps, or else steep and broken; on it fragments of ancient
masonry still remained, built of large irregular blocks, fitted together
without mortar: in some places other rows of stones, joined with greater
skill, were laid upon these, which in turn supported others rudely
rusticated in high relief, with the surface rough. I am inclined to
think that the lower rows belong to the period of the Jebusites, the
next to that of David[80], and the upper to a later date. Near the Pool
of Siloam the vertical hewn rock is again plainly seen, and also inside
the city, on the west side of the Tyropoeon Valley, and in front of
the Mosque _el-Aksa_. I believe therefore that the Wall of David can be
traced on the south and east. A careful examination of the western brow
of Sion and the configuration of the ground shew that this wall must
have followed its present course, and have continued in the same
direction as far as the south-west angle. All that I have been able to
find at the castle belongs to a much later period, as we shall presently
see. North of Sion, on the south side of the Street of David, the ground
is covered by houses. I have therefore been unable to examine it, and
can only draw inferences; but I am led to think that Millo was on that
side for the following reasons.--We have seen that David "built round
about from Millo and inward[81];" which must mean that _he began to
build from the position of Millo inwards_, i.e. to the south, or round
about the city. Now I believe that the quarter of Millo derived its name
from the great pool in the neighbourhood, commonly called the Pool of
Hezekiah[82]--the original _Millo_ of David. A learned Russian ex-rabbi
explained to me that the word _Millo_ generally meant 'made ground,' but
that a large reservoir, which receives water from another, is commonly
called _Millo_, while this other is called _Mamillah_, and
water-carriers, _Malleah_. We can therefore understand that David began
to build from Millo, because, as there is not a valley on that side, it
was the weakest part of the city. This explanation, as we shall see,
suits all the other passages in the Bible in which Millo is mentioned;
but it cannot be a place of 'made ground,' because there is none here.
This is all that is known about the City of David.
The city was undoubtedly enlarged in the reign of Solomon, by the
addition of Mount Moriah, on which the Temple was built[83]. David
bought the threshingfloor (its site) from Araunah[84], a rich Jebusite,
at which time it evidently was outside Jerusalem: but when Solomon built
upon it, he joined it to the City of David[85]. Josephus also tells us
that Solomon enlarged the city, and built new walls and fortified it
with towers[86]. My opinion is that Solomon's wall began on the north
side of David's, to the east of the Castle, and ran in a northerly
direction, till it bent round to the east, so as to include Mount
Moriah, which it encompassed on the east, south, and for a short
distance on the west, till it again joined the wall of the City of
David, after crossing the Tyropoeon Valley. Thus the fortifications of
the Old city were strengthened on the north, while the New was liable to
be taken from the north-west and a small part of the north side; but the
rest of this, and the other sides, were strongly defended by art or the
natural difficulties of the position. In this new part of the city I
have found fragments of the age of Solomon in the foundations of houses,
in the walls of the Pool of Bethesda, and in the eastern and southern
boundary wall of the _Haram_; but will speak of these more particularly
in the chapter on the Temple. The remains that I have seen or found
inside the city are of the greatest interest, but all belong to a much
later period. In the passages of the Bible that speak of Solomon, we
find frequent mention of _Millo_; for example, "This is the reason of
the levy which King Solomon raised, for to build the house of the Lord,
and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem.... Pharaoh's
daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon
had built for her: then did he build Millo[87]." And "Solomon built
Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father[88]."
This Millo is not the same as the Millo of David; for I hold with the
rabbinical tradition, that Solomon's house was near the south side of
the Temple, to which place he brought Pharaoh's daughter from the City
of David; that this Millo is the immense reservoir still to be seen at
the south-east corner of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_, and that the materials
derived from it were used to fill up the depths of the Tyropoeon
Valley, between the New and the Old City. The "House of Millo, which
goeth down to Silla[89]," where Joash was murdered, I take to be near
the Millo of David, because the _going down to Silla_ must have been a
street leading down to Siloam, and therefore corresponding with the
street of David. We may observe that this part added to the city is
specified at an early period[90].
Some works of defence appear to have been constructed on Ophel, before
the reign of Jotham, for it is said that "Jotham built much on the wall
of Ophel[91]," which seems to mean that he found the wall already in
existence. What he did build there we have now no means of ascertaining.
Of Hezekiah we learn that he "built up all the wall that was broken, and
raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired
Millo, _in the City of David_[92]." This place I have already identified
with the Pool[93] bearing Hezekiah's name, which before his time was
outside the city, and was by him enclosed within the defences so as to
deprive the Assyrians of water. In confirmation of this view I may
mention that when the fathers of the Holy Land were laying the
foundation of the house now occupied by the Latin Patriarch, they came
upon remains of the solid masonry of the old wall. The same thing
occurred to the Copts on the north side of the foundations of their
Hospice. I do not speak of this from personal knowledge, as I was not
living in Jerusalem at the time, but I have no doubt of the truth of the
statement. I myself found a fragment of the massive ancient wall, when
superintending the laying of the foundations of the little mosque,
dedicated to Omar[94], which is opposite to the Church of the
Resurrection on the south: the masonry was composed of large blocks of
stone, of a tolerably regular form, which were fastened together by iron
clamps: and the thickness of the wall was about seven feet and a half. I
have therefore traced and attributed to Hezekiah the wall, which
starting on the north of the Castle of David, passes on the north of
the Copts' Hospice, and finally joins the line of that which I have
attributed to Solomon, after running parallel to the street of the
Sepulchre.
A strong line of fortifications was built round Ophel by Manasseh[95].
Directed by the hints given in the Bible, I examined it as I had Sion.
The answers given to me by the _fellahîn_, the evidence on the spot, and
my excavations, brought to light some traces of a wall of
circumvallation on the east side of the Tyropoeon, and at the south
end of Ophel. The great accumulation of earth on the Kidron side would
have made any investigations very costly, and I was convinced of the
direction of the walls in this part by the account of Josephus[96];
accordingly I did not make any excavations here.
Before describing Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah, it will be well to
enumerate the gates of the city before the Captivity, and to fix, as far
as possible, their positions. We are told that Jehoash king of Israel
"brake down the walls of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the
corner gate, four hundred cubits[97]." I place the _gate of Ephraim_ at
the N.W. angle of Solomon's wall because it led to the land of Ephraim.
The _Corner gate_ was, I think, at the north-east angle of the platform
of the Temple. We find in Jeremiah "The city shall be built from the
tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner[98]," which may be very
well understood to mean "from one extremity of the city to the other." I
believe that the tower of Hananeel was in the present castle. King
"Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate and at the _valley
gate_, and fortified them[99]." The latter might have been in the south
side of the wall of Sion. The _horse gate_[100] is also mentioned, but
this was probably in the wall of the Temple, not of the city. I identify
the _fish gate_[101] with the present Jaffa gate. The situation of "the
_high gate of Benjamin_, which was by the house of the Lord[102]," is
uncertain: I think it to have been either a gate of the Temple, or one
through which a road to the Temple passed. Perhaps it may be found in
the second line of wall on the north, but this is very doubtful. Lastly,
it is said that when the Chaldeans entered Jerusalem, "all the men of
war fled by night, by the way of the _gate between two walls_, which is
by the king's garden[103]." These are the walls of David and Manasseh on
the two sides of the Tyropoeon, so the gate was probably in the middle
of the valley, looking southwards towards the King's garden, now tilled
by the peasants of Siloam. I do not expect that the above remarks will
convince all, but trust that they may at least suggest subjects for
thought and study.
The city, thus built at different periods, was burnt and destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar; but let us pass over the sad years of captivity, till
we come to the time when, by the energy and zeal of Nehemiah, it rose
again from its ruins. Something must be said of its aspect at that time,
and especially of its gates; but I must warn the reader that, after all
my labours, I have not been able thoroughly to satisfy myself about
their situation, because of the difficulty of reconciling the third and
twelfth with the second chapter of Nehemiah. Still, without desiring to
push my opinions presumptuously forward, I offer them in hopes that they
may be fortunate enough to attract the attention of competent students
to this interesting point of Biblical Archæology. I know that many have
already attempted to fix the position of these gates, but I am also
aware that their theories are contradictory, and often rest upon
hypotheses which are open to attack. The illustrious Reland has not
chosen to make any positive assertions on these points, and has
contented himself with a simple list of names; I will therefore follow
his example[104].
The _sheep gate_[105] must have been in the west wall, that runs
southwards from the castle, in which were the towers of Meah and
Hananeel: the _fish gate_, nearly on the site of the present Jaffa gate:
the _old gate_, in the north part of David's wall, near its junction
with Solomon's: the _broad wall_, that portion of the second enclosure,
which protected the west and north as far as the north-west corner of
the temple area, and the _tower of the furnaces_, outside it: the
_valley gate_, at the extreme south-west corner of Sion: the _dung
gate_, on the south side of Sion, a thousand cubits to the east of the
valley gate: the _fountain gate_, at the east extremity of the north
wall of David's enclosure, and, consequently, at the middle of the
Tyropoeon valley. I identify the _pool of Siloah_ with that, now
filled with earth, below the fountain of Siloam, and the _king's garden_
with those still existing there. The _stairs that go down from the city
of David_ begin at the south-east angle of that king's wall and extend
eastwards down the slopes of Sion. The _sepulchres of David_ are upon
Sion, a little to the west of that now shewn under that name. The _pool
that was made_ is _Birket-es-Sultan_, outside the walls on the west. The
_water gate_ is in the Tyropoeon valley, to the south of the fountain
gate; the _east gate_, on the site of the present golden gate. Let the
reader now examine the account[106] of the two companies which went, in
opposite directions, to dedicate the new wall to the Lord.
The _dragon well_[107] may have been near the south end of the pool
_Birket-es-Sultan_; indeed there is a tradition among the Arabs, that a
spring once existed on this spot, but I do not know whether it is of any
value. No remains of the age of Nehemiah are to be found either outside
the present city or in its walls, except in the east wall of the
_Haram-es-Sherîf_: I will explain my reasons for referring these to this
epoch in the chapter on the Temple.
No one besides Josephus has handed down to us a detailed account of the
topography of Jerusalem in the time of the Herods and Titus: since then
he lived in this period and is our sole authority, I follow his account
entirely. In endeavouring to identify the spots mentioned by him, in a
place that has undergone such frequent alterations, I have not imitated
the example of most writers, in ancient and modern times, who have
copied one from another, and based their arguments on mere hypotheses;
but, during a period of eight years, have devoted myself to a thorough
examination of every part of Jerusalem; have carefully studied the
_terrain_, the rocks, the stones, which I have sought under the
accumulated ruins of centuries; have made deep excavations to trace the
course of the ancient walls, underground passages and conduits; have
watched the digging of numbers of foundations, from day to day, within
and without the city; have collected information from persons worthy of
credit and experienced in building, about the most important works that
had been carried out before my arrival; have descended into and examined
cisterns, clean and dirty; and after working like a labourer during the
day, have read Josephus instead of going to sleep, and tested his
statements for myself. I did not use any other authors except Livy and
Cæsar, whose writings I studied in order to understand thoroughly the
Roman art of war and the siege operations of Titus against the city; and
after I had done all this, I made plans and sections upon the spot. This
being well known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, I fearlessly
present the results of my labours to all who take an interest in the
reconstruction of the city of the Herods. I may indeed sometimes be
mistaken in my arguments, or wrong in my conclusions; if so, I shall be
glad to be corrected; thankful if even by this means I have created an
interest in the subject, and given rise to new ideas and a better
knowledge of the archæology of Jerusalem.
Having now considered the general features of the city, its hills and
its valleys, and seen that it was guarded by a triple wall on the
exposed side and a single wall on those which overhung the valleys[108],
we will proceed to examine this triple line of defence.
The first wall began on the north at the _Tower Hippicus_, and passing
by the _Xystus_ joined on to the _Palace of the Council_, and ended at
the west gate of the Temple. It was strengthened with much care and
expense by David, Solomon, and their successors. In examining its course
on the present ground, I started from the castle of David, going
eastward in a line parallel to 'David's street' as far as the _Mekhemeh_
(the Turkish law courts), and thence to the west wall of the
_Haram-es-Sherîf_.
In order to identify the towers of Hippicus, Phasaëlus, and Mariamne, I
frequently and carefully examined the fortress[109]. In it there are
still three towers, one on the west, just south of the Jaffa gate,
whose architecture, as far as it is visible, appears mediæval; another
to the east of this, built of stones with large rustic work of the
Herodian pattern; and a third to the south of these two, resembling the
first. In all three I ascertained that the Jewish masonry is founded on
the rock, and that, for a height of five feet above the ground, they are
cased with large stones, roughly rusticated; but in the middle tower the
Jewish masonry continues about 39 feet from the bottom of the
ditch--only the _stones_, however, are of the Herodian period, the
architecture is of a later date, belonging to the time when art was
declining in the country[110]; for we see that these interesting remains
are used without the slightest care; being arranged without any regard
to their size, and most of them shewing the marks of the clamps, by
which they were formerly bolted together inside the wall; so that they
have evidently been placed in reverse order[111]. The three towers are
solid inside to a height of 11 feet, and the lower part of the ditch (14
feet deep) that surrounds them on the north, east, and south, is cut in
the rock; the west tower is nearly 25 cubits square, the centre 40, the
south 20. I adopt, then, Williams' opinion, that the tower Hippicus
stood on the foundation of the first, Phasaëlus on the second, and
Mariamne on the third. This identification seems to agree with Josephus'
description[112]; so that these are the positions of the three ancient
towers, which Titus ordered to be spared, "in order to demonstrate to
posterity what kind of a city it was, and how well fortified, which the
Roman valour had subdued[113]."
It may be urged, as an objection to this, that the cisterns, mentioned
by the historian, are not to be found in these towers; but it is surely
very unlikely that these would come down to us through so many changes.
One tower has been enlarged to accommodate a greater number of troops,
and nothing is more probable than that the cisterns would be destroyed
in some of the extensive alterations which the buildings have undergone;
for example, in making the story 20 cubits high, which now exists in it;
besides, the cisterns, which are in other parts of the fortress, seem to
shew that those within the towers have been removed. We shall presently
see that the position assigned to Hippicus agrees very well with the
historian's statements on other points, especially on the second
position, occupied by Titus during the siege[114].
The number of houses and the character of their several owners make it
impossible to excavate along the street of David, from the tower
Hippicus to the west wall of the Temple; so that I was obliged to be
contented with what I could find above ground. In many places I noticed
large stones, generally rusticated, built into the lower parts of the
present houses; for example, in the Greek convent of S. John, in the
south-east corner of the Pool of Hezekiah, and in many houses on the
south of the above-named street. These stones I suppose to be remains of
the old wall, because I cannot think that any one would have taken the
trouble to bring them from a distance. The most remarkable thing is a
semicircular Jewish arch, forming part of an ancient gateway, now almost
entirely buried. This I will describe when I come to the second wall.
The Xystus, as appears from several passages in Josephus, was a public
place surrounded by buildings, on the lower slopes of Sion, opposite the
west wall of the Temple. We are told that the priests built a wall on
the west of the Temple, to prevent king Agrippa II. from watching the
sacred rites from the top of his palace[115] near the Xystus; also that,
after the capture of the lower city and the Temple, the Jews, entrenched
on Sion, asked to speak with Titus, and that he placed himself on the
west side of the Temple, for "there were gates on that side above the
Xystus, and a bridge that connected the upper city with the
Temple[116]." The Xystus is also mentioned in conjunction with the
bridge in other passages; but it is unnecessary to quote them, as the
present state of the ground assists us in determining its position, the
slope of Sion being much less here than at any other part of the east
side. In the careful investigations that I have made on the west side of
the Tyropoeon, I found evidence that the surface had been levelled in
the direction of the street of David; this however did not extend
southwards beyond the point opposite to the south-west corner of the
_Haram-es-Sherîf_, where the ground is very much broken with steep faces
of rock; therefore, as I cannot suppose that a public place would be on
an uneven site, I imagine that the Xystus began at the street of David
and ended before it came opposite to the south-west corner of the
_Haram_.
The Palace of the Council was probably situated in the position of the
present _Mekhemeh_. The number of stones of Jewish workmanship of the
Herodian period in the foundation of the present building, and its
position with reference to the Xystus and the Temple, are strong
arguments in favour of this identification[117]. This is all that I have
been able to gather about the northern part of the first line of walls;
excavations being impossible, from the nature of the place, and still
more of the inhabitants.
On the west, the first wall started from _Hippicus_ and "extended
through a place called _Bethso_ to the _gate of the Essenes_, and after
that it went southward, having its bending above the _fountain of
Siloam_, where it also bends again to the east at _Solomon's pool_, and
reaches as far as a certain place which they called _Ophlas_ (Ophel),
where it was joined to the eastern cloister of the Temple[118]." I have
already stated how I was able to retrace this part of the wall on the
south of Sion and at Ophel, and have no more to add, except that I
found, during my investigations on Sion, great vaulted cisterns hewn out
in the rock, remains of conduits, also cut in the solid rock, and ruined
caverns, which had obviously once been reservoirs; but all these
occurred inside the circuit of the wall, that I have laid down on the
Plan, and never outside; shewing that one part had been formerly covered
by houses, the other not. The position of _Bethso_ is unknown: some
think that the word means "house of filth:" one Rabbi supposes it to
have been a place where waters met; however, I have not been able to
find out anything certain about it.
The site of the _gate of the Essenes_ is also unknown to us: I place it
at the south-east angle of the City of David, because this position
seems to suit best the Greek text of Josephus--"the wall extended
downwards to the gate of the Essenes[119];" moreover, from this point I
see that the wall could bend to the south, while, from a higher
position, a very irregular course must be given it, in order to obtain
this angle.
The positions of the fountain of Siloam and the pool of Solomon cannot
be doubted. As the latter is filled with earth, I was obliged to make
excavations, in order to ascertain whether it still retained marks of
its antiquity. I found that the wall on the east side, especially in its
lower part, was of ancient Jewish work; so also were parts of the
north-west side and the east extremities of the other two walls. The
pool is from 7-3/4 to 10 feet deep on the south-east, and 14 feet on the
north-west. I have no doubt that it is as old as the time of Solomon,
and think it may be the one named by the prophet Isaiah, "Ye made also a
ditch between the two walls for the waters of the old pool, but ye have
not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that
fashioned it long ago[120]."
Josephus does not directly state that the east side of Sion, above the
Tyropoeon valley, was fortified, but we may infer it, as he[121] tells
us that, when Titus had gained possession of the Temple and Ophel and
all the north part of Jerusalem, he laid siege to the Upper City, which
must have fallen at once, if there had not been a wall defending it on
the east. We can hardly suppose that the Jews would have built it at the
time, after seeing the fall of their strongest bulwarks, the tower
Antonia and the Temple, nor would an obstacle hastily thrown up, and
therefore weak, have arrested the victorious Romans.
The second wall is thus described: it "took its beginning from that gate
which they called _Gennath_, which belonged to the first wall; it only
encompassed the northern quarter of the city, and reached as far as the
_tower Antonia_[122]." I have already mentioned the addition made to
the city of David and its probable extent, in speaking of Jerusalem at
the time of Solomon: consequently I now have only to give the reasons
that have induced me to fix the position of the places, and see whether
they agree with the narrative of the historian. There are but two points
to give in the line of the wall, the _gate Gennath_, whose position we
must determine, and the _tower Antonia_, which was situated at the
north-west angle of the platform[123] of the Temple, and whose position
we may consider to be nearly ascertained. I place the gate Gennath (i.e.
of gardens) east of the tower Hippicus, in the northern part of the
first wall, at the place where I stated that I had found an ancient
Jewish semicircular arch. From its name we may infer that it opened on
cultivated land, and Josephus[124] speaks of the gardens on the north
and north-west of the city, which were destroyed by the troops of Titus
in levelling the ground. If the Pool of Hezekiah be the same as the pool
_Amygdalon_[125] (of almonds), we may infer that probably plantations of
almonds were in this neighbourhood. We must also recollect that if the
sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea were on the north-west, there would be
a garden here[126]. Now as all the gates of Jerusalem in former times
were named from their position or destination, it is very probable that
this was called the _garden gate_, because the road to the gardens went
through it; and indeed on excavating by the side of the arch above
named, I found the two piers, which have been preserved by the
accumulation of the earth. The arch, visible for about five feet above
ground, is formed of large stones, rusticated, although the work has
been much injured by time. They are firmly fastened together inside with
iron clamps without mortar, that which I saw being merely superficial,
and introduced by the Arabs during repairs. The two piers are
constructed of similar masonry, but here the rustic work is very
conspicuous. I discovered that the gate was founded on the rock, was 18
feet high and 8-1/2 wide. It is buried by a mass of rubbish, that here,
as elsewhere, has raised the true level of the soil. The position of the
gate (looking west) is not incompatible with its having formed part of a
line of defence from the tower Hippicus to the Xystus; because not only
were angles admitted into the systems of fortifications of that time,
but also, with regard to Jerusalem, we are told by Tacitus[127] that
"Walls with re-entering angles and curves, to take the assailants in
flank, enclosed two very high hills."
In the immediate neighbourhood of the tower Hippicus I was not able to
find any ancient remains, and therefore suppose that the wall commenced
at this gate. I sought for its ruins, along a line northwards from this
point, but was at first unsuccessful; although I found a fragment of a
building on the east side of the plot of land formerly occupied by the
convent of S. Mary the Great[128], which may possibly belong to an early
period; but I had afterwards three opportunities of learning that I was
not mistaken, in expecting to find the required evidence somewhere in
this part. (1) In January 1857, the weight of a quantity of fallen snow
threw down a part of the wall of a Mohammedan Bazaar[129], called the
Meat Bazaar, near the above-named convent. By order of the Governor I
repaired it in 1858, and in digging down to the rock to lay the new
foundations, at a depth of 10 feet below the surface, came upon large
stones, boldly rusticated, and arranged in a manner that reminded me of
the Phoenician work of the time of Solomon. This wall is nine feet
thick, and consists of three courses of stone, the first, which lies on
the rock, being 3-1/4 feet in height, the second 2, and the third 2-1/2;
thus an extension both north and south from this spot was proved by this
fragment. (2) In 1858 the Russian mission at Jerusalem, by my
suggestion, obtained a piece of land near to the church[130] of the
Resurrection on the east. In 1859 they cleared away the accumulated
rubbish, and during the work a corner of a Jewish wall was discovered;
the stones of which were rusticated to a depth of 4 or 5 lines, and
carefully finished; these were the remains of a restoration of the time
of the Herods on the ancient foundation of Solomon's wall. (3) In 1860
the dragoman of the French consul built a house, close to the west side
of the present _judgement-gate_, and in digging down for the rock found,
at a depth of 18 feet below the surface, a fragment of a wall,
resembling in all respects that described above in the first case. From
these three points I ascertained the course of the west side of the
wall; it remained therefore to search for the northern face towards the
Damascus gate; and an opportunity occurred before long, when the Greek
Archimandrite Bisarion repaired and strengthened a house (now
temporarily occupied by the Russian consulate). I dug some pits to
examine its foundation, but no remains of antiquity were discovered, and
the only result of my labours was to ascertain the true level of ancient
Jerusalem at this spot. I made enquiries of all, who in former years had
built in this neighbourhood, but could not hear that any Jewish ruins
had ever been found, and therefore think that the wall must have turned
sharp to the east at the _judgement-gate_ (formerly the gate of
Ephraim), and so, facing the north, gone on to the tower Antonia. The
occurrence of very large stones, evidently of Jewish work, in the walls
of the houses (especially in the lower parts) in this direction confirms
this idea. These were found when the Effendi Kadduti repaired and partly
rebuilt the house in the Via Dolorosa, at the _Station of Veronica_. A
similar discovery was made by the Mufti, in strengthening his house, at
the _Station of Simon of Cyrene_; and by the Effendi Soliman Giari,
opposite to the Mufti's house on the north. The Armenian Catholic Monk
requested me to examine and level a piece of land, at the _Station of
the first fall of Christ_, which, as representative of his nation, he
had just bought. In the lower part of the wall enclosing it on the north
very large stones and an ancient gate were found.
In the foundations of the Austrian hospice, laid in 1857, to the north
of the Armenian property, large stones were discovered, and also,
farther to the east, in the new convent of the Daughters of Sion. From
all these facts, I infer that the line of the second wall passed along
this side. I may also remark that the Greek text of Josephus states that
the wall "went up to the Antonia[131];" and we can still see, from the
conformation of the ground in this direction, that, after crossing the
Tyropoeon valley, it would _go up_ to the tower. The assertion that
the second wall "only encompassed the northern quarter of the city," is
true, because, at the time of Josephus, Hezekiah's wall must have been
standing, and therefore considered to form part of the second line. I
once supposed that the gate Gennath was near the tower Hippicus on the
east, and that consequently the second wall went in a zigzag course
until it joined the Antonia: but, as mentioned above, I did not find any
traces of it very near the tower Hippicus, and I think that if the gate
of Gennath had been close to this, the historian would have mentioned
it. I have already said that I attribute this wall to Solomon, because
it is mentioned in the Bible in connection with events after his time.
Josephus states that "the beginning of the third wall was at the tower
Hippicus, where it reached as far as the north quarter of the city and
the tower Psephinus, and then was so far extended till it came over
against the monuments of Helena, which Helena was queen of Adiabene, the
daughter of Izates; it then extended farther to a great length, and
passed by the royal caverns (+spêlaiôn+), and bent again at the tower of
the corner, at the monument which is called the Monument of the Fuller,
and joined to the old wall at the valley called the Valley of the
Kidron[132]." In laying down the course of this wall I differ from all
those (in particular Barclay, Schultz and Robinson) who, up to the
present time, have written on the topography of ancient Jerusalem. I am
led to do this by the careful investigations, which, during a long time,
I carried on in the district north of the city. It is my positive
opinion that the ancient walls did not extend to the north beyond the
present enclosure; that is, that they began at the Jaffa gate, passed by
the Damascus gate, and ended at the north-east corner of the
_Haram-es-Sherîf_. Let me now state the facts which have led me to this
conclusion.
In 1860 the Greek convent repaired the building outside the Jaffa[133]
gate, now used as a custom-house. Wishing to lay some foundations
against the city wall, I came, on digging down, upon those of Agrippa's,
which rest upon the rock; now we know that this wall near to Hippicus
was defended by the steep slope of the side of the valley, and that
where this ceased, towards the north-west corner, a ditch was cut in the
rock. This may still be seen, and is a proof that I am right in
supposing the present to be the wall that went from Hippicus to
Psephinus.
At the north-west corner a massive ruin still exists inside the city,
rising about twenty feet above the ground, and built of small stones
joined with strong mortar; in the south-west corner however are found
large stones, rusticated after the Herodian pattern. On digging about
the shapeless pile, I discovered that courses of similar stones
continued down to the rock. I also found two sides of masonry, and many
large rusticated stones buried in the rubbish, and traces of a great
cistern. Hence I consider this to be the site of the tower Psephinus, an
octagon in form, and seventy cubits high[134]. Beyond these ruins,
outside the present wall, is a ditch cut in the rock, unquestionably a
work of the Herodian age, for no later conquerors would have had the
time or desire to execute such a great and costly work. It is now
concealed by rubbish, but it runs eastward parallel to the present wall,
which therefore can scarcely have extended beyond it, in the course laid
down by Barclay, Schultz, and many others.
The position I assign to Psephinus is the highest point in the city;
therefore as the tower was seventy cubits high, we can understand that
from its top the confines of Arabia and the sea (the Dead Sea) might be
visible; indeed the latter may even now be seen from the terraces of the
highest houses in the neighbourhood of the ruins. I call particular
attention to this, because some have supposed that Josephus meant the
Mediterranean; which cannot be seen even from the higher station of
Mount Olivet. Besides he tells us that the tower was _at_ the north-west
corner of the wall[135]. The position assigned to Psephinus by Schultz,
about 1800 feet from the corner, _along_ the line, is not only a very
bad one in a strategic point of view, being in a hollow and commanded by
higher ground in front, but also would not have given a glimpse of the
sea had the tower been double the height. Barclay's position is to the
north-west and beyond the present wall, but nearer to mine and on higher
ground, so that it satisfies the historian's conditions, but still is
inadmissible, because it would be on a plateau without any defences, and
would therefore have been easily taken by the Romans, instead of giving
them some trouble.
I believe that Schultz fixed upon his position because a pool and some
fragments of a wall, which he considered ancient, were found there. The
reservoir is however too small and is an oblong, and therefore ill
suited for an octagonal tower; in which we should at least expect to
find a square. I examined the wall by excavations, and found it to be
only an Arab work: some stones, large but not thick, are the only things
that have a look of antiquity, and this character is not decisive
because they are embedded in mortar; in fact they are only the remains
of some slabs that have once been used in a conduit. Barclay has
certainly made the most of the reservoir of the _Meidan_; but in his
time it was filled with rubbish, and therefore could not be examined. I
have seen it empty, and its dimensions are nine feet deep, twenty long,
and ten wide. It is therefore too small for the tower. I have surveyed
and carefully investigated all the ground near it, for the Russian
Mission and for Signor Tanûs (the owner of the reservoir), but could not
discover the slightest trace either of defensive works, or a wall, or
detached stones, to induce me to believe that a fortification ever
occupied this spot, but on the contrary found rock, either quite bare or
thinly covered with a red clayey soil. Other writers have assigned other
positions to Psephinus, which are either near the above, and so open to
the same objections, or else do not agree with the account of Josephus.
At the north-west corner the wall turns to the east, and after about 150
paces, before arriving at the Damascus Gate, we come to a new Greek
building, touching the city-wall. When the foundations of this were
laid, I examined a piece of wall, entirely of the age of the Agrippas,
some stones of which are still visible. From this we see that a part of
the wall, or a tower, was formerly on this spot, in accordance with my
opinion.
The present Damascus Gate[136] bears strong testimony to the fact that
Agrippa's wall once passed by it. It is flanked, east and west, by two
towers, that are conspicuous objects from inside the city; their bases
are entirely composed of large stones of the Herodian period. They are
twenty cubits square[137], and solid up to the ancient level of the
ground. I believe them to be the 'women's towers' mentioned by
Josephus[138]. I say the ancient level, because in a reservoir outside
the gate, on the east, I discovered traces of another gate, at a lower
level than and supporting the present Damascus Gate. In the south wall
of this there is a segment of a semicircular arch, 12 feet wide and 26
high, the stones forming the side piers are large and rusticated, those
of the arch itself are also large but smooth. I discovered it in
January, 1861. This I believe to be identical with the 'North Gate' of
Josephus, through which the Jews made a sortie to disturb Titus' first
reconnoissance of the city[139]. On both sides, without the present
gate, are large stones, rusticated, of the Herodian period, some in the
lower part of the present wall, others forming a sort of terrace above
the road.
About 980 feet north of the Damascus Gate is an isolated rock rising 8
or 10 feet above the ground, and bearing inside and out traces of the
hand of man. In the east side is an aperture, which resembles the doors
in the sepulchres of the Kings, of the Judges and of Aceldama, and, like
these, has been closed by a heavy stone moving on two hinges, the holes
for which are still visible. It leads into a ruined cistern, nearly
filled with rubbish. I had often been struck by the resemblance this
presented to an ancient sepulchre, and thought that in that case it
might be the tomb of Helena, but several difficulties stood in my way,
and it is to the intelligent co-operation of M. Edmond de Barrère,
French Consul at Jerusalem, that I am indebted for the confirmation of
my idea. During our investigation at this place, we discovered that the
rock appeared to be cut into the form of the base of a pyramid; also, by
excavating inside the cistern, we found traces of tombs hewn in the
rock. Hence I conclude that this is the site of the tomb of Helena. This
is not the only instance where the resting-places of the dead have been
profaned. Near the tombs of the Judges, and to the north of the head of
the Kidron valley, changes of this kind are common: so too at the
sepulchres of Aceldama the peasants of Siloam have converted some into
dwelling-houses, others into barns. We know the history of some of the
accidents that have befallen the grave of Helena; for a church was built
on the same rock by the Empress Eudoxia, between the years A.D. 450 and
461, and dedicated to S. Stephen, who was said by tradition to have been
stoned there; it was destroyed by the Saracens on the approach of the
Crusaders. These rebuilt it, completing the work about the middle of the
twelfth century; but destroyed it again A.D. 1187, fearing that Saladin
would use it to cover his troops in attacking the city. This site
satisfies another condition given by Josephus, when he says that the
tomb was "distant no more than three stadia from the city of
Jerusalem[140]." Now he invariably uses the words 'city of Jerusalem' to
express the part enclosed by the first or second line of walls, and 'the
new city' or 'Bezetha' for that within the third. Agrippa's wall,
commenced A.D. 44, and continued A.D. 66, by the Jews[141], was lying in
an unfinished state at the time of Helena's death; consequently, I
understand that Josephus intended the three stadia to be reckoned from
the second wall. S. Jerome[142], speaking of the Journey of Paula,
states that, coming from Ramah and Gabaah, she left the tomb of Helena
on the left hand, and then entered Jerusalem. The ancient road from
Ramah, whose remains may still be seen, passed a little to the north of
the sepulchres of the Kings, and then turning to the N.W., left the
monument of Helena on the left and entered Jerusalem. The distance from
the north gate, as determined by me, is another very strong argument for
this position.
The following Jewish tradition also confirms my opinion. It is the
custom for the Jews, every year, about the time of the Feast of
Pentecost, to leave Jerusalem by the Damascus Gate, and pass the whole
day in visiting this rock, the sepulchres of the Kings, the supposed
tomb of Simon the Just, and a grotto, opposite to this, looking south,
called in Arabic _Jadagat el-Ahel_, that is, "store of food" or "alms of
food[143]." They repeat their visit, or rather pilgrimage, for three
days, and never return to the city without scrupulously visiting these
four places. I asked educated Jews the reason of this custom, and was
told that from this direction a great Queen had come, who, during a
severe famine, had brought large supplies of food to Jerusalem, which
were deposited in the above-named grotto; that on her death she wished
to be buried on the north near the city; (I asked them to point out the
place, but they could not), and consequently they went out in respectful
remembrance of her, (they did not know even her name,) and also to visit
the tombs of their ancestors. Thus, though the tradition does not fix
the exact place of the grave, it shews that it was near the city, and
indicates the direction in which it lay.
Close to the outer side of the wall, a little to the east of the
Damascus gate, is a large deep hollow, almost entirely enclosed on the
south, east, and north, by bare rock, which has evidently been worked at
some very distant period[144]. In the upper part of the south side is a
hole, opening into a long deep cavern extending southward and eastward
under the city; and facing this, to the north, is the (commonly called)
grotto of Jeremiah. These are nothing but ancient stone-quarries, which
I consider to be the _Royal Caverns_ of Josephus, and believe that the
stones, which at different times have been used to build the city walls
and the Temple, have been, at least in great part, taken from them. They
were separated one from another, as at present, partly in getting the
stone and partly in fortifying the north of the New City (Bezetha) with
a ditch, which still runs eastward along the wall till it arrives at the
pool near S. Mary's gate. It is cut entirely in the rock, like the one
on the north-west in front of the tower Psephinus, and is a regular
defence for the city-walls. As similar works have never been found in
any other part of the district on the north, its occurrence at this
place seems a strong argument in favour of my theory. I also compared
the levels of the bottom of the hollow in front of the cavern, and of
the Tyropoeon valley, with the old level of the north gate, and found
they correspond. I further ascertained that the road sloped gently
towards the Temple, so that the huge blocks could have been easily
transported. We may remark also that Josephus uses different words to
express Cavern and Sepulchre[145]; and that the word used in speaking of
this place does not apply to a place of burial. I conclude therefore
that these are the Royal Caverns of Josephus, and if it be objected that
this position restricts too much the line of Agrippa's wall, I ask to
what other place on the north this name can be applied.
To the east of the Royal Caverns is Herod's gate, and a little below it,
in the same direction, the lower part of the present wall for four
courses above the ground is of Herodian work; another point in favour of
my theory.
It is stated that "the wall bent again at the tower of the corner, at
the monument which is called the Monument of the Fuller[146]." We must
now endeavour to assign the position of these two. I place the tower
inside the present wall at its north-east corner, where massive masonry
may still be seen on a level with the ground. The Monument of the Fuller
is entirely destroyed, and its place cannot be exactly determined.
Still, two passages in the Bible give some clue: Josiah burnt the grove
which he had removed from the house of the Lord "at the brook Kidron,
and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the
graves of the children of the people[147];" also, Jehoiakim slew Urijah
"with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common
people[148]." Now in the valley of the Kidron, east of the corner of the
wall, are some rocks bearing evident traces of workmanship, but so much
injured and weatherworn, and so covered with rubbish, that it is
impossible to say whether they have belonged to a monument or not; but
there are some signs of sepulchres; so, as the 'graves of the common
people' are in the valley of Kidron, I am inclined to think that this
may have been the Fullers Monument. The highway of the Fuller's field is
mentioned in 2 Kings xviii. 17, Isaiah xxxvi. 2, and some think that
this is connected with the monument named by Josephus; but the two
things are quite distinct, and there is no reason why the former should
be near the latter. After passing the monument the wall joined the old
wall, which now forms the north-east corner of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_.
Having thus examined the line of the walls, let us try to prove, both
from the historian's words and the conformation of the ground, that the
city cannot have extended to the north beyond its present limits.
It is stated[149] that "the third wall had ninety towers (twenty cubits
square), and the spaces between them were each two hundred cubits, but
in the middle wall were fourteen towers[150], and the old wall was
divided by sixty; while the whole compass of the city was thirty-three
stadia." Now it is quite credible that the middle and old walls had the
above numbers of towers, but it is very hard to understand how the third
could have had ninety, and these two hundred cubits apart. If each tower
was twenty cubits square, then the space occupied by towers would be
eighteen hundred cubits; and if they were two hundred cubits apart, the
sum of their distances would be eighteen thousand cubits; so that the
whole length of the third wall would have been nineteen thousand eight
hundred cubits; which is equal to about nine thousand seven hundred and
ninety-one yards, or _forty-eight stadia_. This, besides being greater
than the whole compass of the city (thirty-three stadia), is far too
large for even the space claimed by Barclay; because in order to obtain
a measurement of this extent, we must suppose a part of the Scopus
itself to have been included within the walls. There must therefore, as
it appears to me, be some error in the text of Josephus in the number
'ninety,' so that no argument can be founded upon it. The position,
however, which I assign to the wall, agrees very well with the
thirty-three stadia, given by the historian as the whole length of the
walls[151].
My theory is also supported by the description of Titus' wall of
circumvallation[152]. "He began the wall from the _Camp of the
Assyrians_, where his own camp was pitched; and drew it down to the
lower parts of the New City; thence it went along the valley of the
Kidron to the Mount of Olives; it then bent towards the south, and
encompassed the mountain as far as the rock called _Peristereon_, and
that other hill which lies next it; and is over against the valley which
reaches to Siloam; whence it tended again to the west, and went down to
the valley of the fountain, beyond which it went up again at the
_Monument of Ananus_ the high priest; and encompassing that mountain
where Pompeius had formerly pitched his camp, it returned back to the
north side of the city, and was carried on as far as a certain village
called the _House of the Erebinthi_, after which it encompassed _Herod's
Monument_, and there on the east was joined to Titus' own camp, where it
began. Now, the length of this wall was thirty-nine stadia. Now, at this
wall without were erected thirteen places to keep garrison in, whose
circumferences put together amounted to ten stadia."
Of the places mentioned in the above description, the camp of the
Assyrians is at the north-west corner of the present line of walls, two
stadia distant from which were the head-quarters of Titus[153].
I cannot ascertain the position of the rock Peristereon (dovecote).
According to Schultz this word has the same meaning as the Latin
'Columbarium[154],' and he identified it with the so-called 'Tombs of
the Prophets[155],' but this does not correspond with the 'Columbarium'
of the Romans. Its position indeed, at the first glance, seems to agree
with the _data_ of Josephus; but his words appear more applicable to a
prominent rock than to a monument, which moreover is too far up the
hill-side to be included in the line of circumvallation. I believe
therefore that the Peristereon of Josephus was situated at the north
entrance of the present village of Siloam, where the rocks still bear
marks of having been extensively quarried.
The Monument of Ananus has been identified by Schultz with the present
tomb of S. Onuphrius, a building in the Doric style, situated in
Aceldama; we will examine it more minutely hereafter.
I also agree with Schultz in placing the village, called 'House of
Erebinthi' (chick peas), in the valley of Gihon to the west of
_Birket-es-Sultan_, at a spot marked by some ruins, quarried rock, and a
considerable number of cisterns hewn in the rock; called by the Arabs,
_Kasr-el-Asfur_ or _el-Ghazal_ (castle of the young sparrow or of the
gazelle) and _Abu-Wair_. Near, and to the west of _Birket Mamillah_, is
a large mass of ruins, covering some sepulchral caves, which are
identified by Schultz with Herod's monument. Though it is difficult to
recognise in them the customary magnificence of that family, still the
position suits the account of Josephus. They were injured in the early
ages of Christianity on the building of the Greek church of St Babylas,
which was afterwards destroyed by the Persians under Chosroes II., and
to which the present remains belong.
Some authors are very anxious to extend Jerusalem towards the north
(since this is impossible on the south), in order to make it large
enough to contain the immense population, and the numbers of dead and
prisoners recorded by Josephus[156]. But Hecatæus of Abdera, cited by
the historian[157], reckons its inhabitants, at the time of Alexander
the Great, at 120,000; is it then possible that the population of the
city could have so greatly increased in four centuries, during which
Palestine had been drained by numerous emigrations and frequent
revolutions, and was the field of constant and bloody strife[158]? Nor
must we forget that the defenders were not more than 25,000, nor the
besiegers more than 60,000[159]. Could not then so great a population
(about 2,000,000) furnish a larger garrison for the defence of their
Palladium? Though Titus might have reckoned on the intestine struggles
among the Jews, would he even then, skilful general and experienced
warrior as he was, have undertaken so hazardous an enterprise? Could he
have approached so large and populous a city with an army relatively so
weak? We do not need more evidence to convince us that either the
historian has included in his numbers the prisoners and dead of the
whole war, or has indulged in exaggeration, or else that the figures
have been wrongly transcribed.
Let us also consider the conformation of the ground on the north.
Josephus has distinctly stated that the city was enclosed by a triple
wall, except on the side of the valleys, where there was but one, as
this part was inaccessible[160]. These few words appear to me to be
fatal to any theory that lays down Agrippa's wall near the Tombs of the
Kings. If he had begun to build it on the ridge south of the upper part
of the Kidron valley, the Jews would of course have completed it on the
same spot, and Josephus would not have omitted to state that the city
was defended to a considerable extent by a valley on the north. But on
this point he is silent, and finding his description correct in other
respects, I cannot suppose that he has made an omission in this. If it
be contended that the upper part of the Kidron valley is too shallow to
be worth mention, I reply, that it is from 16 to 24 feet deep, and was
no doubt deeper in the time of Josephus; who therefore would not have
failed to observe that there was also a valley on the north, which at
any rate was quite deep enough to be a formidable obstacle to an attack
from that side. Again, suppose that the city-wall had come up to the
Tombs of the Kings, or stood a little to the south of them, what would
then have been the use of Titus' reconnoissance from Gofna with 600
horse[161]; thus uselessly exposing himself to danger, when he could
have examined the place better, and even exhorted the people to submit,
from Mount Scopus. Had the city extended thus far, it would have been
open to view and exposed to an attack on the north-west, being closely
surrounded by higher hills; nor would a skilful general like Titus have
given his men the trouble of levelling the ground from Scopus up to
Herod's monument[162], needlessly increasing the labours of his troops,
and exposing them to constant attacks from the Jews. He certainly would
not have moved his camp to a position two stadia distant from both
Psephinus and Hippicus[163], because he could easily have attacked the
city at any point between the Tombs of the Kings and Psephinus. Lastly,
I assert that no signs of defensive works, natural or artificial, are
found to the north or north-west of the present walls. From the Jaffa
Gate to the Tombs of the Kings, and thence to the north-east corner of
the walls, there is not the slightest trace of the foundation or the
masonry of the outer wall; no great hewn stones scattered over or buried
in the ground; nothing but twenty-six vaulted cisterns, hollowed out in
the rock, and four very small pools, which could not have supplied the
large population that must have covered this space; the rock, though in
places worked, is generally rough and untouched by any tool; the soil is
everywhere red and clayey, its natural condition; another proof that it
was never built over, for where the houses have been destroyed by fire
or age, it is of a blackish or greyish colour, and contains fragments of
walls or at least hewn stones in plenty. Let any one examine the south
part of Sion or Ophel and contradict my assertion if he can. On the
south heaps of broken stones and rubbish are scattered over a grey soil;
on the north is bare rock, or a scanty though rich virgin earth.
Some, however, infer an extension of the city to the north, from the
occurrence not only of cisterns but also of small cubes of stone,
belonging to mosaic pavements, and of certain walls which, without
proper examination, have been considered to be ancient Jewish work. But
these remains are not of any value, because, as stated by Josephus[164],
there were houses and gardens in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem to the
north. We may indeed infer the same from the words of Nehemiah[165],
because we cannot imagine persons engaged in the service of the Temple
living elsewhere in the environs of the city, on account of the great
number of tombs in every other part. Houses also stood here at the time
of the Crusades, and a church, dedicated to the Martyrdom of S. Stephen;
therefore the occurrence of some mosaics and stones is easily accounted
for. For all these reasons I deny that the walls extended farther to the
north than their present position; and if the advocates of other
theories are not convinced, I invite them to examine the places for
themselves, when they will see that I have spoken the truth.
A Roman garrison was left by Titus at Jerusalem, after the work of
destruction was completed, to watch over the ruins and prevent any
attempt at restoring the city[166]; and it was not till 60 years
afterwards that Hadrian sent thither a heathen colony to rebuild it and
call it _Ælia_, after his name Ælius. A temple to Jupiter Capitolinus
was erected on the site of the ancient Temple, whence the epithet
_Capitolina_. He forbade the Jews to enter the territory of Jerusalem
under pain of death, in order, according to Ariston of Pella[167], that
they might not behold the home of their fathers even from afar. He also
caused the effigy of a pig to be sculptured in marble on the gate
leading to Bethlehem; an animal unclean to the Jews, but one of the
Roman standards[168]. The southern part of Sion was excluded from his
city, and all agree that its form and size coincided with the present.
On this point we have the testimony of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux[169], who
visited the place early in the fourth century, during the building of
the Church of the Resurrection by Constantine.
At the time of the arrival of the Crusaders Jerusalem had not undergone
any material change, as we learn from El Edrisi[170], who finished his
work January, A.D. 1154, Benjamin of Tudela, who visited it A.D. 1173,
and Willibrand of Oldenburgh, who stayed there A.D. 1211. During the
occupation by the Crusaders a ditch extended along the wall from the
south-west corner to the Sion Gate. It is now covered by a street, but
on descending into one of the cisterns which opens into the middle of
the road, I found that they were all in reality formed out of the ditch.
This is the only part of the city of the Crusaders that has disappeared
from view owing to the restorations of Solyman the Magnificent, who
ascended the throne A.D. 1534.
The form of Jerusalem was not changed in his days, although he greatly
wished it. He had given orders to the architect, who was building the
new walls, to extend them on the side of Sion, so as to include the
whole of that hill. Regard for the sanctity of the place was not his
motive (as many Christians both then and since have thought), but fear,
lest in the event of a siege it might be occupied by an enemy, as a
commanding position on which to collect troops preparatory to an
assault. But when the architect, who hated the Christians, saw their
deep reverence for the place and their desire that it might be included
in the city, he determined to leave it outside as Hadrian had done;
without thinking of the political or military views of his sovereign. He
paid dear for his disobedience, for the Sultan recalled him to give an
account of his actions, and regardless of his religious scruples cut off
his head.
Having thus given a general idea of modern and ancient Jerusalem, we
will proceed to describe all the objects of interest enclosed within its
walls.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] See the Panorama, Plate I, and Plates II., III., IV.
[37] 2 Sam. v. 6, 7, 9.
[38] Jewish War, V. 4, § 1.
[39] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.
[40] Josh. xv. 8; xviii. 16.
[41] Jewish War, V. 4, § 1.
[42] Ibid.
[43] +amphikyptos+. Whiston translates 'Of the shape of a moon when she
is horned.'
[44] Gen. xxii. 2, 14.
[45] 2 Chron. iii. 1.
[46] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2; 5, § 8.
[47] Jewish War, V. 5, § 1; Ant. XV. 11, § 3.
[48] Ant. XV. 11, § 5.
[49] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[50] Jewish War, V. 5, § 8.
[51] Jewish War, V. 4, § 1.
[52] Note I.
[53] Ant. XII. 5, § 4; 9, § 3.
[54] Ant. XIII. 6, § 7; Jewish War, V. 4, § 1.
[55] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[56] 2 Sam. xv. 23, 30.
[57] 1 Kings xi. 7; 2 Kings xxiii. 13.
[58] Acts i. 12; Note II.
[59] Jewish War, V. 2, § 3.
[60] 1 Kings i. 38. See Note XIII.
[61] 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.
[62] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.
[63] 2 Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. vii. 31, 32; xix. 11.
[64] Jer. xix. 6.
[65] 1 Macc. iv. 61; vi. 26, 31; 2 Macc. xi. 5.
[66] Note II.
[67] Ant. XI. 8, § 5; Jewish War, II. 19, § 4; V. 2, § 3.
[68] Josh. xviii. 16.
[69] 2 Sam. v. 6, 7.
[70] Ant. VII. 3, § 1.
[71] Judges i. 21.
[72] Ant. V. 2, § 2.
[73] Note III.
[74] 2 Sam. v. 9; 1 Chron. xi. 7.
[75] 2 Sam. v. 11.
[76] 2 Sam. v. 9.
[77] 1 Chron. xi. 8.
[78] Note IV.
[79] Marked with black on the Plan of the Ancient City. Plate II.
[80] Note V.
[81] 2 Sam. v. 9; 1 Chron. xi. 8.
[82] Plate XXXI.
[83] 2 Chron. iii. 1.
[84] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16-25; 1 Chron. xxi. 18.
[85] 1 Kings ix. 15; xi. 27.
[86] Ant. VIII. 2, § 1; 6, § 1.
[87] 1 Kings ix. 15, 24.
[88] 1 Kings xi. 27.
[89] 2 Kings xii. 20.
[90] 2 Kings xxii. 14 (margin); Zeph. i. 10.
[91] 2 Chron. xxvii. 3.
[92] 2 Chron. xxxii. 5.
[93] Plate XXXI.
[94] Note VI.
[95] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.
[96] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[97] 2 Kings xiv. 13; 2 Chron. xxv. 23.
[98] Jer. xxxi. 38.
[99] 2 Chron. xxvi. 9.
[100] 2 Chron. xxiii. 15; Jer. xxxi. 40.
[101] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14; Zeph. i. 10.
[102] Jer. xx. 2.
[103] 2 Kings xxv. 4; Jer. lii. 7.
[104] Note VII.
[105] For what follows see Neh. ch. iii.
[106] Neh. xii. 31, 37, 38, 39.
[107] Neh. ii. 13.
[108] Jewish War, V. 4, § 1, 2, 3.
[109] Plate V.
[110] Note VIII.
[111] Jewish War, V. 4, § 3.
[112] Plate VI.
[113] Jewish War, VII. 1, § 1.
[114] Ibid. V. 3, § 5.
[115] Ant. XX. 8, § 11.
[116] Jewish War, VI. 6, § 2.
[117] Note IX.
[118] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[119] +Dia de tou Bêthsô kaloumenou chôriou katateinon epi tên Essênôn
pylên.+
[120] Isaiah xxii. 1, 11.
[121] Jewish War, VI. 7, § 2; 8, § 1.
[122] Ibid. V. 4, § 2.
[123] Jewish War, V. 5, § 8.
[124] Ibid. V. 3, § 2.
[125] Ibid. V. 11, § 4.
[126] S. John xix. 41.
[127] "Duos colles, in immensum editos, claudebant muri per artem
obliqui, aut introrsus sinuati ut latera oppugnantium ad ictus
patescerent."--Hist. V. 11; Note X.
[128] Plate XXX.
[129] Plate XXX.
[130] Plate XXX.
[131] +Anêei mechri tês Antônias.+
[132] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[133] Plate V.
[134] Jewish War, V. 4, § 3.
[135] Ibid. V. 3, § 3; 4, § 3.
[136] Plate VII.
[137] Jewish War, V. 4, § 3.
[138] Ibid. V. 2, § 2.
[139] Ibid.
[140] Ant. XX. 4, § 3.
[141] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[142] Jerome, Ep. CVIII. Ed. Migue, (_Ad Eustochium virginem_).
[143] Plate LVII.
[144] Plates VIII., IX.
[145] +spêlaion+ (cavern), +mnêmeion+ (sepulchre).
[146] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[147] 2 Kings xxiii. 6.
[148] Jer. xxvi. 23.
[149] Jewish War, V. 4, § 3.
[150] Whiston reads 'forty' instead of fourteen; the latter is the
number in the Greek text.
[151] Note II.
[152] Jewish War, V. 12, § 2.
[153] Ibid. V. 7, § 3.
[154] Columbarium means not only a dovecote, but also a sepulchre, with
niches for urns.
[155] Plate LIV.
[156] Jewish War, V. 13, § 7; VI. 9, § 3.
[157] c. Apion. I. 22.
[158] See the Chronological Table.
[159] Jewish War, V. 1, § 6; 6, § 1.
[160] Ibid. V. 4, § 1.
[161] Jewish War, V. 2, § 1.
[162] Ibid. V. 3, § 2.
[163] Ibid. V. 3, § 5.
[164] Jewish War, V. 3, § 2.
[165] Nehem. xii. 28, 29.
[166] Jewish War, VII. 1, § 1.
[167] Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. IV. 6.
[168] Jerome, 'Interpretatio Chronicæ Eusebii Pamphili' (Hadr. An. XX.).
[169] Note XI.
[170] Note XII.
CHAPTER III.
MOUNT MORIAH AND ITS ENVIRONS--HISTORY IN THE TIME OF ABRAHAM,
JACOB, DAVID, SOLOMON, ZERUBBABEL, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, ANTIOCHUS
EPIPHANES, THE MACCABEES, POMPEIUS, CRASSUS, THE HERODS, TITUS,
HADRIAN, CONSTANTINE, JULIAN THE APOSTATE, OMAR, ABD-EL-MALEK,
VALID OR ELULID, THE CRUSADERS, SALADIN, SELIM I., SOLYMAN
I.--GENERAL EXAMINATION OF MORIAH, WITH DETAILS OF THE
INVESTIGATIONS.
Mount Moriah, forming the south-east part of the Lower City, is one of
the points in Jerusalem whose situation can be fixed with the greatest
certainty, from the evidence of the place itself with its ruins and
remains, and from the testimony of ancient authors and local traditions.
At the present day it is surrounded by walls and buildings enclosing
the great plateau, in the middle of which rises the majestic
_Kubbet-es-Sakharah_ (Dome of the Rock), on the site formerly occupied
by the Temple of the God of Israel. The followers of Islam, on their
conquest of Jerusalem, dedicated this spot to the service of their own
faith, under the name of _Beit-el-Mokaddas-es-Sherîf_ (the Noble
Sanctuary). They esteemed it the holiest place on earth, after Mecca and
Medina, and, as usual, strictly forbade all unbelievers to enter it. An
accurate and scientific examination of it was not made, so far as we
know, in the days of the Crusaders, and since then, though many have
attempted it, none have succeeded. Ali Bey's description, made A.D.
1807, is correct enough for a traveller, but does not touch upon
questions of archæology; Catherwood, Bonomi, and Arundale, during
Ibrahim Pasha's occupation of Syria, A.D. 1833, commenced a survey with
plans and views; but were hindered and finally stopped by the fanaticism
of the Arabs, and so obliged to bring to a hasty conclusion a work
carefully begun. Many have spoken before scientific societies and
written on this subject in various publications; some after looking at
the place from the Mount of Olives or the terrace of the Barrack at the
north-west corner of the enclosure, others after a hurried visit; but no
one since the time of its destruction by Titus has examined the ground,
no one has carried on careful and systematic investigations there; all
have been content to speak of what appeared above the soil, and were
consequently ignorant of the objects of far greater interest below.
In consequence of the late war in the East, Mohammedan fanaticism was
somewhat abated, and Kiamil Pasha, Governor of the city, several times
allowed travellers to visit the _Haram_[171], and kindly gave me
frequent leave to enter it alone, without forming one of the train of
some distinguished visitor; at other times I went in disguise with Arab
friends; but on all these occasions I could only use my eyes, and now
and then venture to measure a distance by stepping it. This was not what
I wanted, for I had determined to construct plans and thoroughly examine
the ground in every direction. My wishes were carried into effect by the
great kindness and powerful protection of Surraya Pasha, who attached me
to his service as honorary architect, and then gave me every opportunity
and assistance in accomplishing my design, during a period lasting from
the beginning of 1857 to August 1861, when I returned to Europe. I have
accordingly examined this celebrated place, patiently and perseveringly,
and with no small sacrifice of time and private means[172]. I have
penetrated into the subterranean works, sought out and classified the
conduits and ascertained their course, constructed plans[173], and now
present the details of my labours to the reader, in confidence that,
even if I have not fully accomplished my design, I am the first to bring
forward many facts useful to archæology, and that if others continue the
researches (when that is possible) many great problems will be solved.
The first mention of Moriah in the Bible is when Abraham, in obedience
to the divine command, came to it to offer up his son Isaac, and the
Almighty, satisfied both of the faith of the father and the obedience of
the son, arrested the knife, and substituted another victim[174]. It is
possible that this mount may have been the scene of Jacob's dream[175],
and not the Bethel usually supposed; where at a later period the golden
calf was set up by Jeroboam. Had it been the latter place it is rather
improbable that the patriarch would have halted at so short a distance
from Shechem, when he fled from the vengeance of the neighbours of
Hamor[176]. Moriah is not directly mentioned in the account of David's
conquest of Jerusalem, nor in the history of his reign, but it is
indirectly when his country was smitten by a pestilence, after that, led
astray by pride, he had numbered the people[177]. He repented and
entreated God, who checked the destroying angel's hand, as his sword was
stretched out over Jerusalem. Bidden by the prophet Gad, the King went
out from the city to raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor
of Araunah the Jebusite, near to which he had seen the angel. He found
the owner with his four sons threshing wheat, purchased the floor for
600 shekels of gold, with the oxen for sacrifices, the grain for
meat-offerings, and the instruments for wood; built an altar there, and
called upon the Lord. The fire of heaven descended upon it, and the
angel thrust back his sword into the sheath. He continued to sacrifice
there, saying, "This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar
of the burnt-offering for Israel[178]." From the above narrative we see
that the threshing-floor was without the city, and the property of a
Jebusite, that it was a sacred spot, chosen by the Lord himself for his
House, and identical with Moriah. Josephus[179] informs us that this was
the very place to which Abraham brought his son Isaac to offer him as a
burnt-offering.
Here it will be well to digress a little to describe a 'threshing-floor'
(Goren) of this period. It consisted of a plot of ground, usually rocky,
levelled to allow of the crops being spread out to the air and sun,
ready for the labourers, yet so situated as to be sheltered from the
full force of the prevailing wind. For greater security it was usually
near a dwelling; and, either within the enclosure or in the immediate
neighbourhood, cisterns were hewn in the rock, some to catch the
rain-water, others to hold the grain and other farm produce[180]. The
purposes for which these were designed can be determined from their
form. Those for water have only one chamber, with a shaft (about 2-3/4
feet wide) opening out into the middle of the roof; the rest have two
chambers, one below the other, communicating by a hole (about 4 feet
wide) in the middle of the floor of the upper[181], which itself opens
to the threshing-floor by a sloping passage (about 3-1/2 feet wide). The
lower cavern is deeper and larger than the upper.
I have met with very many of these cisterns during my frequent journeys
in Palestine, where they are still applied to their ancient uses; they
are especially common in those Arab villages which stand upon sites
mentioned in the Bible; as at Beth-shemesh, on the road from Jaffa to
Jerusalem just at the east of the village of _El-Atrun_, at _Neby
Samwîl_ (formerly Ramah the home of Samuel), at Gibeon and Beth-horon,
at _Beit-zacaria_, the ancient Bath-zacharias[182], at _El-Kebab_ in the
plain of Sharon, and in many other places.
In the threshing-floor of Araunah there are many cisterns, but I wish to
call especial attention to two very near each other, to the north of the
_Kubbet-es-Sakharah_[183] and to one inside it, beneath the sacred rock;
of which the visitor can only see the hole on the north-east side and
the upper part, but can convince himself by the hollow sound of the
existence of the lower cave. These are, in my opinion, the strongest
proofs of the identity of the position of the mosque and its platform
with the ancient threshing-floor of the Jebusite. I will hereafter
explain how I contrived to explore the interior of the cisterns in a
place of such sanctity.
David collected materials, and instructed his son to build the Temple on
the spot where he had offered sacrifice; and when Solomon had
established himself upon the throne, he commenced the work, which was to
perpetuate the glory of his reign. As his own dominions were not able to
supply suitable wood for the building, and as his people had not as yet
made sufficient progress in art to enable him to execute his magnificent
designs, he asked Hiram king of Tyre to furnish him with cedars from
Lebanon and Phoenician masons[184], with a skilful artist to direct
the work[185]. His request was granted, a treaty was made between the
two kings[186]: timber was prepared and brought to Jaffa[187] by orders
of Hiram, while Solomon had great blocks of stone, of 8 and 10
cubits[188], quarried and transported to the spot ready for use, so that
"there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the
house, while it was in building[189]." Before laying the foundations of
the Temple itself he executed great works to enlarge and strengthen the
ground[190]. Josephus indeed states that the summit of the mountain was
so abrupt and surrounded by precipices, that it was hardly large enough
to support the sacred house and the surrounding buildings, and that in
consequence a wall was built on the east, rising 400 cubits from the
bottom of the valley, and the intervening space filled up with earth to
support a portico[191]. The work began in the fourth year of his reign
in the month _Zif_ (April-May) and lasted seven years[192].
I agree with Munk that it is impossible to give an exact description of
this Temple; those found in 1 Kings vi. 7 and 2 Chron. iii. and iv. are
very incomplete, and often hard to reconcile; besides the meaning of the
architectural terms used in them cannot readily be determined. That
given by Josephus frequently differs, especially in dimensions, from
those given in the Bible, and the details which he adds seem based upon
mere conjecture. The numerous modern accounts[193] are very dissimilar
and present great difficulties, when elevations are made from them. We
may therefore conclude that a correct idea of the proportions and
architecture of Solomon's Temple cannot be obtained; consequently I have
put aside during my researches all considerations about the height,
style, and ornamentation of the building, referring my reader to
Josephus[194] and Munk[195], and concerned myself only about the
details relating to the ground-plan. This was an oblong, 60 cubits in
length from east to west, and 20 cubits wide. At the entrance of the
Temple on the east was a portico called _Oulam_, measuring 20 cubits
from north to south, and therefore corresponding with the house, and 10
cubits from east to west[196]. The Temple itself was divided into two
distinct parts; that in front on the east, called _Hechel_ (Palace), now
the Holy Place, was 40 cubits long; inside it, on the right or north,
was the table of shewbread, on the left the seven-branched candlestick;
between these in front of the veil, the altar of incense. The inner
part, _Debir_ (the Holy of Holies), was twenty cubits square, and
contained the ark alone, in which were the two tables of stone, placed
there by Moses at Horeb[197].
The Temple was surrounded by two courts. The inner is mentioned in 1
Kings vi. 36, but its dimensions are not recorded; it was probably an
oblong, enclosing the building, which stood near the west end, so as to
leave a considerable space in front, where the holy things, used in the
Jewish ritual, were arranged; as none but the Priests could enter this,
it was called the court of the Priests[198]. Besides this there was the
'great' or 'outward' court[199], where the people assembled to worship.
In the middle of the inner court, opposite to the entrance of the
Sanctuary, was placed the great bronze altar of burnt-offerings, which
was 20 cubits square and 10 cubits in height[200]. South-west of this
and south-east of the Temple, was the large laver called from its size
the 'sea of bronze,' 10 cubits in diameter and containing 3,000
baths[201] of water, used for the lustrations of the priests[202].
Besides this there were ten other vases, 4 cubits in diameter, five on
either hand, each containing 40 baths[203]; these were used in washing
the burnt-offerings[204]. The effect of these works was to change
entirely the appearance of the Moriah of Abraham and David; but the
threshing-floor of Araunah, which had sustained the original altar, was
handed down to posterity by the succession of events which identified
the spot, and the indelible traces of antiquity, yet to be found there.
As Solomon had built in the Temple enclosure houses for the
Levites[205], besides the laver and altar of burnt-offering; it was
necessary for him to construct conduits and cisterns to bring, to keep,
and to carry off water for the religious ceremonies and the various
purposes of daily life, as well as to remove the blood of the victims
and other refuse. On this point the Bible is silent, but we can easily
see that there were not any sources of drinkable water in the Temple and
its vicinity, or indeed in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem; and that the
rain-water alone could not be depended upon for a supply sufficient for
the wants of the place; we may therefore assert with confidence that
Solomon must have made great works to bring water from distant sources,
as from Etham (Eccl. ii. 6), where an abundant quantity could always be
obtained; with cisterns to keep it, and conduits attached to convey it
to different parts of the platform of the Sanctuary.
We are told that the victims were slain on the north, the blood
sprinkled about the altar, and the refuse cast away towards the east, in
the 'place of the ashes[206],' and the Priest's chambers built on the
north side of the altar of burnt-offerings[207]. Hence it follows that
drains must have existed at the altar of burnt-offerings, on the
north-side, and at the 'place of the ashes.' That these and many other
things were constructed by Solomon, we shall presently see from my
investigations in the _Haram-es-Sherîf_; I have now only alluded to the
account given in the Bible of the ground-plan of the building, in order
to be more easily understood in describing them.
Although the Temple was sacked in the reign of Rehoboam by Shishak king
of Egypt[208], and under Amaziah by Joash king of Israel[209], and
repaired by Joash king of Judah[210], it did not undergo any material
change up to the time of its destruction by the Chaldeans. It was set on
fire by order of Nebuchadnezzar, with the rest of Jerusalem, and in a
few days became a heap of ruins. So fell the first Temple of the Lord,
rather more than four centuries after its first foundation[211]. This
done, the Chaldeans carried away a part of the people into captivity,
but left the poorer class to cultivate the land; over whom Gedaliah,
their countryman, was set as governor. He fixed his residence at
Mizpah[212], the abode of Jeremiah, and under his good rule the number
of inhabitants rapidly increased, the fugitives returned from all
quarters, tranquillity and order were established, and the people began
to devote themselves to the vintage and the harvest of summer-fruits[213];
but before long a traitor, Ishmael, overthrew the hopes of this remnant of
Judah by the murder of Gedaliah[214], after which the greater part of
them, fearing the anger of the king of Babylon, migrated into Egypt, and
settled in the land of Tahpanhes[215], five years after the destruction of
Jerusalem. From these facts, derived from the Bible, it is evident that
the country was never wholly cleared of its inhabitants during the
captivity; and that, as Jeremiah mourned for five years over the ruins of
the city, so might many others follow his example during successive years;
so that the recollection, not only of the site of the Temple, but of its
very details, would be preserved, together with the traces of the ancient
threshing-floor of Araunah, and the cisterns, which must have escaped the
flames.
Cyrus ascended the throne of Persia B.C. 536, and in the first year of
his reign allowed the Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild the
Temple[216]; fifty-two years after the destruction of the city, and
sixty-three after the exile of King Jehoiakim[217], a numerous band,
headed by Zerubbabel and Joshua, set out for Judæa, and arrived there
after a journey of four months[218]. The next year, B.C. 535, in the
second month, Zerubbabel began to rebuild the Temple, and the new walls
rose among the joyful shouts of the young men, who saw them for the
first time, and the tears of the old, who remembered the greater glories
of the former House[219]. Hence we see that persons, worthy of credit,
who had seen the first Temple, were alive when the second was built; and
therefore cannot but believe that it stood on its ancient foundations.
The Samaritans, ever the rivals of the Jews, wished to share in this
work; and when their offers were rejected, harassed the workmen and
interrupted its progress, until, at last, by sending exaggerated and
false reports to the King, they obtained an order suspending it[220].
After a lapse of fifteen years, in the second year of Darius,
Zerubbabel[221], instigated by Haggai, re-commenced the building; which
was finished and solemnly inaugurated[222], in the sixth year of Darius
B.C. 517, on the third day of the month _Adar_ (February-March). We do
not find any description of the dimensions and appearance of
Zerubbabel's Temple: according to the decree of Cyrus[223], it was to be
sixty cubits broad and as many high; but these dimensions cannot be
relied on, because we are told that the new edifice was not in any
respect equal to the former[224]. It was visited by Alexander the Great
B.C. 332; and if we can credit Hecatæus of Abdera, a contemporary of the
conqueror, it differed considerably in style and size from Solomon's
Temple; the dimensions of the enclosure in which it stood were six
plethra (606 feet) long and 100 cubits wide; the great altar of
burnt-offerings was built of large white unpolished stones, being 20
cubits square and 12 high. According to the assertion of Herod the
Great, quoted by Josephus[225], the second House was not so high as the
first.
Antiochus Epiphanes entered Jerusalem B.C. 170, and after killing many
of the Jews and plundering the Temple, withdrew to Antioch. After two
years he returned, persecuted the people more barbarously than ever, and
profaned the House of the Lord, despoiling it of all that had been left
on the former occasion. He built a fortress in the lower city in a
commanding position, and placed therein a Macedonian garrison to harass
all who went to pray at the Holy Place[226]; still the form of the
Temple and its enclosure remained unaltered during this calamitous
period.
Never have more glorious deeds been done by any nation than by the Jews
under the rule of the Maccabees, men ever ready to die rather than break
the laws of their God and country. The Temple was recovered and cleansed
from pollution; the sacred things, which had been carried away by the
Syrians, were recaptured; the altar of burnt-offerings, having been
defiled by heathen sacrifices, was destroyed and a new one erected[227];
the walls surrounding the Temple, which had been pulled down by
Antiochus Eupator, were rebuilt by Jonathan, and strengthened by
towers[228]; the neighbouring fortress on the hill Acra was captured by
Simon, the Macedonian garrison expelled, and the building razed. The
hill itself was levelled, so that it no longer commanded the Temple:
three years of incessant labour, night and day, being spent on the work.
He afterwards fortified Moriah, and built his house upon it[229],
probably on the site at the north-west corner, where his successors
built the castle Baris[230]. In this dwelt Aristobulus, son of Hyrcanus,
by whose orders his brother Antigonus was murdered, at a place in an
underground passage, leading to the castle, called Strato's Tower[231].
I shall return to this again, as I think that I have discovered it, or
at least been the first to identify it.
At the time of Pompeius the Great the Temple was joined to the city by a
bridge, which was destroyed by the followers of Aristobulus, as they
retreated within the sacred walls, and prepared to defend themselves
against their assailants, who had called the Roman forces to their aid.
On the north it was protected by high towers and a deep ditch, excavated
with great pains in a valley; and on the west by precipices, which could
not be scaled when the bridge was broken down[232]. The Roman conqueror
entered the sanctuary, but respected its treasures, and permitted the
Jews to carry on their worship without interruption. Crassus, on the
contrary, though only passing through Jerusalem, did not imitate the
moderation of Pompeius, but despoiled it of its treasures and sacred
vessels. The last calamity that befell it was when some of the cloisters
were burnt, during the siege by Herod the Great[233].
Of all the great works executed by this King, the most important for
several reasons was the Temple of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of
his reign he convoked a national assembly, and set before them the
necessity of rebuilding it, giving as his chief reason that, at the time
of its restoration by Zerubbabel, it had not been made of the proper
dimensions or on the right plan. No doubt a house, raised five centuries
before, by a poor colony, with funds supplied by the King of Persia,
must have had a paltry appearance, contrasted with the magnificent
buildings erected by Herod in the highest style of Grecian art. The Jews
hesitated to consent to his scheme, fearing that after he had
demolished the old Temple, he might be unable or unwilling to finish the
new. He reassured them by promising not to begin to pull it down, until
he had collected all the materials required for so great an undertaking.
He kept his word; two years were spent in preparation[234]; the
sanctuary itself was completed in eighteen months, and the courts and
their cloisters in eight years; but the works in the outer buildings
were carried on for a much longer time[235]. This wonderful pile rose
upon the summit of Moriah, now enlarged by the labours of many
centuries, and surrounded by solid walls and deep valleys, more like an
impregnable fortress than a house of prayer; therefore the Apostles,
beholding with wonder the huge blocks of stone, bound with clamps of
lead and iron into a mass as firm as the rock itself, said one day to
our Saviour, "Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are
here!" The truth of His reply may still be seen at the place
itself[236].
I must now describe the ground-plan of the Temple sufficiently to enable
my readers to understand my investigations; referring those who are
desirous of entering more minutely into the subject, to the two accounts
of Josephus[237], and the description of Munk, to which I am greatly
indebted[238]. The area, enclosed by the outer wall, (called in the
Mischna 'the Temple Hill,') was a square of 500 cubits, or, according to
Josephus[239], of one stadium. This was divided into a series of
platforms, rising one above the other, and the Sanctuary was situated
rather nearer to the north-west corner, on the highest ground. This
arrangement produced a magnificent effect, and rendered the building
visible from every part of the city[240]. In the outer wall were several
gates; five, according to the Mischna[241], two on the south, and one on
each of the other sides; but in Josephus[242] it is stated that there
were four on the west alone, the numbers on the other sides not being
mentioned. Cloisters were built round the wall on the inside, those on
the east, north, and west were double, being supported by three rows of
columns, and thirty cubits wide; that on the south, called the 'Royal
Cloister,' was triple, and supported by four rows of columns[243]. The
Temple-market was held in this court; for all, even foreigners, were
allowed to enter it; hence it has been called by modern authors the
'Court of the Gentiles[244].' It was bounded on the inside by a stone
balustrade, in which columns were placed at certain intervals, bearing
inscriptions forbidding the Gentiles to pass them. In this fence,
according to the Mischna, were thirteen gateways from which fourteen
steps (each half a cubit in height and breadth) led up to a platform
ten cubits wide, called by the Mischna, _Hêl_ (before the wall), above
which rose the wall enclosing the sacred precincts. This was 25 cubits
high, and had nine gates, four to the north, four to the south, and one
to the east; these were approached by five steps; consequently the
enclosure was higher than the _Hêl_. It was divided into two courts, one
on the east, another on the west. The eastern gate led into a court, 135
cubits square, devoted to the women, and called after them _Azarath
naschîm_ (court of the women). This was divided from the western court
by a wall, in the middle of which, opposite to the entrance into the
women's court, was 'Nicanor's Gate[245],' approached by five steps
circular in form; the western court was therefore raised above the
eastern. It surrounded the Sanctuary, and was 135 cubits from north to
south, and 187 from east to west. The wall on the inside was surrounded
by columns; and on the north, east and south were a number of chambers,
devoted to various purposes, among which was the Hall of the Sanhedrim,
_Lischcath Hagazîth_. This court was divided by a balustrade, 11 cubits
from the east end, in the middle of which were three flights of
steps[246], from which the Priests blessed the people. The part devoted
to the men (135 cubits from north to south, and 11 from east to west)
was called the 'Court of the Israelites,' _Azarath Yisrael_: the other,
the 'Court of the Priests,' _Azarath Cohanîm_.
The Temple itself was 100 cubits in length, and as many in height; its
east front was formed by a vestibule, 100 cubits wide, measuring from
east to west 11 cubits, according to the Mischna, and 20 according to
Josephus. The rest of the building was 60 cubits wide (according to the
Mischna 70), therefore the vestibule projected 20 (or 15) cubits on each
side; twelve steps led up to the open door of the vestibule, which was
25 cubits wide. The _Hechal_, or Holy Place, was 20 cubits wide and 43
long, and was divided from the Holy of Holies (20 cubits square) by a
curtain. The sacred things were arranged as in Solomon's Temple. The
bronze laver stood in the Priests' court, south-east of the Sanctuary; a
certain Ben Katîn made twelve outlets for water in it, so that the same
number of Priests could purify themselves at the same time; he also
contrived a machine to bring the water into it from a well[247]. In the
middle of the court opposite the entrance of the Temple, north-east of
the laver, was the altar of burnt-offerings, made of unhewn stones, as
ordered by the law of Moses[248]. According to Josephus it was 50 cubits
square and 15 high, terminated at each corner by a kind of horn, and
approached by a gentle slope on the south side. The Rabbins say that it
rose in steps, the base being 32 cubits square[249], and that at the
south-east corner was a conduit, draining off the blood into the torrent
Kidron. North of the altar were marble tables to receive the flesh of
the victims[250]. In the Holy Place, the table of shewbread stood on the
north, the seven-branched candlestick on the south, and between them the
altar of incense; all made of gold. The Holy of Holies was empty, since
there was no ark in the second Temple, as it was lost when the first was
destroyed. According to a tradition, it had been hidden for security by
the prophet Jeremiah in a cave on Mount Nebo, which could not afterwards
be found[251]. A stone, about 2 inches high, called by the Rabbins
_Schethiyya_ (foundation), occupied its place, on which the High Priest
placed the censer on the day of Atonement[252].
Herod did not restrict his liberality to the Temple alone, but executed
some other great works in the same part of the city. He extended the
sacred enclosure on the north[253], strengthened its fortifications,
restored the ancient tower Baris[254], built by the Asmonean princes at
the north-west corner of the Temple, and called it Antonia, after his
patron, Marcus Antonius. As altered by him it was a square[255], half a
stadium each way; so that the whole perimeter of it and the Temple
together was six stadia. The outer wall enclosed a palace and four
towers, one at each angle; three of them 50 cubits high, and the fourth,
at the south-east corner, nearest the Temple, 70; from its summit the
Roman sentinel could see what was going on in the several courts[256].
The fortress was joined by a subterranean passage to a tower near the
east gate of the Temple, so that in case of a popular tumult the king
could easily escape into the Antonia[257]. At the present day, a plot of
levelled ground, a rocky knoll on the north of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_,
and a few shapeless fragments of masonry, are all that remain of the
splendid buildings of Herod.
All the buildings connected with Herod's Temple were finished at the
time of our Saviour's ministry[258]. He frequently taught in its courts,
and twice expelled those who profaned them with merchandise. He
prophesied the destruction of the place; and in its citadel His
sufferings commenced; for the Prætorium of Pilate was in the tower
Antonia, which was the residence of the Roman Governor and his
garrison[259]. There the sentence was proclaimed to the infuriated
people, who called down on their own heads the curse of the innocent
blood; in a few years so terribly avenged.
The description of Josephus, who was an eye-witness of the scene, has
been followed by all who have written on the siege and fall of
Jerusalem; it bears every mark of truth; and I shall give a brief sketch
of the part relating to the Temple and its environs, in order that the
account of my researches on the spot may be more intelligible to the
reader. On the first day of the month Thammuz (June-July) the Romans
assaulted the tower Antonia[260] and made a breach in the wall; but were
surprised to find that a second had been built up behind it. This was
carried on the fifth of the same month, and the Jews were driven within
the walls of the Temple courts. The greater part of the fortress was
razed during the next seven days, and the assailants erected mounds for
their engines on the space thus cleared, and battered the walls of the
Temple. Meanwhile the Jews burnt the north-west cloister, fearing that
it would open a communication with the main building for the Romans, who
themselves burnt the north cloister on the twenty-fourth day. This was
in no way opposed by the Jews, who considered that their position was
improved by the destruction of the cloister, and on the twenty-seventh,
by a feigned retreat, they decoyed a number of the Romans on to the roof
of the west cloister, and then fired a quantity of combustible material,
which had been previously heaped up below; so that numbers of their
enemies perished in the flames. The Romans having battered the west wall
of the inner inclosure during six days, and tried in vain to undermine
the north gate, were ordered to carry the cloisters by escalade. On the
eighth day of the month _Ab_ (July-August) they mounted the ladders
without opposition, but when they had arrived on the roof, they were
fiercely assailed by the Jews, and driven back with the loss of some
standards. Titus, seeing that the attempt had failed, set the gates on
fire; these were quickly destroyed, and the flames spread to the
cloisters in both directions. The fire continued till the next day, when
Titus, wishing to open a passage to the Temple for his troops, and to
save the building itself, if possible, ordered it to be extinguished.
During this day the Jews remained quiet; but on the morrow they renewed
the attack, determined either to drive the Romans from the Sanctuary, or
to perish beneath its ruins. By a sortie from the east gate they forced
back the enemy; but Titus, seeing from the Antonia the retreat of his
soldiers, went to their aid, and at last, about the fifth hour, the Jews
were again driven within the walls. He determined to wait and collect
his forces before making the assault; but this was a fatal day, being
the anniversary of the destruction of Solomon's Temple by the
Babylonians, six centuries and a half before[261]. The Jews made another
sortie upon the Romans, who were occupied in extinguishing the flames in
the inner inclosure, and were forced back as far as the buildings in the
neighbourhood of the House itself; these were set on fire by a Roman
soldier without orders, and the flames quickly spread to all the
chambers. Titus, in vain, commanded his troops to extinguish them; his
voice was drowned in the tumult; the Jews, with loud shrieks, fought
furiously in defence of the last bulwark of their nationality; but it
was now too late; the sacred building was in a blaze, and its obstinate
and heroic defenders perished beneath the ruins. After the Temple had
fallen, Titus tried to induce John and Simon, who had retreated into the
Upper city, to submit, and a parley was held at the bridge by the
Xystus[262]. These proud and blood-thirsty tyrants would not hearken to
him; the siege was carried on, and before long the whole upper city was
in his power. He ordered the Temple and the rest of Jerusalem to be
levelled with the ground, leaving only some of the western
fortifications to mark its former magnificence[263]. Thus ended the
political existence of the Jewish race.
The Christians came back from Pella to Jerusalem soon after its
destruction, and some of the Jews returned there to mourn over its
sacred ashes; so that the place was not wholly deserted even in the
darkest days of Trajan's persecution. Therefore tradition, as well as
the heaps of ruins, pointed out the site of the Sanctuary to Hadrian,
when, in order to humiliate the Jews and extinguish every hope of its
restoration, he built thereupon a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus.
When the idol temples were destroyed by Constantine the Great A.D. 332,
this too was demolished; but he took no care of Moriah, and allowed two
statues of Hadrian to remain there; neither did he attempt to clear it
of ruins, nor prevent its becoming a receptacle for rubbish; as if he
wished every trace of the departed glory of the nation to disappear.
However, the wretched descendants of David visited the place in
solitude, to anoint with oil and bedew with tears the 'perforated
stone,' which they considered a relic of their Sanctuary[264].
The accession of Julian the Apostate renewed the hopes of the Jews.
Wishing to prove the words of Scripture[265] false, he determined to
rebuild the Temple; and supplied the necessary funds, giving the
business in charge to Alypius of Antioch, Governor of Great Britain. The
Jews came in crowds to take part in the work, but their attempts to lay
the foundations were frustrated by flames, which issued from the
excavations with such peals of thunder, that the workmen fled
affrighted, mistaking in their ignorance a natural phenomenon for a
miracle[266].
The Emperor Justinian was the first to begin to clear away some of the
ruins from Moriah, A.D. 527. He endeavoured to identify the places
mentioned in the Gospels, and ordered a basilica to be erected on the
south side dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin, not far from the
site of the Temple[267]. Some buildings were also constructed on the
north side, and perhaps on the east, as I will presently shew.
The Mohammedans, commanded by Khaled and Abu Obeida, besieged the Holy
City, A.D. 636. The Patriarch Sophronius capitulated to Omar himself,
and the new master of the place converted the basilica of Justinian into
a mosque (_Aksa_); purified the sacred rock (_Sakharah_), the ancient
threshing-floor of Araunah[268], and ordered a mosque to be built over
it, which was commenced A.D. 643. William of Tyre reports that in his
time Arabic inscriptions existed in the building, mentioning the date of
the foundation, the founder's name, and the cost of the work[269].
However, from the account of Said-Ebn-Batrik, it appears that the mosque
was afterwards enlarged by Abd-el-Malek-Ibn-Meruan, fifth Khalif of the
race of the Ommiades, who ascended the throne the 65th year of the Hejra
(A.D. 684), and died in the 86th (A.D. 705)[270]. His eldest son, Valid
or Elulid, embellished and enlarged the mosque, enriching it with a dome
of gilded copper, which he took from the church of Baalbek and placed
over the _Sakharah_[271]. The completion of the building must therefore
be attributed to him; although it was from time to time improved by the
Khalifs his successors, being considered second only in sanctity to
Mecca and Medina; so that when, during the Khalifat of Al-Moktadar (Hej.
229 = A.D. 950), the pilgrimages to the former place were interrupted by
the invasions of the Karmali, the _Kubbet-es-Sakharah_ took the place of
the _Kaaba_[272]. It is evident that the present mosque is not in every
respect identical with that built by Omar, from the words of Adamnanus
(an author of the eighth century) in a book on the Holy Places, compiled
from the accounts of Arculf, who had passed nine months at Jerusalem. He
says (speaking of the mosque) "but on that celebrated spot where once
the magnificent Temple stood, near the wall on the east side, the
Saracens have now meanly built with uprights and great beams, a
quadrangular house of prayer over some ruined remains, which they
frequent; it is large enough to contain three thousand men at
once[273]." William of Tyre however asserts that on the building seen by
him (which was different from the one described by Adamnanus), the name
of Omar its founder was inscribed. One of the existing Arabic
inscriptions seems, at first sight, to cause some difficulty; it runs as
follows: "May God render illustrious the great king, son of Meruan, who
enlarged this majestic temple, and grant him mercy." 65th year of the
Hejra (A.D. 684, the first of the reign of Abd-el-Malek[274]). This at
first sight appears to contradict the assertion made above, that Elulid,
son and successor of Abd-el-Malek, was the Khalif who added to the
splendour of the mosque, but it is very likely that if he completed the
work of restoration, he would inscribe not only the name of the first
founder Omar, but also that of his father. In other respects William of
Tyre gives no detailed information, in speaking of the mosque of Omar;
only alluding to it in general terms[275]. During my frequent visits to
the _Haram_, I often thought of copying all the inscriptions, but was
always pressed for time, and afraid that each visit might be the last;
therefore, as the examination of the subterranean vaults was by far the
most important matter, I thought it better not to turn aside to a work,
which others may easily execute by degrees.
It is evident that the mosque remained in the hands of the Mohammedans
from the commencement of Omar's building, A.D. 643, to the arrival of
the Crusaders, A.D. 1099. These soldiers of Christ, forgetful alike
of charity and mercy, slaughtered numbers of the followers of Islam
in the building[276]: they also converted the mosque _el-Aksa_
into a dwelling-house, and after altering the interior of the
_Kubbet-es-Sakharah_, consecrated it as a Christian church, on the
third day after Easter, A.D. 1143[277], under the name of Templum
Domini[278]; because the first Temple to the honour of God had been
erected by Solomon on that spot. Saladin, the champion of toleration,
magnanimity, and generosity[279], restored the worship of Islam in the
two mosques, A.D. 1187[280]; and from his time the _Haram-es-Sherîf_
has remained in the hands of the Mohammedans as one of their holy
places.
Selim I., Sultan of Constantinople, who conquered Syria and Palestine,
A.D. 1517, restored and improved the two mosques; doubtless the internal
and external mosaic decorations, with the various arabesque ornaments
still existing, are due to his liberality, and that of his successor,
Solyman I., with his favourite Sultana Rossellane; who, according to the
works of authors preserved in the Mohammedan archives, spent large sums
of money in adorning the whole of the _Haram_, and in erecting there
schools and other philanthropic establishments.
From the above narrative I draw the following conclusions: that history
and an unbroken chain of events prove that the whole _Haram-es-Sherîf_
is the ancient Mount Moriah; that the present mosque of Omar stands upon
the ancient threshing-floor of Araunah; that the levelled rock on the
north-west, and that rising at the barrack mark the position of the
tower Antonia, and that the mosque _el-Aksa_ is the original basilica of
Justinian.
Let us now proceed to a detailed examination of the whole area, within
and without, pausing at each object, which, either from its antiquity or
other causes, seems to merit special attention. The barrack, which,
according to ancient tradition, stands on the site of the Prætorium,
touches the western part of the north side of the wall enclosing
Moriah[281]; east of the barrack are buildings of the period of the
Crusades, or not much later; and near the north-east angle of the wall
the Pool of Bethesda[282]. Before proceeding to examine these places, we
must notice some objects in their immediate neighbourhood, which are
worthy of the most careful attention.
The Society of the Daughters of Sion bought (November, 1857) a plot of
land a few yards to the north-west of the barrack[283], on which stands
the north pier of the arch of the 'Ecce Homo[284];' and requested me to
survey it. In December, after removing with considerable difficulty the
accumulated rubbish of centuries, I came upon a small arch, close to the
larger one, which from its style, masonry, and materials, evidently was
part of the same building. I at once tried to examine the south side,
belonging to the Kusbeck dervishes, but as in this place excavations
were impossible, I was obliged to restrict myself to what appeared above
ground; and found, in the line of the large arch, a fragment of an
ancient wall, which from its form and position seemed to have belonged
to a pier supporting an arch corresponding to the one I had discovered.
Both the arches are semicircular, with a single archivolt composed of a
narrow fillet, a wide ogee moulding, and a band of the same breadth,
supported by a cornice, formed by two fillets, separated by an ogee
moulding. In the west face of the north pier is a semicircular recessed
niche, above a projecting cornice of the same width and pattern as the
one just described. Early in the year 1860 I took charge of the already
commenced buildings of the new convent of the Daughters of Sion, which
abut upon the arch mentioned above; and consequently had an opportunity
of examining the foundations of the piers, and convincing myself that
both their materials and masonry are of the Roman period; because the
blocks of stone, being neither rusticated nor clamped with iron or lead,
are not earlier than the time of Hadrian, and are not sufficiently
finished for so late an age as that of Constantine or Justinian. Some
think that the large arch was built before the capture of Jerusalem by
Titus; but how in that case could it have escaped the general
destruction of the city, and especially of the adjoining tower Antonia,
of which it was actually a part, in the opinion of those who believe
that from it our Lord was shewn to the people? But would the Romans, who
razed the tower and reduced the Temple and whole city to ruins, have
spared this insignificant building; or would the fire have left its
architectural features uninjured? The conformation of the ground itself
shews us that the arch could not have been standing at that time;
because, in its present position, there was then a valley or ditch,
separating Moriah from Bezetha. I found the rock, supporting the piers,
18 feet below the surface (as I have before stated), and to the north
and south are vaulted cisterns excavated in it, in the natural slopes of
Bezetha on one side and Moriah on the other. It is therefore highly
improbable that an arch would have been built in such a position with
reference to the fortress.
My predecessor had laid the foundations of the east wall of the convent,
but being ill acquainted with the nature of the ground at Jerusalem, he
discovered too late that they rested, especially on the north-east, on
unsolid ground, namely, on the vaulted roof of a subterranean building,
and as the walls rose they began to crack. Some of the masons were just
aware of the existence of the vault when I came; but no one had entered,
or measured it, or examined its whole length, so that I was the first to
do this and determine its age. In order to build a buttress at the
north-east corner, and at the same time to lay new foundations in a
small plot of land on the north, I was obliged to dig a hole, 18 feet
deep, below the level of the street, which rises towards Bezetha: and on
the 3rd of June came upon a layer of large slabs, each 4 or 5 feet long,
3 or 4 wide, and 9 or 10 inches thick. On removing two of these I found
a square hole, through which I entered, or rather fell, into the vault I
was looking for, but the intense heat and foul air compelled me to beat
a hasty retreat, and have the aperture enlarged to permit the air to
circulate more freely. Meanwhile I continued excavating a little to the
north, and met with the wall bounding the vault on that side, and found,
4-1/2 feet below its top, (measured from the outer surface,) the
original entrance; by which I obtained easy access for myself and
afterwards for many others.
The end of the east side of this gallery is just at the south-east angle
of the building on the north, separated from the body of the convent by
a small level street; and it terminates at the north-west angle of the
_Haram-es-Sherîf_; the floor throughout the whole length slopes slightly
and is formed in the rock: though the place was partly filled with earth
at the north end, and with filthy stinking mud at the south, I
thoroughly examined it and made a plan and elevation. At the entrance a
stone staircase, with steps about 2-1/2 feet wide, afforded an easy
descent; but unfortunately I was obliged to mutilate this, in order to
construct a pier to sustain the weight of the north-east corner of the
building above. The side walls are founded on the rock, which appears
above the level of the floor, at a distance of 69 feet from the
entrance, and gradually rises in them up to the southern extremity. They
are built of squared blocks, generally 3-1/2 feet long, and from above 2
to 3 high, perfectly fitted together. The semicircular vaulting is
admirable, being formed of oblong stones, 2-1/2 feet long, and 8 inches
high. Its exact regularity is its most striking feature.
I consider that this gallery was remodelled during the Roman period,
because some holes in it to admit the water are no part of the original
design. In the east wall is a semicircular arched door, built up, whose
width and height shew that it was formerly the entrance of a passage.
Along the side walls are semicircular headed apertures, which, together
with the two openings of the same shape, opposite one to another, near
the south end, are also no part of the original design. These two are
the beginnings of conduits, one of which ran eastward down to the Pool
of Bethesda; the other westward, into the Tyropoeon valley. The
accumulated water and filth did not allow me to make a close
examination of these, but, as far as I could see at the openings, the
masonry and shape of the stones led me to think that they formed part of
a Roman restoration. A short distance from these the gallery is closed
by a wall, entirely of Arab work; but I made a temporary opening in it,
and was able to continue my examination as far as the _Haram-es-Sherîf_;
the ground of which is about 8 feet above the top of the vault. The
quantity of water, earth, and filth, prevented my approaching the rock
at the end, and ascertaining the means of communication with the surface
at the _Haram_, but as I saw that the south-east corner was built up, I
have no doubt there had been access at that point. It immediately
occurred to me that the vault had originally been a passage between
Bezetha and Moriah, and was the 'Strato's Tower,' where Antigonus,
younger brother of Aristobulus, (the sons of John Hyrcanus,) was
murdered by the treacherous devices of the Queen Alexandra[285].
After completing the examination of the interior I applied myself to the
exterior, and found that the side walls rose one foot above the top of
the vault; the space thus made being filled with strong masonry, so as
to form a level surface of the same size as the gallery; which was
covered over along the whole length by large slabs, of the size
mentioned above; these, being firmly cemented together, bound into one
mass the two side walls and the vaulting.
At the same time, during the progress of the excavation another
interesting discovery was made, namely, the arched opening of a sewer,
3-1/2 feet wide and 4 feet high, by the side of the entrance to the
gallery on the east. It was choked up with dirt, but appeared to come
from the north, and ran along the east side of the vault of the gallery
as far as the middle of the Via Dolorosa, where it turned to the east.
Afterwards upon making further examinations I discovered that it bent
again towards the south, opposite to S. Ann's church, and came out on
the north side of the Pool of Bethesda. I followed it down for 112 feet
from the entrance, and found that after 22 feet the vaulting gave place
to a covering of large slabs. The floor rested upon made ground, and was
also formed of large slabs, strongly cemented together. I was unable to
continue my expedition by reason of the filth it contained, in which I
had a disgusting bath through a fall, caused by a sudden change of level
in the downward course of the sewer: so to make sure of its direction,
by the permission of the Pasha, I excavated in the middle of the Via
Dolorosa, opposite to the projecting north-east angle of the barrack,
and over against the tower commonly called the Antonia; and so verified
what I have already stated, and ascertained with greater certainty that
it rested upon made ground; another proof of the existence of a valley
in this part of the city. The sewer was made centuries after the first
construction of the gallery.
I have however not yet exhausted the objects of interest afforded by the
property of the convent of the Daughters of Sion. On continuing the
excavation to the north in order to lay new foundations, at a depth of
36 feet below the street, water was met with in abundance. At first I
supposed it had filtered through from some cistern, but as it did not
increase or diminish, I had the excavation deepened and enlarged, and
then discovered, to the north of the water, a perpendicular face of hewn
rock; and on digging deeper a small conduit cut in it, through which the
water ran from north to south. I was anxious to follow it in these
directions, but was prevented by the depth of the soil, the houses in
the neighbourhood, and above all by the customs of the country, and so
was obliged to restrict my researches to that spot, and even there the
owner did not allow me to do much, fearing to attract the attention of
the Mohammedans. I ascertained however that this water did not enter the
gallery, because after drawing off all that was found there, no more
appeared beyond what drained from the street after rain, while the
stream flowed continuously southward, yielding a constant supply for
building purposes. During the first three days its water was muddy and
brackish, but afterwards it gradually became clearer, but always had a
disagreeable taste and contained the same ingredients as that at the
springs of the _Hammam-es-Shefa_ and at the fountain of the Virgin in
the Kidron valley. From the day of its discovery (June 12, 1860), to the
end of January, 1861, it yielded a daily supply of from 200 to 250
gallons without any diminution, and was not affected by the fall of rain
or snow. At this time I resigned the charge of the works to a
master-mason, as all the difficulties had been overcome, but I am told
that the water continued to flow, and has done so abundantly up to the
present date (April, 1863). From several investigations which I will
mention in the chapter on the waters, I infer that this stream enters
the well of the _Hammam-es-Shefa_[286].
My plan and sections shew all the ancient cisterns, both excavated and
built, which occur in this small compass, and some remains of masonry
either of the age of the Crusades or of Arab work. This spot is an
excellent example of the great and frequent changes that the ground of
Jerusalem has undergone, and shews the difficulty that all have to
encounter, who attempt to form an opinion without taking them into
account.
Let us now examine the north side of the _Haram_. I have already
mentioned the depth of the foundations of the north walls of the
barrack[287]; but on the south the masonry rests upon the bare rock,
which here rises 35 feet above the level of the _Haram-es-Sherîf_ as is
shewn in the drawing[288]; its north face being 55 feet above the bottom
of the valley. Hence I cannot admit the common tradition that the
barrack stands on the site of the Antonia, but consider that the rock
above named is the true position of the _north_ side of the ancient
tower. This opinion, I think, is in accordance with all that Josephus
says of its height and situation, divided from Bezetha by a valley and
ditches[289]. If its southern side had coincided with that of the
barrack (which the height of the rock mentioned above entitles us to
assume), I cannot understand why it was built in so bad a position,
where it would be completely commanded by Bezetha, and from which it
could not have been separated by any work of defence. Besides, where are
we then to place the pool Struthium[290]? We must remember that the
shape of the Antonia was a square, each side being half a stadium; it
must therefore have extended to the north right across the valley. Now
if it had stood in this position, Titus would not have been obliged to
batter its walls with engines, and to throw up banks to support them and
to enable his troops to make the assault; because he could have poured
upon it such a storm of stones and combustibles from the summit of
Bezetha, that the garrison would have been obliged to evacuate so
untenable a post. Moreover, Josephus states, that the perimeter of the
Temple and the Antonia together was 6 stadia[291]. Now according to
every estimate of this measure, this condition cannot be satisfied
unless the latter is placed _within_ the north-west angle of the
_Haram_, as the description in Josephus seems to require[292]. We are
also told that it was razed by Titus; the place which I assign still
bears traces of this; and as a still stronger proof, there remains, in
the middle of the rock that has been thus levelled, a fragment of the
ancient Herodian wall; which I believe to have formed the south-east
corner of the inner buildings of the tower, i.e. of the Prætorium. On
the west is the house belonging to the Pasha, governor of Jerusalem, and
there I have seen, by means of excavations, the rock in the foundations
and, resting against it, the earth which conceals the valley filled up
by the Asmoneans. Lastly, there is a vault, which starts from the
position I assign to the Antonia and goes towards the present Golden
Gate. This I discovered by descending into two cisterns on the north of
the _Haram_, and by the fall of the west portion of an old wall, near
the north-west corner of the above gate, which, being washed away by the
rain, exposed the other end. I was not able to pass along its whole
extent, as it was nearly filled up by rubbish, but by examining the two
extremities at these places, I convinced myself that they belonged to a
continuous building. It is partly excavated in the rock, which however
sinks on approaching the east. The masonry of the side walls and
vaulting resembles that in the gallery below the convent of the
Daughters of Sion. The floor is also paved throughout the whole length,
as far as I saw. Josephus[293] mentions that a subterranean
communication existed between the Antonia and the east gate of the
Temple; consequently for this and the other preceding reasons I firmly
believe that I have placed the tower in the true position. I believe
then that the barrack stands in the valley; that is, upon the ancient
position of the Pool Struthium, which has been filled up, by the
materials cast into it by order of Titus, in making the bank to support
the Roman battering train, and by the ruins of the Antonia itself. Had
the tower occupied this position, the only side properly defended would
have been that towards the Temple, by the high face of rock, which in
that case ought to shew traces of having been hewn away towards the
north. What purpose could my 'Strato's tower' have then served, if it
had passed through the basement of the Antonia? It would have been
useless as a communication, because the tower itself would have done as
well, and it is too deep in the ground and too small for a work of
defence.
The buildings on the east of the barrack, between it and the first
passage leading up to the Temple, may belong either to the age of
Saladin or of Solyman I.; the Arabs attribute them to the latter. They
have been greatly altered within and without, and therefore do not
present any distinctive features. Their foundations rest upon the rock,
which on the south side is one or two feet below the level of the
_Haram_, but on the north from 14 to 18 feet lower down, being at the
bottom of the valley which I have already mentioned.
On the left of the passage going up to the _Haram_ is a bath now
disused, inside the buildings. During my examination of it I discovered
the eastern conduit, which starts from inside the gallery. Its course
from this place to the pool of Bethesda cannot be followed, as it is
stopped up by rubbish; it is vaulted but not founded upon the rock.
Facing the little passage mentioned above, on the north, are the remains
of an ancient building[294], commonly called a bastion of the tower
Antonia. It rests upon the rock, and is doubtless of considerable
antiquity, but certainly not Jewish work. The stones composing it are
small and bevelled at the edges, so that the part projecting from the
wall is like a thin slice cut horizontally from a pyramid: they are laid
with mortar, and do not appear to belong to an age remarkable for the
splendour of its work. This place is about a stadium from the north-west
angle of the _Haram_, and therefore, besides being in too low a
situation, cannot have been included in the tower Antonia, if we accept
the dimensions of the fortress given us by Josephus.
The north side is terminated on the east by the Pool of Bethesda[295].
This, I believe, was made by Herod the Great, at the same time as the
Antonia, from the valley or ditch defending the north side of the
Temple. It has obviously undergone great alterations and greater
injuries. Porticoes were built upon its south wall by Solyman I.; on
the others are Arab houses in the meanest style, most of which are now
in ruins. It is nearly filled with soil and rubbish, which are covered
with creepers and shrubs. By this time it would probably have been quite
full, if I had not preserved it[296]. At its west end are two arches,
almost choked up with earth, and overgrown by vegetation. I forced my
way into them, and saw two more arches, built of small stones, and
obviously of Arab work; the northern of these was the termination of the
eastern conduit from the great gallery. With much difficulty I traversed
it for a distance of 72 feet, and found it vaulted in the same way as
the one I have described below the bath. Tradition asserts this place to
be the Pool of Bethesda, at which our Saviour healed a paralytic[297]. I
shall notice it again, in describing the various works connected with
the supply of water to the city.
In both faces of the north-east angle of the _Haram_ wall are several
courses of ancient stones, rusticated, which prove that in former times
this was also the corner of the sacred enclosure.
After passing the Gate of S. Mary and leaving on the left the ruins of a
small Saracenic building of the age of Saladin, the Mohammedan cemetery
is reached, which occupies almost the whole of the high narrow plateau
running parallel to the east wall of the _Haram_, above the Kidron
valley. I consider the foundation of the whole line of wall, from the
north-east to the south-east corner, to be the work of Solomon; being
led to this conclusion by a series of observations, carried on when
graves were dug against the wall, and by excavations which I made with
the help of the keepers of the cemetery, wherever I could do it without
exciting suspicion and arousing the fanaticism of the Mohammedans.
Near the south-east corner is a stone, which appears to have been the
impost of an arch; as there are no tombs in this part, I made an
excavation opposite to it, at a distance of 12 feet, and, after digging
down for 14 feet, came upon the great foundation stones. By opening
another hole along the same line, nearer to the corner, I found them
again at a depth of 12 feet; the difference being caused by the slope of
the ground. By this means I convinced myself that the foundations of the
wall were laid far down in the valley (as stated by Josephus), and that
they rose up to the place, where it still appears above the surface of
the ground, in a series of steps about 2 feet wide. The foundation
(strictly speaking) is made of large blocks, roughly squared, and not
rusticated, fastened together by a tenon left projecting from the face
of one stone, fitting into a corresponding mortise in the next: there is
not a trace of iron or lead or mortar; but where the wall rises above
ground its face is vertical, the blocks are more carefully squared, and
rustic work is used, with wide and deep grooves; as may be seen at many
places in the lower part of the present wall[298]. The force of the
flames, the vandalism of man, and the course of time, have produced no
effect upon these massive buildings; which have been saved from the fate
of those on Sion and Ophel, by the ruins heaped about them, and still
more by the reverence paid by the Mohammedans to the ground on which
they stand.
These valuable remains enable us to compare their masonry with the
Herodian work, seen more especially in the projecting wall at the
north-east angle[299], and at the south-east extremity. The stones in
these two places are of large size[300] and rusticated; only the grooves
here are small, and the whole surface of the block is well smoothed;
they also are perfectly fitted together without mortar, but clamps of
iron or soldering plugs of lead are used; as I was able to ascertain
when a small part was repaired: each course stands a little more than a
tenth of an inch farther back than the one below it. The general
appearance of the work manifests a progress in art and a delicacy of
execution, which could not have been produced in the time of Solomon,
even with Phoenician aid. In all the countries formerly occupied by
this people there are not any examples of a wall in this style, while
those resembling the architecture of Solomon are far from uncommon. We
might reasonably suppose that Herod would increase the strength of the
northern corner, as an outwork to the Antonia on the east; while the
south-east corner might have been destroyed by the Chaldeans, being
weaker than the rest owing to the existence of the great vaulted cistern
within the _Haram_; and, as Nehemiah was no doubt unable to repair it in
a manner befitting its position, Herod would rebuild it in his
restoration of the above-named cistern, whose east and south sides are
not formed by the rock, but by the outer wall of the Temple enclosure,
and are made of great strength to withstand the pressure of the water.
I have already explained by what marks I distinguish the walls which I
attribute to Nehemiah, the Romans, and the Arabs[301]; examples of each
can be readily found in the eastern wall of the _Haram_. From the side
of a small sepulchral building (containing the ashes of Yacûb Pasha and
his wife) to beyond the Golden Gate the masonry shews many signs of Arab
restorations. Here may be seen columns of verd antique, porphyry and
valuable marbles, built longwise into the thickness of the wall.
Doubtless these formerly decorated some Christian edifices, and were
placed in their present position when the city walls were repaired by
Sultan Solyman.
The principal object that attracts attention on the east side is the
Golden Gate[302], which projects slightly from the line of the wall. The
two outer doorways, as I have already said, are built up[303]; but for
the sake of description we will for a moment imagine them opened. From
the outside we see two round-headed arches each supported by two
pilasters, built of stones of no great size, which are laid in mortar,
without rustic work, and form a perfectly smooth face, in strong
contrast with the genuine ancient blocks in the lower parts of the walls
on each side, and at each corner. The two arches and their capitals are
richly carved with leaves and other ornaments. The whole building is
cased, except at the base, with Saracenic work of the date of Solyman;
as I infer from the irregular masonry, the smallness of the stones, the
occurrence of a Byzantine capital (out of its proper place) on the top
of the façade, and many other minor ornamental details, bad in taste and
execution, which are characteristic of that age[304].
Passing through the entrance, we find the piers and architraves of the
doors composed of immense blocks, six in number, which resemble Jewish
work. Their state of decay shews their antiquity, and they must have
been exposed to the action of fire, being calcined and crumbling; for
otherwise, from their great size and sheltered situation, they ought to
have been in good preservation, like all the rest of the internal
masonry of the gate; which I assign to the age of Justinian. The plan of
the building is an oblong, the length being double the breadth, divided
into two aisles by two large columns of grey veined marble and two
half-columns, which, with the help of small pilasters, projecting
slightly from the lateral walls, sustain the vaulting, composed of very
narrow pointed domes; beneath this a magnificent entablature, carved in
leaf patterns[305], is carried round the walls of the building. The west
façade[306], inside the _Haram_, has a double doorway with round-headed
arches, supported by a central column and two side pilasters. Their form
and ornamentation resemble those on the east front. The outer roof is
also a series of domes, which were built during some repairs about 60
years since. Not a few authors have attributed the architecture of this
gate to the time of Herod, forgetting that Josephus states that the
Temple and its cloisters were burnt and utterly destroyed by the Roman
troops. How then is it possible that the walls, and still more the
ornamental work, should have survived the fury of the soldiers? If the
east cloister has so entirely disappeared, how is it that the gate,
which stood in the middle of it, has escaped? Those few blocks in the
piers of the door may be of the age of Herod, but not the rest of the
masonry, and we cannot therefore on this evidence assign the whole
building to that period. It is however very probable that they were
found among the ruins of the ancient eastern gate and incorporated in
the present. Nor can we believe that the two large monolithic columns
were brought to Jerusalem by Herod. It is far more likely that they were
sent by Justinian to adorn a spot sacred in Christian tradition as the
place where our Saviour entered Jerusalem, among the shouts of one part
of the populace, to keep that last Passover before he suffered[307]. I
consider therefore that the present Golden Gate stands not only upon the
site of the ancient east gate, but also upon its foundations, for we
find its dimensions given in the Mishna, 'the east gate was 40 cubits
long and 20 wide;' and a strong proof of the truth of this opinion is,
that, on making an excavation near the north door, I discovered at a
depth of 10 feet the foundations, of undoubted Herodian work. At the
same time I saw that there have never been any steps leading up to the
gate, and that a mass of rubbish is heaped against its east front, in
the slopes of which are the graves of the Mohammedan cemetery.
There is a small doorway closed with masonry a little to the south of
the Golden Gate, and besides this nothing else remains to be noticed on
the east side, except that the whole length of the wall is covered with
creepers, which flourish here luxuriantly and do constant mischief;
breaches are already formed in some places, but the guardians of the
_Haram_ pay no attention to them; though in a few years they will not be
so indifferent to the expense of the repairs, which will then be
absolutely necessary. All the loop-holes were made in the time of
Solyman.
After the south-east corner has been turned, the whole wall, both in its
foundations and upper part, exhibits the same solid and magnificent
ancient masonry as on the east face. A few yards from the corner is a
doorway with a pointed arch, now walled up, which I consider to have
been made at the time of the Crusades, and possibly then called the Gate
of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. We shall hereafter notice the purpose for
which it was used. A little distance to the west of this, we see three
plain round-headed arches, supported by four pilasters, whose masonry
differs both from the older and newer work in the immediate
neighbourhood. Their general character is Roman, and I believe them to
have been built at the time of Justinian, to communicate with the vaults
within the _Haram_; which I shall presently describe.
Under the mosque _el-Aksa_ is a gate not only built up, but also partly
buried[308]. The arch is cut in two by the city-wall, which here turns
to the south. Its architectural features both constructive and
decorative resemble those of the Golden Gate; so that I consider it also
the work of Justinian. Under its arch is a grated window; by climbing up
to this, it is possible to look into a vaulted gallery below the mosque.
A stone, bearing the following inscription, is built slantwise into the
wall above and turned upside down.
TITO AEL. HADRIANO
ANTONINO AVG. PIO
P. P. PONTIF. AVGVR.
D. D.
No doubt it was picked up with many others in removing the ruins at the
time of Justinian and built in here by the masons, and when the wall was
again repaired in the reign of Solyman, the workmen, less careful and
skilful than the former, placed it in its present position. The
Mohammedans call this archway the Gate of the Prophetess Huldah[309],
for what reason they cannot say, for they also consider it to have been
the grand entrance to the stables of Solomon, and consequently hold it
in great respect. I shall recur to this gate in my account of the
vaults. I made several excavations in front of it, like those at the
south-east corner, and after digging 10 or 12 feet through the rubbish,
came upon the foundations laid in the age of Solomon, but could not
discover anything to prove that a gate had then existed on this spot.
Starting from the Aksa the city wall goes to the south, and then turns
again to the west down to the Dung Gate. Throughout the whole of this
angle the lower part of the wall is Roman work, the upper Saracenic, of
the time of Solyman. Although this gate is evidently only a few hundred
years old, it is usually pointed out by the guides as that entered by
our Saviour, when he was brought from the garden of Gethsemane to the
house of Caiaphas. Ignorance of architecture and of the plan of the
ancient city has allowed this tradition to exist[310]. Entering, and
forcing our way through a thicket of cactus, we regain the south wall of
the Temple enclosure, whose lower parts date from the reign of Solomon.
An excavation made at the south-west angle gave, first the masonry of
Solomon, secondly that of the Crusaders, and above these that of
Solyman[311].
The ruins south of the Aksa belong to the choir of Justinian's basilica,
which was thrown down by an earthquake between the years A.D. 775 and
785. They now await the last stroke of the hand of Time to bring them to
the ground, when they evidently must injure in their fall the south wall
of the mosque; but the Mohammedan fatalists never think of averting this
by timely repairs.
The whole of the space between the walls of the city and the _Haram_ was
probably, at the time of Herod the Great, covered by the amphitheatre
erected by that king[312].
Near the south-west angle is a very remarkable fragment of an arch and
its pier, built into the _Haram_ wall. Nearly all the learned writers
who have noticed it, with the exception of the Rev. G. Williams, have
considered these remains to belong to the age either of Solomon or
Herod; I however venture to differ from them, and attribute it to
Justinian; who, when building the neighbouring basilica, may have
contemplated throwing a bridge over the valley between Moriah and Sion
to facilitate the communication between the two sanctuaries on these
hills. The work may have been left unfinished, because the plan was
either changed or found impracticable. The blocks shew none of the
characteristics of the work of Solomon or Herod, nor have they the same
marked appearance of antiquity; nor does the masonry in any respect
resemble the Jewish; the stones being laid with mortar. I cannot but
think that if either of these kings had executed a work of such
importance, the Bible and Josephus would not have passed it over in
silence. We can scarcely imagine that so vast an arch, 375 feet in span,
could have been built in those times; and if we suppose that the bridge
crossed the valley with a series of arches, then traces of the piers, or
at least of the stones that composed them, ought to be found among the
rubbish below; also there should be some remains of it on the eastern
slope of Sion; where nothing of the kind occurs. On this point I can
speak with confidence, because when the Pasha requested me to inspect
the city sewer, which runs down the valley to the Pool of Siloam, I
availed myself of this fortunate opportunity to widen and deepen the
excavation, and did not find the slightest indication of a bridge.
Josephus[313] states that when Pompeius approached the city with his
forces, the partisans of Aristobulus, on retreating to the Temple, cut
off the bridge. He alludes to it again on other occasions[314], and to
the tower near it, built by Simon to defend himself against John. What
then has become of the ruins of this bridge and of the tower? Though
now, as on Ophel and part of Sion, there may be open fields on the site
of some parts of ancient Jerusalem, numbers of stones, as I have already
described[315], are scattered about; why then does not the same thing
happen in the Tyropoeon valley, where the great accumulation of
rubbish would have buried the fallen blocks and preserved them from the
action of fire? Besides, the rock exposed in the eastern slope of Sion
is rough and rugged, and untouched by the chisel; there is no part of it
that we can suppose to have supported a building. I have also excavated
along by the side of it in the valley below and found nothing. I have
examined the lower parts of the Arab houses, which some have imagined to
be built upon its foundation, but all my investigations have confirmed
me in my opinion that the bridge never stood upon this spot. Had it done
so, why, as we see the pier on the east, do we not see some
corresponding remains on the west; or if not these, the place where the
spring-stones of the arch rested upon the rock? I believe the bridge
mentioned by Josephus was near the present _Mekhemeh_ (the Mohammedan
Court of Justice), which is on the west of the _Haram_, at the bottom of
Temple Street, because at this point the valley is still crossed from
west to east by arches, sustaining the conduit which brings the water
from Etham into the Temple, and the ground south of this, on the
opposite side, formerly occupied by the Xystus, has been levelled. The
height of this bridge or dyke above the street is 38 feet on the south,
and 20 on the north; which, it must be remembered, is not the true
elevation of the work itself; because the ground has been raised on each
side by the accumulation of rubbish in the bottom of the Tyropoeon.
This, in my opinion, joined the Upper city to the Temple-hill in former
times, as it now does. It is surely very improbable that the principal
approach to the Temple from the west should have been placed at one
corner, instead of in the centre of the enclosure; as would have been
the case had the great arch formed part of a bridge while that building
was standing: and when this was broken down, the communication with the
Temple would not have been cut off, as the dyke would still have been a
more direct and convenient road from the city.
Before arriving at the Jews' wailing place, we come to the Gate
_el-Mogarba_, leading to the mosque of the Mogarabins; a few yards to
the north of which is a little rectangular plot of ground, surrounded by
a low wall: after passing this I entered a dark chamber, in which was a
doorway almost buried. M. Isambert[316] has attempted to identify this
with one of the four western gates mentioned by Josephus[317]; but not
having tested his theory on the spot, he is unaware that the difference
of level between the outside and inside of the _Haram_ renders this
impossible; moreover, the gate has evidently been made at a date long
after the building of the wall.
The Jews' wailing place is a small open plot; where a piece of Herod's
wall is still seen between the outer wall of the _Mekhemeh_ and that of
a private house (belonging to Abu-Saud): it is called in Arabic _Haï
el-Mogharibeh_ (the wall of the Mogarabins). M. de Saulcy says of it:
"Up to a height of more than 12 metres (about 39 feet) the original
building has remained entire; regular courses of fine stones, perfectly
squared, but with an even border standing out as a kind of framework,
enclosing the joints, rise over each other to within two or three yards
from the top of the wall. A moment's inspection is enough to ascertain,
without any doubt, that the Jewish tradition is positively correct; a
wall like this has never been constructed either by Greeks or Romans. We
have evidently here a sample of original Hebraic architecture[318]. In
the inferior courses the stones are on the average twice as wide as they
are high; now and then, however, some square blocks happen to be laid
between the long ones. The four inferior courses nearest the ground are
formed of square blocks, with the exception of the last but one, which
is composed of blocks three times as long as they are high. As the
courses successively rise above the ground, the dimensions of the blocks
decrease, and, lastly, every course recedes about one fifth of an
English inch behind the surface of the one immediately below it. Beyond
these walls (bounding the space on each side) the ancient construction
extends about 38 feet to the right, and 36 to the left, or in the
direction of the _Mekhemeh_. Again, the primitive wall is crowned
towards the summit by several courses of hewn stones regularly disposed,
but of small dimensions. These upper courses are of comparatively recent
date, and their age cannot be referred to a period anterior to the
Mohammedan conquest. On the face of the ancient wall appear large
notches, which have been made at some undeterminable period, for the
purpose of fixing a pediment over this part of the enclosure; these
notches, hollowed out in the shape of a niche, that is to say, round at
the top with a rectangular basis, are of different dimensions, perhaps
they may have been made at the period of the rebuilding of the Temple by
Herod[319]." From its delicacy of execution I consider this wall
Herodian work; besides, I think it very unlikely that the Chaldeans,
more barbarous than the Romans, would have left anything standing at
Jerusalem: they would have pulled down all that the flames had spared. I
consider the smaller masonry of the upper part to be of the time of the
Crusades or Saracenic. Friday is the day on which the Jews chiefly
assemble here in great numbers, to pray, to recite the Psalms of David,
and bedew with their tears these remains of their former greatness. This
privilege is granted to them on payment of a sum of money to the Effendi
in charge of the _Haram_. This custom dates from a very early period; it
is mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela in the twelfth century[320].
The stones in the lower parts of the walls of the _Mekhemeh_ are
remarkable for their rough rustic work in high relief. They are not so
large as those we attribute to the age of Solomon or Herod, but still
appear ancient. I think they may belong to the Asmonean epoch, and have
formed the basement of a tower, defending the Xystus bridge on the side
of the Temple. The masonry in the upper hall of the time of the
Crusaders, where the vaulting is supported by pointed arches springing
from pillars, is evidently much more modern. According to Mohammedan
tradition this is the Judgement Hall of Solomon, converted into an
armoury by the Crusaders: it is certainly not improbable that it may
have been a dependency of the Knights Templar. The large chamber below,
which has undoubtedly been used as a cistern, as is shewn by the very
strong cement in the walls, is now filled with rubbish. In the middle of
the upper hall is a fountain, now and then supplied with the water of
Etham; and on the left of the principal entrance (part of a restoration
by Saladin or Solyman) an ancient sarcophagus, found in the Tombs of the
Kings outside the Damascus Gate: it is a facsimile of that carried to
Paris by M. de Saulcy, and now placed in the Gallery of the Louvre; it
at present serves to hold water[321].
Close to the _Mekhemeh_ is the principal entrance into the _Haram_,
which has two doorways, and is ornamented with groups of spiral columns
supporting elegant capitals carved in leaf patterns, the work of
Saladin. Before its west front is a fountain, an elegant specimen of
ornate Saracenic work: its small basin, no longer filled with water, is
an ancient sarcophagus of red Palestine breccia. From this spot up to
the north-west corner the ancient foundations of the _Haram_ wall are
concealed by Arab houses, and can only be seen here and there above the
level of the ground; enough, however, is visible to shew that the old
wall followed the line of the present enclosure from south to north.
Returning to the Temple Street and going westward along the dyke, which,
with the Rev. G. Williams[322], I consider to be the ancient bridge
between Sion and Moriah, we see, after a few yards, on the right hand a
small façade of Saracenic architecture, adorned with arabesques of
excellent design; whose accurate execution deserves notice. It is a
fragment of an ancient school, established by Saladin, the revenues of
which are now exhausted, so that nothing else remains besides this
building. A little further on we leave this street (called by the
Crusaders the Bridge of S. Giles), by taking the first turning to the
north, and find, after passing the corner, a stone embedded in the lower
part of the wall of the first Arab house on the right hand, bearing an
inscription, which however is of no importance. This street runs along
the top of a vault which I have examined. It was constructed to form an
easy communication with the Tyropoeon, and proves that in former times
there was high ground on this spot. Going on northward we arrive at a
Saracenic fountain, now without water; near it on the south is a passage
leading into the central sewer, which here deviates a little to the east
to regain the middle of the valley, and consequently passes under the
bridge near the above-named school of Saladin. On the north of the
fountain is an ancient Mohammedan bath rapidly falling to ruin, and near
it the great gate of the Bazaar of the _Haram_, at the end of which is
the _Bâb el-Katannin_ (Gate of the Cotton Merchants). The entrance to
the Bazaar is a frontispiece of rude rustic work, which I attribute to
the age of the Crusades. The interior is Saracenic, as is shewn by the
architraves of the cells on each side, which were built for merchants'
shops, but now are receptacles for filth. After passing the middle of
the Bazaar, there is a bath on the south side called the _Hammam
es-Shefa_, supplied by a spring rising at a great depth: its waters have
an unpleasant taste; but we will speak more particularly of it
presently. On the north, nearly opposite to the entrance of the bath, a
little street leads to the _Bâb el-Kadid_ (Iron Gate) and the Convent of
Blind Dervishes, (a philanthropic establishment of Solyman,) where
singers in the mosque, suffering from this calamity, are still received.
The first lane on the north of the Bazaar leads directly up to the _Bâb
el-Kadid_; along each side are establishments in aid of the poor, but,
as the revenues have been swallowed up, they are going to ruin, like
the schools of Saladin, which are in the next street on the north,
leading up to the _Bâb el-Nadhir_ (Inspector's Gate). Here, according to
Mohammedan tradition, the Prophet alighted from his steed Borak[323], on
his visit to the Holy Stone of Jacob. Near this gate, on the south, is a
magnificent building, which from the various kinds of stone employed,
the delicacy of its ornamentation, the regularity of its columns, and
the harmony of all its parts, is an excellent example of Saracenic
taste. It was erected by Solyman, and is said by the Mohammedans to have
been the residence of his Sultana Rossellane. It is now gradually
falling to decay, although a very small sum spent in repairs would make
it last for centuries.
Before leaving this side I need only remark that the arches, crossing
the street down the Tyropoeon, shew that the houses on the west side
of the valley are also in the precincts of the _Haram_ and consequently
inalienable. Up to the time of Saladin and his successors, these
belonged exclusively to the Jews; who, since then, have been gradually
deprived of them by the law of might; and, in order to conceal the
iniquitous usurpation, they have been thus joined to the enclosure of
the _Haram_.
Having thus described the outside of the Mohammedan sanctuary, I shall
now conduct my reader within, and introduce him to places all as yet
unknown to him, except one or two, which, from their connection with the
exterior, I have been obliged to mention. In doing this, I shall not
spend time over the minor details, which are explained by the Plan and
its description[324]; but attend solely to the matters of greater
interest, not forgetting the Mohammedan traditions.
I have already, in describing the exterior, noticed all the important
points on the north side, and therefore only call attention to the
extent of levelled rock, continuous with that which forms a large part
of the south wall of the barrack, and was, in my opinion, the north of
the tower Antonia[325]. A short distance from the barrack is an
octagonal oratory, surmounted by a dome, containing (according to the
Mohammedans), a piece of the sacred rock, which was cut off by the
Christians during the time of the Latin kingdom. I have been inside the
building, and seen a stone; but it is too shapeless to enable me to form
any opinion of the truth of the tradition. I think that the place has a
vault beneath, and that probably the passage already mentioned, which
was constructed by Herod as a communication between the tower Antonia
and the east gate, passes by it.
Above the pool of Bethesda rises the minaret of _Israel_, erected to
commemorate the Patriarch's sleeping on Moriah; this, and the minaret of
the _Serai_ at the north-west corner, are used for the especial purpose
of calling to prayer the faithful of the rite _Hannefi_: both are
founded on the rock, and near the latter the large Herodian masonry is
still visible: they were built in the time of Omar, according to the
Mohammedan chronicles; which I am disposed to believe, because I have
seen, in the interior of the second, small holes, which may have been
made for the fittings of Christian bells during the Latin kingdom. These
would not be there had the minarets been built by Saladin, by whom
however the second may certainly have been restored.
A small Arab building abutting on the outer wall is the first thing to
attract attention on the east side. In the middle of the room inside is
a kind of pedestal, covered with rich carpets woven in different
colours. According to the Mohammedans, this is the site of the throne of
Solomon, and the place where the Book of Wisdom was composed, to which,
in consequence, he will return at the Day of Judgement to assist his
father David in judging the Israelites. We can see how highly the
followers of the prophet esteem the place by the number of small tablets
fastened to the window, as tokens of gratitude for some blessing
received.
To the south of this is the Golden Gate[326]; a small staircase on the
north side conducts us to the top, which is an excellent position for a
general view of the _Haram es-Sherîf_, the Valley of Kidron, the Mount
of Olives, and the whole of Jerusalem. Here we see the truth of the
words of Josephus[327], that "the city lay over against the Temple in
the manner of a theatre." The Mohammedans say that on the Last Day the
Prophet _Isa_ (Jesus) will descend from heaven upon this gate to judge
the world, and will commit the Jews to the decision of David and
Solomon, and the followers of Islam to the Prophet. Passing along the
boundary wall to the south we come to a very narrow staircase built
against it, leading up to a window from which the shaft of a column laid
longwise projects for about 5 feet; beneath it is the deep valley of
Kidron. This marks the position of the invisible bridge _es-Sirah_ and
the 'Window of Judgement,' where Mohammed will sit on the Day of
Judgement, and order all to pass the bridge, no wider than the edge of a
sword; over it the faithful will run swiftly and enter Paradise; while
the infidels, in trying to cross, will fall into the abyss of Hell open
wide beneath them. I have seen not a few fanatics come to pray in a
niche very near the window, and then step on to the column; and
afterwards try to obtain the credit of having seen that which is
invisible. In the south-east corner of the enclosure is a ruined mosque,
with 14 arches, in two rows, supported by square pillars. This was
formerly the place of prayer according to the rite _Hanbeli_. The keeper
asserts that, in times long since past, there was a high tower on this
spot; he is indeed not altogether mistaken; for, in the days of Herod,
the cloister with its four rows of columns stood here; high enough to
afford a beautiful view[328].
Just on the north of the site of this is a staircase leading down into a
chamber lighted by loopholes in the outer wall of the _Haram_. After
passing the upper doorway we have on the right hand a small aperture,
through which we can look into the great vault, and see some of its many
columns. In the south wall at the end of the chamber the keeper points
out a marble basin in the form of a cradle, as the one which held the
Infant Jesus, when He was brought to the Temple for circumcision; and
shews the places occupied by the Virgin Mary and S. Joseph, and the two
niches where stood the Prophets Zacharias and Ezekiel. The story is
worthless, but the view of the grotto excavated partly in the rock and
of the enormous blocks in the wall is very interesting.
On quitting this place we observe a large terrace formed above the
subterranean vault. I descended by a large hole close to the south wall
of the _Haram_, and on arriving in the great chamber, saw a forest of
columns supporting the roof, rising among heaps of earth and ruins. I
believe that this immense building was originally constructed by
Solomon, in order to increase the area of the platform of the Temple;
and at the same time to contain water, which was used in such quantities
in the service of the Sanctuary; the height of the vault, measured near
the south-east corner, is 39 feet above the floor of rock; which I found
after digging through a layer of earth. It is lower towards the north,
for the rock rises there, as it does towards the north-west corner,
where I had great difficulty in finding it, from the accumulation of
rubbish. The whole building has evidently undergone restoration at
different periods; as is shewn by its irregular shape and the condition
and different kinds of masonry of the present walls. Of these the east
and south walls (being part of the _Haram_ wall) are Herodian work; at
the south-east corner, by the chamber of the cradle of Christ, which we
have already visited, we see Roman work in the inner wall and in some
masonry on the north, at which point it is evident that the size of the
vault has been diminished; some other small walls in the interior belong
to a much later period, perhaps that of the Crusades. The plinths of the
numerous columns are rusticated in the Herodian style, but their shafts
are Roman. Their length diminishes towards the north owing to the rise
of the rocky floor towards the main mass of the hill on that side; which
however is generally not visible from within, as it is faced with
masonry. The whole vaulting, supported by semicircular arches, is Roman.
I consider therefore that the last restoration was made by order of
Justinian, but cannot allow that the whole building dates from that
time, because it is not likely that his historian, Procopius, would have
omitted to mention so stupendous a work; nor would there have been any
necessity for that Emperor to enlarge this part of the area of Moriah.
From within we plainly see the triple gate and the pointed arch, to
which we drew attention during our circuit of the walls. The former is
of the age of Justinian; but the quantity of earth and rubbish, now
piled against it on the inside, renders it difficult to form an opinion
on the purpose for which it was constructed. I believe that at that
period the vault was not used as a cistern. The pointed arch was, I
think, built in the time of the Latin kingdom, as a postern gate for
sorties, and an entrance into the stables of the Knights Templar; which,
from the small splayed loopholes in the south and east walls, the iron
rings fastened to the masonry, and the small party walls and holes cut
in the ground, I suppose to have been in this building. I was confirmed
in this opinion by observing a door (built-up) on the west side of the
vault which, I think, must have communicated with those under the mosque
_el-Aksa_. The Mohammedan legend, that both these were the stables of
Solomon[329] (as they still call them), probably took its rise from the
use to which they were applied by the Crusaders. On excavating inside,
near the ruined passage, I found three capitals of columns in white
veined marble[330] of an elegant design and good execution.
Returning to the open air and standing upon the great terrace, we see on
what vast foundations the famous 'Royal Cloister' of Herod was
supported. The mosque _el-Aksa_ is a large pile of buildings abutting on
the south wall of the _Haram_. The principal axis of the edifice runs
north and south, instead of east and west according to the general law
of the Latin Church; consequently some authors have asserted that it was
not built for Christian worship, but originally was a mosque. We will
therefore examine its history. Some think it was the work of
Constantine; but then Eusebius, his panegyrist, does not mention that he
in any way evidenced any regard or care for Moriah. Others attribute it
to Justinian; with these I agree. The idea of erecting this basilica,
and dedicating it to the Virgin, was not conceived at first by the
Emperor, but by Elias, Patriarch of Jerusalem, A.D. 501. As the
Christians of Palestine had not the means of executing so great a work,
they sought the aid of Justinian, through the Abbot Saba; and the
Emperor not only gave the assistance asked, but also took care that the
building should be worthy of the Christian religion: so we are informed
by the monk Cyril of Scythopolis, a Greek historian, living A.D. 555,
who embraced the monastic life under the rule of S. Saba. In the year
531 all difficulties were overcome, and this magnificent edifice
completed. Its grandeur is recorded by Procopius[331], whose account is
briefly as follows. The length of the building was greater than the
breadth, which however was so great that they had difficulty in
procuring rafters for the roof of sufficient length. This was supported
by two rows of columns, one above the other, which were quarried in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem, rivalling marble in beauty, and veined with
red, resembling in colour the brightness of fire. Two of them, at the
entrance of the Temple, were larger and more beautiful than the rest. He
also mentions the great blocks of stone used in the work, and tells us
by what means they were brought on to the ground. The whole of his
description undoubtedly suits the mosque _el-Aksa_, although its
exterior has been greatly changed; since there are now no traces of
cloisters, atrium, or other buildings mentioned by the same historian.
The two great columns are no longer to be seen; but it is not improbable
that they are concealed within the two central piers of the porch. Those
inside the basilica correspond to the above description, and by secretly
chipping off bits of the plaster, with which all are now coated, I was
able to ascertain that they are made of red Palestine breccia, a rock
occurring in abundance on the west of the city, near the Greek convent
of the Holy Cross.
Antoninus of Piacenza[332], in the sixth century, saw the whole pile of
Justinian's building in its glory. He speaks of the adjoining hospice,
containing from 3000 to 5000 beds, wonders at the number, and praises
the piety of the Monks and Nuns who served there, and states that the
basilica of S. Mary was in front of the Temple of Solomon, and
communicated with the basilica of S. Sophia, situated on the site of the
Prætorium of Pilate. He also mentions that a stone was then exhibited
inside it, bearing the print of our Saviour's foot. It is remarkable
that a similar stone is now exposed to receive the reverence of the
Mohammedans at the south end of the present mosque.
It appears that the basilica was not greatly injured at the time of the
Persian invasion, A.D. 614; as we find it open for Christian worship
when the troops of Omar were besieging Jerusalem. The Khalif visited it
after the surrender of the city to offer up his prayers within its
walls, and ordered that thenceforth it should be devoted to the rites of
his faith[333].
The Rev. G. Williams, in his learned and valuable work on the Holy
City[334], tells us that towards the end of the seventh century the
tenth Khalif, "'Abd-el-Melik covered its gates with plates of gold and
silver, but it was soon stripped of its treasures in consequence of the
poverty of his successors. During the Khalifat of his son Waled, the
eastern part of the mosque _el-Aksa_ fell to ruin, and as he had no
funds to repair it, he ordered the ruined part to be pulled down, and
the price of the materials to be distributed to the poor. Forty years
later, in the time of the second Abbasside Khalif Abu-J'afar-el-Mansur,
the east and west sides were decayed by time, or injured by an
earthquake, and as he could not afford to restore it, he stripped the
gold from the doors, coined it, and applied the proceeds to the
necessary repairs. A second earthquake shook down what he had rebuilt,
and his son and successor el-Mahadi (A.D. 775-785) found the mosque in
ruins. The character of the building was altered by this Khalif, whose
taste was offended by its proportions, and he gave orders that its
length should be diminished and its width increased. Again in the 452nd
year of the Hejra (A.D. 1060) it suffered materially from the falling in
of the roof." From the facts stated in this account we can see how
greatly the basilica of Justinian has been altered, and understand the
Saracenic features which now exist in the original building. The two
aisles added to the older structure on the east and west, the demolition
of the choir, and the erection of the south wall, belong to the great
alterations made by el-Mahadi.
The Crusaders converted it into a residence under the name of the
'Palace of Solomon,' and a portion of it was granted to the Knights
Templar[335] by Baldwin II. Saladin restored the worship of Islam, and
it is now used for the rite _Shaffi_.
We will now proceed to an examination of the exterior and interior of
the building itself. The façade has a porch with seven arches[336],
corresponding to the seven aisles of the mosque itself. The centre arch
is much larger than the others; all are acutely pointed. The form of the
battlements crowning the walls, the details of the niches, and the
ornamental painting characterise the architecture of this part as
Saracenic. On entering the mosque the keeper points out the sepulchre of
the sons of Aaron, opposite to the middle door. The central or more
ancient part of the building retains traces of a cruciform Christian
church, being a nave with two side aisles and a transept[337]; the
dimensions of the different parts also agree perfectly with this
plan[338]. The walls of the nave are supported by columns bearing
Corinthian capitals, which are rather overloaded with ornamental detail,
in the usual bad taste of Byzantine art. From these spring pointed
arches, and above them are two rows of windows with semicircular heads,
of which the lower range is open, the upper built up. The pillars
supporting the walls and aisles on each side are square, and very plain,
except on their faces to the east, which are relieved by projecting
half-columns. The two outermost aisles on each side are much lower than
the others, and shew in their rough walls a very different and later
style of masonry, thus proving that they were added at a subsequent
period. The transept is divided from the nave by a large pointed arch,
and at their intersection is a dome, rising from a cylindrical drum
supported by four pillars ornamented with shafts of verd antique with
Corinthian capitals. The section of the dome is slightly ovoid and the
drum has pointed windows, which prove that it must have been wholly
rebuilt at a date later than the original foundation of the church. Its
walls on the inside are adorned in the Saracenic style with arabesques,
flowers, landscapes, and mosaics (executed during the reign of Selim I.
and Solyman). This mass of ornament, though devoid of taste, when
combined with the coloured glass in the windows, produces an agreeable
and at first sight striking effect. Behind the south arch and under the
dome in the south wall is the _Mikhereb_ of the Mohammedans, indicating
the _Kibla_ or direction of Mecca. This is ornamented with small shafts
of porphyry and verd antique; the wall being faced with slabs of very
valuable marbles of different colours; the keeper asserts that the black
stone in the middle was brought from Mecca, and was taken from that
given by God to Abraham, as a token of His covenant with him. On the
right of this is the _Minbar_ or tribune for prayers, a magnificent work
in cedar wood, executed in former times by the carvers of Aleppo; it is
called _Borkan-ed-din-Khadki_, and to the right of it, is the stone with
the print of our Saviour's foot, mentioned above; to speak the truth, it
requires a vivid fancy to see the impression. In the arms of the
transept are fine columns of granite, verd antique, travertine, and
lumachello[339], supporting capitals of different patterns and
unquestionable antiquity. In the western arm, on the left hand, are two
columns of verd antique, a small distance apart, called by the
Mohammedans the 'Columns of Proof,' because, according to our guide, all
who enjoy the favour of God can pass through the narrow space between
them, but not those who are wicked. The worn state of their inner sides
shews the great number of the faithful who have passed the test. This
arm terminates in a long hall, whose low vaulted roof is supported by
pointed arches springing from many-sided pillars; it is called the
mosque of Abu-Bekr, but is really an ancient gallery built by the
Crusaders. Our guide tells us that in their time it was used as an
armoury, which is doubtless the truth, as the mosque _el-Aksa_ itself
was converted into a dwelling-house. At the end of the eastern arm is a
small vaulted hall, resting on the city wall and lighted by windows
commanding a fine view of the slopes of Ophel, part of the Kidron
valley, and the Mount of Offence with the village of Siloam. This
chamber is supposed to be the place in which Omar prayed for the first
time within the walls of the _Haram_: by the spot where he knelt there
is a niche, ornamented with two columns of clouded grey marble, which
have been inverted by the architect, so that the capitals richly carved
with leaves serve as bases. This is called especially the mosque of
Omar, as it continued to be the private oratory of the Khalif. On
turning back to enter the main building, we see on the right a kind of
chapel, wherein is a niche ornamented with marble, called _Bâb er-Rahma_
(Gate of Mercy), near it are the _Mikhereb_ of S. John (Baptist) and
Zacharias. On quitting the mosque by the great northern door, and
turning to the right, we find a flight of steps leading down to the
subterranean vaults below it.
These consist of two large corridors running below and parallel to the
mosque. The floor slopes from north to south, and near the latter
extremity there is a change in the level[340]. At the entrance they are
separated by a wall entirely of Arab work, and farther on by an arcade
supported by square pillars; the vaulting is not quite circular, being
slightly flattened; it is very regular, and composed of stones of
moderate dimensions, well chiselled with sharp edges. They are not of an
uniform size, but nevertheless perfectly correspond with Roman work, as
do the two pillars, and cannot belong to an earlier period; being laid
with mortar and with great accuracy. The east wall is formed of oblong
blocks, all of moderate dimensions and laid with mortar. The stones are
well squared and smoothed by the hammer, without the least trace of
rustic work; the surface of the wall is smooth and perpendicular to the
ground and cannot be considered anything but Roman masonry. The west
wall differs somewhat from the above in the form of its materials; these
are large blocks of stone resembling in their size those attributed to
the Herodian age. On some the rustic work remains, on others there are
but slight traces of it, and after a very minute and careful
examination, I think that there has been an attempt to destroy it on
all, with the intention of smoothing the face of the wall: these blocks
are all laid with mortar, but not arranged in regular courses; and the
wall is perpendicular to the ground. It is quite evident that, though
materials found among the extensive ruins have been used in constructing
this wall, the present building is not of the age of Herod, still less
of Solomon, but without doubt of Justinian. At the south end of the
vault the two galleries unite, the line of the arcade dividing them
being only marked by a large monolithic column and two half-columns; one
attached to the last pillar on the north, the other to a wall on the
south. The vaulting of this chamber consists of four hemispherical
cupolas, divided by arches springing from the central pillar, with a
shell ornament on the pendentives. Two doors, still remaining in the
south wall, communicated with the outside. The one on the east is the
Gate of Huldah, which we noticed during our survey of the exterior,
inside it is marked by a marble pillar built into the wall; the other
opens into a chamber, and is flanked by two marble pillars with elegant
capitals[341]. The east and west walls in this lower portion of the
gallery are a continuation of those described above, and of similar
masonry; but the face of the south wall which divides the two doors is
entirely formed by four great blocks, laid without mortar. This, then,
together with the monolith and its capital[342], I consider a fragment
of Herod's magnificent building; but I attribute the cupolas in the
vaulting and the two doors to Justinian's restoration. It is very
probable that the gates and the gallery were built in the days of
Solomon, either as an entrance to the Temple from the south, or perhaps
as part of the substructure of the palace of Pharaoh's daughter, which
may have occupied this position. The whole was, no doubt, destroyed by
the Chaldeans and repaired to the best of his ability by Nehemiah. It is
very probable that the south gate and the galleries were rebuilt by
Herod, when he undertook his great work of the restoration of the
Temple, to form a communication between it (especially the Court of the
Gentiles) and the south part of the city. We need not suppose that it
was entirely destroyed when the Romans razed the sacred buildings,
because, though the ruins which fell upon it might injure the vaulting,
they would also cover and so preserve it. In the gate at the south
extremity we recognise the Middle Gates of Josephus; the position of
which is defined by the words of the historian: "the fourth front of the
Temple, which was southwards, had gates in the middle[343]." Justinian
was, I think, the person who repaired and adorned these gates, and
rebuilt the vaults, to support the foundations of his basilica, and
serve at the same time for a communication between Moriah and the south
part of the city. The east wall of the galleries is underneath the row
of pillars, on the east of the first side aisle in the same direction;
that is, under one of the outer walls of the ancient basilica; while the
west wall is exactly under the line running down the middle of the great
nave. The architect must have _rebuilt_ them to serve for this purpose,
and not simply availed himself of what was already there, because, as I
have already said, the character of the masonry in the walls shews that
it is not older than the age of Justinian.
Let us now refer to the account given by Procopius[344], who, after
stating that the Emperor Justinian had ordered a Temple, dedicated to
the Virgin, to be built at Jerusalem on the most prominent of the hills,
goes on to say, "The hills however had not sufficient space for the
completion of the work according to the Emperor's order; but a fourth
part of the Temple was deficient, towards the south and the east, just
where it is lawful for the priests to perform their rites. Hence the
following device was conceived by the persons who had charge of the
work--they laid the foundations at the extreme of the flat ground and
raised a building of equal height with the rock. When, then, they had
brought it as high as the extremity, they placed over the intervening
space arches from the top of the walls, and connected the building with
the remainder of the Temple's foundation. In this way the Temple is in
part founded on solid rock and in part suspended; the Emperor's power
having contrived a space in addition to the hill." He also states that
this is the only building in the city situated in this way. I agree with
what the historian says of the want of space, on the south and east
(where the ruined vault was), and that the persons in charge of the work
built the side walls as described, but do not believe that they were
the first persons to construct them; they found them existing, but in
ruins, and made use of the excellent materials which were lying on the
spot, to rebuild them to suit their purpose; repairing such parts as
they found standing upright and firm.
As I agree in almost every point with the opinion of M. de Vogüé, I
quote his words[345]: "This gallery is a Byzantine building, and is
roofed with two parallel barrel vaults, the inner sides of which are
supported by a row of semicircular arches springing from square piers.
The south end is covered by four domes arranged in a square, resting on
pendentives; and the four arches dividing and supporting them spring
from an isolated central column. This arrangement is characteristic, so
that though the end of the building is ancient, and probably of the age
of Herod, it is impossible to assign that date to a vestibule vaulted
with domes. This portion of the passage has then been rebuilt at a
comparatively modern period, namely that of the foundation of the
basilica."
The only point on which I differ from the above is, that I believe the
monolith, the south wall, and perhaps some portion (in the lower parts)
of the side walls of the end gallery to be of the age of Herod. Near the
entrance, on the west side, I discovered a dark room; the Arab wall
above mentioned has been built to enclose it, and, at the same time,
conceal a doorway, leading into an underground passage, which runs to
the west, and formerly came out inside the city, to the south of the
_Mekhemeh_. It is possible that the doorway, half buried in the ground,
near the Jews' wailing place, is its other extremity. I endeavoured to
clear a passage to it, but was prevented by the mass of rubbish by which
it had designedly been blocked up, and obliged to abandon my attempt;
the keeper however assured me that I was right in my conjecture. There
is also an aperture in the east wall, now closed with loosely built
stones and rubbish, which seems to have been the entrance to a passage
leading into the vault at the south-east corner of the _Haram_. In the
west wall of the western corridor, just before reaching the steps
leading down into the chamber of the monolith, is a small arch, rising
about four feet above the ground. A Mohammedan tradition asserts this to
be the entrance to an underground passage, leading to the Tomb of David;
it is now however impossible to explore it. There is also a space in the
east wall of the above chamber, formerly occupied by a doorway, which no
doubt communicated with a passage into the vaults we have already
visited, in the south-east corner of the _Haram_; it is exactly in a
line with the door I pointed out in them. Hence we see how the stables
were reached from inside the enclosure. Opposite to this doorway is
another, in the west wall, leading into the vaults below the mosque
Abu-Bekr or the armoury of the Templars. These are very likely the
underground passages in which the Jews took refuge during a riot[346];
that they communicated with Mount Sion seems established by the account
given by Josephus[347] of the attempted escape of the tyrant Simon from
that place; who appeared on the spot where the Temple had stood, dressed
in purple and white, in the hope of terrifying the Roman guard. This is
also an additional proof that the architects of Justinian were not the
original builders of these vaults.
Returning to the outer air and going towards the south-west angle of the
_Haram_ we see the mosque of the Mogarabins, or western Mohammedans. It
is a plain edifice without aisles, with some buildings attached to it
serving as a hospice for pilgrims; in which Abd-el-Kader resided during
his visit to the city in 1857. On the west side of the enclosure are
various buildings, chiefly of the dates of the Crusaders, of Saladin, or
of Solyman; with a chapel dedicated to _Cobba-Moussa_ (Moses), a
fountain for ablutions, and several small edifices which may be seen in
the plan.
The mosque _Kubbet es-Sakharah_[348] stands upon an irregular
quadrilateral platform, raised above the general level of the _Haram_,
consisting almost wholly of rock, and surrounded by a low wall intended
(most unsuccessfully) rather for ornament than use. Abutting on it, and
in different parts of the platform itself, are several small buildings,
crowned with elegant domes, and applied to various uses; some for
oratories or schools, or for interviews between the faithful and their
spiritual advisers; others for houses for the readers of the Koran,
dervishes, and the keepers of the mosque; others again for stores. Two
or three flights of steps on each side lead up to the platform, which is
regarded by the Mohammedans as a sacred place. The number of steps in
each flight is not the same, owing to the differences of level in the
general surface of the _Haram_. They are made of white Palestine
breccia, and at the head of each stands an elegant arcade of pointed
arches, with columns of different materials, such as granite, or verd
antique, or marble of less value; these generally differ both in height
and diameter, in their bases and in the patterns of their capitals.
Hence I am led to suppose that they formerly belonged to one of the
Christian churches, which the Mohammedans destroyed and robbed of their
ornaments to decorate their own sanctuary. These slender structures are
not all alike; some have four arches and three columns, others six or
seven arches with a corresponding number of columns; but their general
effect is very good. The whole of the platform is paved with large slabs
of white Palestine breccia, concealing the rough surface of the rock;
which I saw underneath when some slight repairs were in progress, and
also in the houses abutting on the wall, and in the cisterns; there is
therefore no doubt that this is the actual summit of Moriah.
From this esplanade there is a fine view of the mosque[349], a structure
whose lightness, elegance, and richness is surpassed by very few. Its
plan is very simple: a circular drum, rising above a regular octagonal
base, supports a pointed dome, whose form is enough to characterise the
building as Saracenic. The upper part of the dome is slightly pointed,
while the lower is almost imperceptibly contracted. Its gracefulness is
thus increased, without loss of grandeur. It is covered with zinc; the
drum is inlaid with small glazed tiles of different colours (called
Damascenes by the Levantines), which, being made expressly for the
purpose, bear on them arabesques and maxims from the Koran with other
inscriptions, standing out clearly from a blue background. The octagon
is faced with slabs of veined white marble for a height of five feet
from the ground; and then incrusted with coloured bricks, which
terminate in a cornice covered with Arabic inscriptions. The south-west
face of the octagon is uncovered, and exposes the original rough wall;
whose stones and masonry prove that the whole, without exception, is the
work of Saracenic artists. All the doors and windows are pointed; but
their original shape was slightly altered during the restorations in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; especially in the case of the
windows of the drum, whose outside moulding is now square.
Opposite to the Gate of David (on the east side) is a small building
with a dodecagonal dome, supported by columns of valuable marbles with
very old capitals. Their bases are of different heights, to compensate
for the inequality in the length of the shafts. It is called _Kubbet
es-Silsileh_ (the dome of the chain) or _Kubbet el-Berareh_ (the dome of
justice), being, according to Mohammedan tradition, the site of the
judgement seat of David, to which he will return on the Last Day[350].
After stamping on the floor and carefully examining the interior of this
edifice, I have come to the conclusion that there is a vault below it,
in the middle, which however is of no great size, and is very probably
part of a conduit. The south door has a porch supported by eight columns
of verd antique with Corinthian capitals; on the west, near to this, the
Santon points out a slab of veined marble called 'the Bird of
Solomon[351].'
In my description of the interior of the mosque[352], I shall, in a
great measure, follow the account of M. de Vogüé[353], with several
additions and omissions. It is divided into three concentric spaces, by
two arcades, the inner circular, the outer octagonal in plan. The first,
which supports the drum of the dome, is formed by four large
quadrangular piers and twelve columns; the second by eight piers and
sixteen columns; these two outer galleries have flat ceilings of painted
wood; the shafts of the columns are made of valuable marbles, the
majority of verd antique. I think they may have been taken from
Constantine's church of the Resurrection, when it was lying in ruins,
after its destruction by Chosroes; for many of them have been broken,
and are united again by iron hoops; others shew chips and bruises
apparently produced by a fall; besides, they do not correspond one with
another, either in diameter or in height. The history of the other
Christian edifices in Jerusalem supplies us with not a few instances of
a similar spoliation; while we have no record in the Mohammedan
chronicles, that valuable foreign marbles were brought by them to the
city; as was done by Constantine according to Eusebius. The bases of the
columns in the inner range are Attic, those in the second are different,
and of a debased style; very frequently the shaft rests on a cubical
plinth of white marble without any base moulding. Their capitals are
Byzantine, that is, resemble more or less closely an order which is a
coarse copy of the Corinthian[354]. The arches of the inner arcade
spring directly from the capitals of the columns; but the arrangement in
the outer one is very peculiar. On the capitals is placed a large block,
resembling a truncated pyramid (base square), supporting a horizontal
entablature, from which springs a series of slightly pointed arches:
their form and ornamentation are thoroughly Saracenic, as is the mosaic
work over the arches[355]. The quasi-capitals of the piers are formed by
an arcade in low relief, enclosing a series of palm trees, rudely
executed. The drum is inlaid with mosaic of various leaf patterns. The
upper part of the dome is profusely adorned with gilded arabesques on
different coloured grounds. The shape of the building, its ornamentation
in carved wood, mosaic, pictures and gilding; in a word, its whole
appearance bears a Turco-Arabian character of various periods, more
especially from that of Saladin to that of Solyman.
In the centre of the mosque is a rock, rising above the floor, and
occupying nearly the whole space under the dome, whose bare rough
surface is strangely contrasted with the rich decorations surrounding
it. This is _es-Sakharah_, the great object of the Mohammedan's
reverence[356], which gives the building its name. Its highest part is
some five or six feet above the pavement. No tool has ever touched its
upper surface, but the north and west sides have been hewn vertical, and
from the appearance of the work, I am inclined to think that it was done
when the mosque was built by Omar. A circular hole is cut in its highest
part towards the south-west, and on the south-east side is a doorway
leading down into a rather large chamber within it, whitewashed, and
lighted by the above-named hole. The Iman, who accompanied us, informed
us that the rock is suspended in the air[357], and also that it has a
great cavity beneath, and certainly by stamping on the floor and
striking the walls a hollow sound is produced; but this is not to be
wondered at, because, in order to give a more regular shape to the
chamber, (as it is only a cistern,) they have built a slight wall within
it all round, in front of the shelving sides. The hollow sound, heard on
striking a large slab in the middle of the floor, is to be explained by
the existence of a communication with a lower cistern; how I
ascertained this fact I will presently relate. The Mohammedans
themselves account for it by saying, that this is the well of the souls
of the dead, called by them _Bir el-arruah_[358]. I consider it the
cistern of the threshing floor of Araunah.
The Turkish Iman related to us many legends connected with the inside
and outside of this rock. The description of the plan will explain the
shorter of these; the others will be found in the Notes[359].
On quitting the mosque by the south door, we find, opposite to us, a
_minbar_ or pulpit, ornamented with small columns, and marbles of
different colours. Saladin built it as a place from which to read
prayers on days of great solemnity[360]. On the west of this, the spot
is pointed out on which he slept after entering Jerusalem, and where he
also remained to assist in the purification of the mosque.
I have now finished my description of those places in the _Haram_, which
can be easily seen or visited; but not of those below the ground, which
we will presently proceed to examine; but before doing this, I will
endeavour to apply to the _Haram_ area, the _data_, which history and
Rabbinical traditions afford to us on the position of the ancient
Temple.
From the historical and other evidence, which I have now brought
forward, it results that I consider _the rock of the Sakharah to fix,
positively and precisely, the position of the threshing floor of
Araunah, and, consequently, of the Temple of Solomon_.
Starting from this as a definite point, I shall endeavour, not indeed to
restore the sacred edifice in its minutest details, but to lay down on
the existing area the position of the House itself, and the principal
places in connection with it.
Now the surface of the _Haram_, at the present time, is divided into
three stages of different level.
(1) The highest is the rock _es-Sakharah_; unquestionably the summit of
Mount Moriah, which, doubtless, was left standing in a conspicuous
position, as a perpetual memorial to posterity of the spot, where David
offered the sacrifice, which God had so mercifully accepted. On this,
then, I place _the altar of burnt offerings_.
(2) The platform of the present mosque is to be regarded as the space
levelled by Solomon to support _the House itself, with the Inner Court
of the Priests, and the Great or Outer Court_, occupied by the people,
during the performance of the sacred rites.
(3) The lower plateau of the _Haram_ has been formed by the made ground
constructed by Solomon; which was afterwards extended, especially at the
time of Herod, to make a large and convenient space round the Temple;
and was at that time called _the Court of the Gentiles_.
Let us now proceed to examine in detail these three elevations,
referring to the authorities whom I have already cited in my
description of the Temples of Solomon and Herod[361]. I consider the
_Sakharah_ to be the site of the altar of burnt-offerings, because it is
very improbable that Solomon would have chosen any other position for it
than that indicated by an Angel to the prophet Gad. Those who object are
bound to explain why this rock alone was left in its natural rough state
amid the splendour of the Temple. If it were not reserved for some
purpose of the highest importance, it would never have been spared when
everything around it was levelled. We shall now see that this site
satisfies the requisite conditions. (1) _The altar was to be of unhewn
stone, and not reached by steps._ Therefore the bronze altar of Solomon
can have only been an ornamental casing for the rock. The shape of the
_Sakharah_ is adapted for this purpose, and it has a regular slope on
the south side leading up to the higher part; and, according to the
Rabbinic traditions, this was the position of the inclined ascent. (2)
_It was a square of twenty cubits._ The rock is large enough to admit of
this and still leave room for the ascent. (3) There must have been _a
capacious receptacle for its drainage_, as they burnt upon it the
victims and their fat, and sprinkled the blood upon and around it. This
was the cavern we have just visited, with the one below, which we shall
presently describe. (4) _It occupied an elevated position_, as appears
from both the Bible and the Rabbinic traditions; probably in order that
the sacrifices might be seen by the people. The present site satisfies
this condition. (5) There must have been _cisterns for water and
drainage on the north side_ to wash the victims and cleanse the ground
from blood, because there the Levites appointed for that duty flayed
them, and had their chambers[362]. (6) _On the east side of the altar
must be a 'place of the ashes,'_ where also the refuse of the victims
might be cast. I cannot but think that this would be outside the
above-named sacred courts; and in fact we find a connected system of
cisterns to the west of the Golden Gate, which I believe were used for
this purpose. (7) The great 'sea of bronze' was to the south-east of the
altar, as we are told by the Mischna; therefore _in this direction there
should be traces of the place from which it was supplied_. Now on the
platform of the mosque, south-east of the rock, is a vault, and to the
south of it many cisterns of water, one of which might have supplied the
sea. These latter, I think, may have been in the great court; so that
after the priests had purified themselves at them, they could enter the
sacred enclosure.
Therefore I conclude that the locality satisfies the conditions required
by this position of the altar of burnt-offerings and the places in its
neighbourhood; and we have only to see if the cisterns and vaults,
mentioned above, are connected by subterranean passages, to admit of the
flow of water or of blood, as the case may be. That this requirement is
also satisfied, will be presently seen from the account of my
investigations among them.
I have already stated that I suppose the Temple and its sacred courts to
have occupied the second plateau. The House itself was 60 cubits long
and 20 wide, lying east and west; the porch in front on the east side
was 10 cubits long. If then we circumscribe a square with a side of 20
cubits about the rock, facing to the four points of the compass, and
produce its north and south sides westward, we inclose a space on the
plateau large enough to admit a building of the required dimensions, and
sufficient space is left even for the courts and buildings of Herod's
Temple. We are told by Josephus that the Temple was not situated in the
middle of the area on the summit of Moriah, but rather towards the
north-west corner: a glance at the Plan will shew that this condition is
satisfied. The same historian relates that the Temple of Herod was a
square of 500 cubits; the place admits of this; consequently we may
conclude that we are right in assigning this site to the ancient Temple.
That the position of the third plateau has been rightly assigned, hardly
needs demonstration. The made ground is still to be seen on the east
side, and the levelled surfaces and projecting remnant of rock on the
north-west; while we have already noticed the great works by which it
was enlarged on the south. Hence the three levels of the _Haram
es-Sherîf_ correspond with the three spaces occupied by the ancient
Temple.
It may also be as well to mention a plan of Solomon's Temple, set forth
by some of the Rabbinical authors[363]. They circumscribe a square, with
a side of 20 cubits, about the rock, which they also consider the site
of the altar of burnt-offerings; about this they describe symmetrically
another square, with a side of 180 cubits; then dividing each side into
9 equal parts, and joining the opposite points, the whole is subdivided
into 81 squares, with the square about the rock in the middle. To the
west of this they leave one square, and consider the next three in the
same row to be the site of the House itself. The rows lying north, east,
and south of the five squares mentioned above, are considered to form
the Court of the Levites. (The square between the altar and the Temple
they suppose to have been occupied by the porch and its approach, the
walls of the building, &c.). Parallel to the east side of the above
court, at a distance of 10 cubits, they draw a line, and consider the
parts cut off on the west as the Court of the Israelites, and that
farthest to the east as the Women's Court. Every one may form his own
opinion as to how far this plan may agree with that of Solomon's Temple
(with whose dimensions we are only partially acquainted); for my part I
think that the spaces allotted to the courts are too small, and ought to
be enlarged.
In order that my investigations among the cisterns, pools, and conduits
in this part of Jerusalem may be understood, I must call the reader's
attention to the three following facts, which for the present I simply
state, but of which I will hereafter give a more detailed account, with
proofs of my assertions where they are necessary. (1) That water is
brought into Jerusalem, and especially into Moriah, by a conduit from
Etham. (2) That in the bath of the _Hammam es-Shefa_ is a spring of
undrinkable water. (3) That at the bottom of the Kidron valley, to the
south-east of the same corner of the _Haram_, is a spring called the
Fountain of the Virgin. I will now enter upon the history of my
discoveries, describing them in order of time, so that the reader may
understand the manner in which the conclusions I have drawn from them
were reached, and the various obstacles which I had to overcome. Before
undertaking an investigation of the subterranean works on Mount Moriah,
a task demanding so large an expenditure of time and money, and
encompassed with so many difficulties, wherein, if discovered, I might
be exposed to very great danger, without any hope of defence or escape,
I considered how far it could be avoided by a careful examination of all
that could be seen on the surface, by a study of the works on the
subject, and by collecting all the information that was possible from
ancient traditions and all other sources; but when all this was done, I
found that I had not been able to form a clear idea of the hidden
recesses of the _Haram_, of its ancient reservoirs and conduits for
water, blood, and other purposes, or of the points where the latter
entered or left the enclosure. I had indeed obtained a knowledge of many
useful facts, but not of what I wanted, and was therefore obliged to
wait until an opportunity occurred of making an accurate scrutiny of the
place itself. This was long in arriving; but by patience and
perseverance I at last succeeded in accomplishing my undertaking, as
will be seen from the following narrative.
I felt tolerably certain of the existence of a double-chambered cistern
beneath the _Sakharah_, (called in the Rabbinical traditions _Amah_,)
and had no doubt that it had been used to catch the blood of the
victims; in accordance with the statement in the Mischna, that under the
altar of burnt-offerings, to the south-west, was a conduit by means of
which the blood sprinkled on it flowed into the Kidron Valley[364]. I
had also seen on the north side of the platform of the mosque the
openings of two cisterns; and the Mohammedan keepers assured me that the
one to the north contained dirty water, but that the other was dry, and
had been so for many centuries. I accordingly tasted the water of the
former, and found it excellent; and therefore concluded that it was
nothing but a traditional prejudice, derived from the fact that the
place had formerly received the blood of the victims, which are said to
have been slain there[365]. I have already stated that the cistern on
the west of the Golden Gate appeared, in accordance with the _data_ in
the Bible, a probable position for the 'place of the ashes[366].' I had
also learned that some, especially among the Jews, were of opinion that
the Pool of Bethesda was not only used to cleanse the victims for
sacrifice, but also to receive the water which had served for that
purpose, when the animals were flayed in the neighbourhood of the
Temple; also that it was supplied from some pools on a higher level; and
that, when it became necessary to empty it, the filth escaped by a
conduit excavated in the rock, on the east, down into the torrent
Kidron. Now I do not know whether there was a channel of communication
from the Temple to the pool; but it is certain that there were upper
pools[367], and that its waters would naturally escape into the Kidron.
To establish this last point is impossible, from the quantity of rubbish
that fills the pool, and the accumulation of earth outside the walls;
but it is so obvious that it hardly needs demonstration. In the
south-east corner of the pool there is an opening, which apparently
belongs to a conduit, but it is now built up; and on the whole of the
south wall, which is almost buried with earth, there are not any signs
of other mouths. It was then evident that if the water came to it from
the Temple it must enter either from higher ground on the west, or by
the above opening. This however could not be proved without an
examination of the interior of the _Haram_. The keepers of the mosque
wished to persuade me that the water from the spring of the _Hammam
es-Shefa_ flowed into the cistern beneath the _Sakharah_. Very
frequently, on different days, during the deepest silence, I placed my
ear on the great slab, in the middle of the chamber in the rock, beneath
the mosque, but could not hear the slightest sound. I observed that the
floor was paved with marble, and therefore frequently examined both it
and the walls to see if they gave out damp; (if water had been flowing
below, there would certainly have been some moisture;) but they were
always perfectly dry, even during wet weather, so that this test induced
me to reject the common notion that water ran beneath this place.
Again, one day in the month of January 1857, during an excessively rainy
season, and while a quantity of fallen snow was melting, I observed, on
passing along the Kidron valley, a large stream falling down from the
mouth of a conduit high up in the western bank of the torrent, nearly
opposite to the Tomb of Absalom. I was delighted at the sight, and
instantly resolved to enter the place as soon as the flow of water had
ceased. However, on reflection, I abandoned the design; because I should
have exposed myself to certain danger, since the hill-side at that place
is almost vertical above, and excessively steep on both sides and below,
besides being composed of loose earth that has been thrown down there
and been accumulating for centuries. In course of time the opening was
closed by a landslip, but the water still forced its way through in the
rainy seasons of the following years. The question occurred to me, Can
this be the mouth of the conduit of blood? It was however impossible to
answer it without examining the ground, and this was impracticable by
reason of the great expense of removing such a quantity of soil, and the
fanaticism of the Mohammedans, who would never have allowed me to enter
a subterranean passage possibly leading towards the _Haram_; to which
place I had not then the right of entrance.
My next information was derived from a brave old Bedouin, who had taken
part in the war against Ibrahim Pasha. In the month of May of the same
year he informed me, in the course of the story of his life, that
underground conduits ran from the Fountain of the Virgin into the
interior of the city and Temple; which he had once traversed with a
company of Arabs in making a night attack on the city, in order to
surprise the Egyptian troops at the gates and admit his own companions.
I wanted him to give me more minute information, but he refused, even
when I offered him money; and it was not until a later period that I
obtained fuller details from a peasant in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem; of which I afterwards availed myself, as will be seen: but
even in his case, in spite of bribes, I was obliged to content myself
with listening, without verifying what was reported.
In the month of September 1857, I was walking outside the east wall of
the _Haram_, and stopped to watch an Arab who was digging a grave near
the southern extremity of the cemetery. I entered into conversation with
him, with a view of quietly examining his excavation; but on reaching a
depth of three feet he stopped, as his work was finished; for the dead
Arabs like the earth to lie light upon them. However, by a present I
induced him to continue his labour; but after going down about 2 feet
more, he again desisted, at the instigation of another workman, who in
the mean time had come to bring him some food. A little more money set
them both at work, and after sinking 2 feet lower, they came upon
something hard, which on examination proved to be a wall, belonging, as
I suspected, to a conduit; and by widening the excavation a little, we
found the corresponding side wall at a distance of 3-1/2 feet, both
being of great age. I would gladly have had them continue their work;
but they were both tired, and also afraid of being seen digging so deep,
in the company of a European and Christian; besides, the corpse was
expected before long; so they partially filled up the hole as quickly as
possible. I was however satisfied with what I had seen, and a few days
after, having obtained permission from the Pasha, on some trifling
pretext, I employed them, with two other workmen, to make an excavation
opposite to the south-east corner of the _Haram_ (not being able to dig
farther to the north on account of the graves); and after two days' hard
work we found, at a depth of 11 feet, remains of a conduit resembling
the former, and, like it, 3-1/2 feet in breadth. The walls were 2-3/4
feet high, but had been higher, the upper part having been destroyed. I
thought that these were more likely to belong to the conduit for blood
than the opening which I had seen in the Kidron valley, as that was too
low relatively to the upper and middle levels of the _Haram_, and too
far (being about 30 feet) above the bottom of the valley, which is now
much higher than in former times; for I can hardly think that the blood
and filth would be openly disgorged in a kind of cataract from the
sewer. What a quantity of water would in that case have been required to
transport the refuse of the victims from the front of the Temple, where,
because of the Jewish law, they could never have been suffered to
remain! Two points however had to be established, the proof of which was
far from easy, before I could assert that the conduit for blood flowed
into the Fountain of the Virgin; a place which might have been chosen,
both because it was at a considerable distance from the Temple, and
because the constant supply of water from the spring would carry on the
refuse into the Kidron. These were, (1) whether the lowest part of the
Fountain (which is reached by a long descending flight of steps) was
above the bed of the torrent; and (2) whether, in the interior of the
_Haram_, a conduit had existed, connecting the cistern beneath the rock
_Sakharah_ with that on the west of the Golden Gate, and had gone from
this point outside the wall, in a course agreeing with the traces I had
already discovered. Accordingly I hired some of the peasants of Siloam,
and made an excavation in the valley, to the east of the mouth of the
Fountain, and ascertained that its lowest point was about 5-3/4 feet
higher than the present bed of the torrent; which has been much raised
by the rubbish accumulated during so many centuries, that is not only
brought down by the stream itself from the north, but also falls in from
the sides of the valley during the rainy season. This determined, I made
a second excavation near the steps leading down to the Fountain, and at
a depth of 16 feet found part of the bottom of the original pool, and a
fragment of the side wall; and thus saw that the conduit might have
emptied itself directly into this pool, into which the water flowed from
the Fountain (situated 5 feet above it): whence the refuse descended
into the Kidron 4-1/2 feet below, and so was carried away by the
torrent. As the quantity of water supplied by the spring could never
have been very large, it occurred to me that on special occasions, when
a great number of victims was sacrificed, there would be some method of
increasing the torrent to enable it to sweep away the refuse quickly;
and at first I supposed that the water of the Pool of Bethesda was used
for that purpose, but afterwards I found that it was not the only means
employed. Had I been able, I should at once have followed up the
subject, by investigations in the interior of the _Haram_; but all my
attempts at that time proved ineffectual, and I was obliged to wait for
a more favourable opportunity.
I obtained another clue to the positions of some of the cisterns within
the enclosure, during the summer months of 1857. I had frequently
visited the ground between the city-wall and the south-west part of the
_Haram_, in order to search for old coins, and was struck with the
luxuriance of the vegetation there, even in the driest weather. On
asking the farmer for an explanation of this, I obtained no other answer
than that it was due to God's grace. I did not of course doubt that this
was a sufficient cause; but at the same time I was desirous of finding a
more natural reason; the more so because, on certain evenings, I
observed that he drew a large quantity of water for his plants from a
cistern near the south-west corner of the _Haram_. I therefore asked him
repeatedly, and in all kinds of indirect ways, (as is necessary in
dealing with Arabs,) if his cistern contained much water; but he always
evaded my question, and I was never able to overcome his reticence or
outwit his craft. Even the offer of money produced no effect, and
subsequently he refused to allow me to examine its interior; still,
although baffled, I felt certain that this cistern was supplied from
another inside the _Haram_, which was the true 'God's grace.' I found
afterwards, as will be seen, that I was quite right in my supposition.
I had also frequently remarked, during the rainy season, that the water
running down the street in the central valley flowed into a large
opening on the east side, level with the ground, to the south of the
fountain near the bazaar leading to the _Haram_. From this I inferred
that it found its way into the sewer which passes along the valley at a
lower level. Some old men, who had for many years been employed in the
repairs of the conduits, told me that I was right, and informed me at
the same time that from this opening it was possible to go along
underground and come out inside the _Haram_, by a conduit which entered
a cistern on the lowest plateau, situated on the west side near the
south end of the platform of the mosque _es-Sakharah_, and filled by the
water that had drained from the street. Such was the information that I
had obtained concerning the underground works of the Temple, up to the
end of 1857. It had not enabled me to arrive at any positive conclusion,
and I was puzzled about the conduit for blood, because the Rabbinical
writers made it begin beneath the sacred rock on the south-west, in
which direction I had not been able to discover any traces of it.
During the winters of 1858 and 1859 no great quantity of rain fell at
Jerusalem, and the cisterns were in consequence not filled; so that in
the summer months there was a scarcity of water. Under these
circumstances Surraya Pasha ordered the conduit from Etham to be
repaired, in order that it might supply the _Haram_. I availed myself of
this circumstance, and entered many of the cisterns in that precinct,
which were either almost or quite dry, under the pretext of inspecting
them to see if they needed repairs. In the year 1856, when Kiamil Pasha
was governor, the Turkish engineer, Assad Effendi, had restored the
aqueduct, and I had assisted him as a volunteer, and had been able to
offer him some useful advice; which was the reason that I was now
employed.
I will now relate my discoveries in connexion with this conduit,
commencing at the point where it enters Moriah.
It comes down by the dyke or bridge crossing the Tyropoeon, and at the
present time empties itself into a small basin opposite to the entrance
of the _Mekhemeh_; but formerly it flowed into a large reservoir, still
existing in the lower part of that building, whence it went on into the
Temple. This chamber is now disused, and filled with rubbish. Thus by
their carelessness the Mohammedans lose the benefit of all the works of
antiquity in Jerusalem. From the above-named basin two conduits branch
out; the smaller and newer supplies water to the fountain in the middle
of the _Mekhemeh_, and then rejoins the larger and older one (2-3/4 feet
wide and 2-1/4 high), which, after passing under the _Bâb es-Salsala_,
enters the _Haram_, and then, after running some little distance
southward, turns off at an angle and goes to the fountain opposite the
mosque _el-Aksa_, whence it proceeds to the great cistern called _Birket
es-Sultan_. During the course of the work I observed that the quantity
of water which entered the latter reservoir was less than that which
arrived at the _Mekhemeh_; and on examination I found that the conduit
had formerly kept on to the south, instead of turning to the east, and
that its old channel still existed at that point, by which, although
very much dilapidated and full of earth, a large part of the water was
diverted into an ancient cistern, 29 feet deep, to the north of the
mosque of the Mogarabins. Into this I descended, and found 6 feet of mud
at the bottom; and after hard work ascertained that the water entering
it from the conduit went out by another made nearly on a level with the
floor, which was too much choked up to be passable, but which ran in the
direction of the cistern of 'God's grace,' at the south-west corner of
the _Haram_, so profitable to my friend the farmer. On the east side of
the cistern of the Mogarabin mosque is the mouth of a conduit, walled up
to a height of 3 feet from the vaulting. I saw some traces of it on the
surface of the ground, but was unable to excavate; however, it was
evident that it went into the _Birket es-Sultan_. We repaired the
above-named corner of the conduit at present used, so that all the water
might flow into the fountain of the Aksa, where it would have again been
diminished before reaching the _Birket es-Sultan_, if we had not
completely closed up the mouth of a very ancient conduit (3 feet in
width and height), running northward and communicating with the lower
chamber of the cistern below the _Kubbet es-Sakharah_, which was
entirely cut in the rock, and covered with large slabs as far as the
south staircase of the upper platform. The above remarks on the works in
connexion with the conduit from Etham are sufficient for my present
purpose, and I will now pass on to relate my discoveries in the
different cisterns and conduits into which I descended.
The water in the _Birket es-Sultan_ (Prince's Pool) was, at the time of
my visit, a foot deep; the sides and vaulting, with the piers supporting
it, have been hewn with great pains out of the rock. It is 32 feet in
height. In the wall near the opening from the fountain are notches cut
in the rock, obviously to be used as steps. There are two apertures in
its west side, the one already mentioned as coming from the fountain,
which almost touches the vaulting; the other, 4 feet lower down and
blocked up, which is the end of the conduit coming from the cistern near
the mosque of the Mogarabins. There is another opening on the north
which I could not examine; it is under the vaulting. On the south-east,
4 feet below the vaulting, is an opening walled up, corresponding with
the great chamber at the south-east angle of the enclosure, as I was
able to ascertain by examining the north-west corner of that place,
after removing a quantity of earth. On the south is another opening (now
closed with Arab masonry), 3 feet above the floor, 3-1/4 feet wide and
3-3/4 high; the beginning of a conduit mainly excavated and vaulted in
the rock, but for a short distance built with stones and roofed with
large slabs[368], which I have traced with difficulty and labour along
its whole course quite close to the Fountain of the Virgin. At certain
points it is 5 feet wide and 3-3/4 high. It bears the marks of a very
remote antiquity, and is, in my opinion, contemporaneous with the
building of the first Temple. After discovering this, I found out the
Bedouin peasant, who had on a former occasion told me of its existence,
and he now did not refuse to be my guide along it, and, to tell the
truth, I should not have been able to get on without him at some places,
either from the accumulation of rubbish, or the earth, which every
moment threatened to fall in, besides the great number of rats,
reptiles, insects, and a thousand other nuisances which I encountered. I
have traversed this passage three times and carefully examined it, and
regret to say that from its age and tottering condition parts of it will
soon fall into ruins. It is a great misfortune that a country possessing
so much that deserves to be studied and preserved should be governed by
a nation so unwilling to partake of European civilization.
We will now examine the cisterns to the north of the mosque
_es-Sakharah_[369]. On entering the northern one (29-1/2 feet deep) I
found the floor covered with wet mud to a depth of about 1-1/2 feet. At
the first glance I saw an opening on the south side, 3 feet wide and
4-1/2 high, half built up with Arab masonry, and after clearing away
some of the stones, earth, and mud that blocked it up, I passed through
it into another cistern in the same direction, 32 feet deep. These are
both very ancient, and are wholly excavated in the rock; and I have no
doubt that they belonged to the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
On the south and on the east of the deeper cistern are the openings to
two passages; the first leads to a conduit (3 feet wide and 3-1/2 high),
descending from the west; but after going a few feet along the passage
we find another conduit of the same size as the above, coming from the
south, and leading upwards into a double cistern, as I had always
expected. The form of the lower chamber is an irregular sphere, about 22
or 23 feet in diameter, its floor is covered deep with dry mud with a
few stones, (but rather too many for me to remove). On a careful
examination I saw, at a height of 12-1/2 feet, the mouth of the hole
leading to the upper chamber, about 6-1/2 feet in diameter and 4 feet
long, and the marble slab, which we have already mentioned as covering
it. This it was that the Santon struck with his foot or stick to prove
the existence of the 'Well of the Souls' below! There is a conduit on
the south, into which I entered through an aperture (now walled up), and
by a very gradual ascent reached the other extremity at the fountain
opposite to the mosque _el-Aksa_. The whole depth of the double cistern
is 28-1/2 feet below the top of the rock, and 23-1/2 below the pavement
of the mosque. The reader may imagine my joy at this result of my
labours, so long desired and so anxiously sought, and the gratitude I
felt to God for granting me this boon of ascertaining the position of
the altar of burnt-offerings, and the cisterns and conduits for blood
belonging to the ancient Temple; an ample recompense for all my toil. It
is true indeed that after a most careful search I have not been able to
find any opening on the south-west, in accordance with the statement of
the Rabbinical writers; but for this time I trust my own eyes, and that
suffices me.
Returning to the nearer of the two cisterns on the north of the mosque,
I went along the conduit, rising to the west, for a distance of 12 feet,
beyond which I could not advance because of the soil in it. It runs
exactly in the direction of the cistern, which is situated very near to
the north-west corner of the net-work on the Plan[370]: this I
afterwards endeavoured to enter, but found it filled with earth. The
other opening, on the east side of the first-named cistern, is that of a
descending conduit (about 3 feet wide and high), which I traversed for
some distance, until I was eventually stopped by a number of obstacles;
however, I ascertained clearly that it went towards the east.
The above observations are the results of three visits, in which the
short time I was allowed to stay, the frequent summons to depart,
coupled with not a few threats when I resisted, prevented me from making
farther investigations; but there is nothing more to be found there of
greater importance than the things I have mentioned.
On entering the cistern, excavated in the rock on the west of the Golden
Gate, I found that it was 20 feet deep, and that on the west side was
the mouth of the conduit, which I partially examined from the cistern
north of the mosque _es-Sakharah_. I was able to pass along it for some
distance on this side also, and found it to be 3-1/4 feet wide and 3
high. The only thing that now remained to be done was to find the
conduit leading out of the cistern towards the east: and after a long
search I had begun to despair, when a labourer, who was working at the
south side of the chamber, told me that there were signs of an opening
there; in a few minutes it was uncovered, and through it I entered into
another cistern, whose floor was 4 feet below the level of the former;
and on the east side of this was a conduit, 3-1/2 feet wide and 3 high,
running towards the _Haram_ wall, which must have communicated with that
the ruins of which I had found outside the east wall. I had thus
completed a chain of evidence, which established the course of the
conduit for blood, as laid down by me, at every point.
Marks of another opening appeared above the soil on the south side of
the same chamber, but I had not time to uncover it, being recalled into
the first cistern by the discovery of another passage on its north side;
through this I entered a series of cisterns, on a level of 3-1/4 feet
above the central. In the last of these, at the north end, was the
entrance to a conduit (2-1/2 feet wide and high), which sloped upwards
in the direction of the Pool of Bethesda. It was impossible to follow it
up, but from its direction, level, and design (as I will presently
shew), it must have corresponded with the opening (walled up) to which I
called attention at the south-east corner of the above Pool.
Before proceeding to draw my final conclusions from the above
observations, I must remark that it is untrue that the water flowing
down the street of the Tyropoeon valley, at the time of rain, supplies
the cistern (on the lowest level) at the south-west corner of the
platform of the mosque. This (24 feet deep and wholly excavated in the
rock) receives the water that has been used by the Mohammedans for their
purifications, which is carried off from it into the great sewer in the
Tyropoeon by a conduit on the west side. I shall discuss the springs
of the _Hammam es-Shefa_ more fully in another place; at present I will
only observe that the depth of the source is about 96 feet below the
surface, consequently it is impossible that its waters could flow into
the cistern of the _Sakharah_, and to the Fountain of the Virgin.
The cistern in front of the east gate of the bazaar (excavated in the
rock and 26 feet deep) has a conduit on the south, supplying the
fountain for ablutions, near the Chapel of Moses. This is filled by the
droppings from the terrace-roofs of the buildings on the east and west
of it, as well as from the ground around it. On the platform of the
mosque, near its south-east corner, is a cistern in the rock, whose
depth I was unable to measure, as it is nearly filled up: from it two
small conduits (of no antiquity) run in opposite directions, their
openings being above the vaulting; that on the north-west catches the
water dropping from the mosque, that on the east is intended to drain a
part of the platform, but it is now useless; both are visible on the
surface of the pavement. Lastly, the conduit parallel to the west and
north walls of _el-Aksa_, was made to receive the water from that
mosque, and carry it into the _Birket es-Sultan_. The remaining
cisterns, plentifully scattered over the _Haram_, are for the most part
useless. We see then that, while the Mohammedans pay no regard to the
works of antiquity, they are equally careless about those which are of
the highest importance to themselves.
Having thus narrated the investigations I have made and the information
I have collected, I will now state my conclusions on the connexions and
purposes of these underground works.
They are as follows: (1) That from the time of the building of the
Temple the conduit from Etham has emptied itself into the cistern
beneath the _Mekhemeh_, whence the water was conveyed into the Temple by
a branching system of conduits, the chief of which I have traced. (2)
That the cistern north of the Mosque of the Mogarabins was used as a
reservoir to supply Ophel, where at the present time but few traces of
these works are found. (3) The conduit leading from this into the
_Birket es-Sultan_ must have been intended to carry away any excess of
water, and also by this means to relieve that which now goes to the
fountain, especially when it might be out of order. It is obvious that
these filled the _Birket es-Sultan_, and consequently the great
reservoir at the south-east corner of the _Haram_. (4) It is probable
that the numerous cisterns on the west side may also have been fed by
different conduits, but I had not sufficient time to ascertain this. If
not, they might have been supplied by the drainings from the courts, the
terrace-roofs of the cloisters, and the Temple itself[371]. (5) The
fountain opposite to _el-Aksa_ is Saracenic, but not the basin in which
it stands. This supplied water to the cistern under the altar of
burnt-offerings, to cleanse it from the blood that flowed down from
above. Hence the stream ran into the cisterns on the north, and thence
into the 'place of the ashes' on the east, which I believe to have been
the southernmost of the underground chambers; and from this it went
outside the wall, and after passing along parallel to it, finally
emptied itself into the pool near the Fountain of the Virgin. (6) In the
'place of the ashes,' in which they cast the crops of the birds, the
entrails of the victims, and other refuse, a larger quantity of water
would be needful, especially at times when the sacrifices were numerous;
and I suppose that the conduit from the Pool of Bethesda was constructed
to augment the supply; also I fully believe that if I had found time to
uncover the apertures on the south of the 'place of the ashes,' and on
the north of the _Birket es-Sultan_, and to examine the cistern on the
south-east of the _Sakharah_, I should have discovered that this cistern
(where I place the 'bronze sea') was supplied from the _Birket_, and
discharged its waters into the 'place of the ashes.' Was there then also
a conduit on the north of the great reservoir at the south-east corner
communicating with the opening on the south of the 'place of the ashes'?
I sought for it without success owing to the accumulation of earth, the
want of time, and the continual interference of the Mohammedan guardians
of the _Haram_, who believed, as I suppose, that I was seeking for
treasures, when, on the contrary, I was spending my savings.
If, after the sewage had reached the pool by the Fountain of the Virgin,
there was still need of a further supply of water to sweep it away, that
could be brought by the long conduit from the south side of the _Birket
es-Sultan_, by the conduit at the east end of the Pool of Bethesda, and
especially by a conduit, which, starting from the west extremity of the
Bridge, runs down the Tyropoeon to the Fountain of the Virgin, along
which the whole stream from Etham might be diverted, if necessary. I
have not mentioned this before, but will give a fuller description of it
in another place. The conduit on the west slope of the Kidron valley,
nearly opposite to the Tomb of Absalom, which I saw discharging so much
water in 1857, may possibly have been another means of augmenting the
supply, and may very probably (although I have not been able to prove
it) communicate with the great reservoir at the south-east corner of the
_Haram_, and have occasionally been used to lay it dry.
I have now arrived at the end of my researches on Mount Moriah, and
leave the subject, trusting that some other explorer may find more
frequent opportunities and more favourable circumstances for examining
this venerable spot; and thus carry further my discoveries, and correct
any errors into which I may have fallen.
FOOTNOTES:
[171] Note I.
[172] Note II.
[173] Plates XI., XII.
[174] Gen. xxii. 2-14.
[175] Note III.; Gen. xxviii. 10-12.
[176] Gen. xxxv. 1-15.
[177] 2 Sam. xxiv; 1 Chron. xxi.
[178] 1 Chron. xxii. 1.
[179] Ant. VII. 13, § 4.
[180] 2 Sam. xvii. 18; Jer. xli. 8.
[181] Plate XXVII.
[182] 1 Maccab. vi. 32, 33.
[183] Note IV.
[184] 1 Kings v. 18.
[185] 2 Chron. ii. 13, 14.
[186] 1 Kings v. 10, 11.
[187] 2 Chron. ii. 16.
[188] 1 Kings vii. 10, 11.
[189] 1 Kings vi. 7.
[190] Jewish War, V. 5, § 1.
[191] Ant. VIII. 3, § 9; Jewish War, V. 5, §§ 1, 2.
[192] 1 Kings vi. 1, 38.
[193] Note V.
[194] Ant. VIII. 3.
[195] Palestine, pp. 289-292.
[196] 1 Kings vi. 2, 3.
[197] 1 Kings vi. 17-20; viii. 9.
[198] 2 Chron. iv. 9.
[199] 2 Chron. iv. 9; Ezek. xl. 17.
[200] 2 Chron. iv. 1; Ezek. xliii. 13, 18.
[201] Note VI.
[202] 2 Chron. iv. 2, 5, 6.
[203] 1 Kings vii. 38.
[204] 1 Kings vii. 38; 2 Chron. iv. 6; Lev. i. 9.
[205] 1 Kings vi. 5; Ezek. xlii. 13.
[206] Lev. i. 5, 11, 16; xiv. 11, 12.
[207] Ezek. xl. 40, 41, 42, 46.
[208] 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26.
[209] 2 Kings xiv. 13.
[210] 2 Kings xii. 4-14; 2 Chron. xxiv. 4-14.
[211] 2 Kings xxv. 9.
[212] 2 Kings xxv. 11, 12, 22, 23; Jer. xl. 6.
[213] Jer. xl. 12.
[214] 2 Kings xxv. 25.
[215] 2 Kings xxv. 26; Jer. xliii. 7.
[216] 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23; Ezra i. 1; v. 13.
[217] Note VII.
[218] Ezra vii. 8, 9.
[219] Ezra iii. 8, 12, 13; Haggai ii. 3.
[220] Ezra iv. 1-24.
[221] Ezra iv. 24; v. 1, 2.
[222] Ezra vi. 15-17.
[223] Ezra vi. 3.
[224] Haggai ii. 3; Ezra iii. 12.
[225] Ant. XV. 11, § 1; Note VIII.
[226] 1 Maccab. i. 20-23, 35, 36, 41; Ant. XII. 5, §§ 3, 4.
[227] 1 Maccab. iv. 41-59; Jewish War, I. 1, § 1.
[228] 1 Maccab. xii. 35-37.
[229] 1 Maccab. xiii. 50-53.
[230] Ant. XIII. 6, § 7; Jewish War, I. 3, § 3.
[231] Ant. XIII. 11, § 2; Jewish War, I. 3, §§ 3-5.
[232] Ant. XIV. 4, § 2; Jewish War, I. 7, §§ 1-3.
[233] Ant. XIV. 16, § 2.
[234] Ant. XV. 11, § 2.
[235] S. John ii. 20.
[236] S. Mark xiii. 1, 2.
[237] Ant. XV. 11, §§ 3-7; Jewish War, V. 5 (the more minute account);
Note IX.
[238] Palestine, p. 551.
[239] Ant. XV. 11, § 3.
[240] Ant. XIII. 6, § 7; Jewish War, V. 4, § 1.
[241] Middoth, I. 3.
[242] Ant. XV. 11, § 5.
[243] Ant. XV. 11, § 3.
[244] S. Matt. xxi. 12.
[245] Note X.
[246] Mischna, 2, § 6.
[247] Mischna, 2nd part, Treatise _Yoma_, c. III., § 10; Babylonian
Talmud, same treatise, fol. 37.
[248] Exod. xx. 25; Deut. xxvii. 5, 6.
[249] Mischna, Treatise _Yoma_, c. III., § 1.
[250] Ezek. xl. 39, 40.
[251] 2 Maccab. ii. 4-7.
[252] Mischna, Treatise _Yoma_, c. V., § 2, and the Rabbinical
traditions in the Babylonian Talmud, same treatise, fol. 54.
[253] Jewish War, V. 5, § 1.
[254] Note XI.
[255] Jewish War, V. 5, § 2.
[256] Ibid. V. 5, § 8.
[257] Ant. XV. 11, § 7.
[258] S. John ii. 20.
[259] Jewish War, V. 5, § 8.
[260] Jewish War, V. 11; VI. 1.
[261] Note XII.
[262] Jewish War, VI. 6, § 2.
[263] Ibid. VI. 9, § 1; VII. 1, § 1.
[264] Note XIII.
[265] S. Matt. xxiv. 2.
[266] Note XIV.
[267] Note XV.
[268] Note XVI.
[269] Note XVII.
[270] Note XVIII.
[271] Note XIX.
[272] Note XX.
[273] Adamn. de Locis Sanctis, Lib. I. c. 1, ap. Acta SS. Ord. Bened.
Tom. III. Part 2, p. 304: "Cæterum in illo famoso loco, ubi quondam
Templum magnifice constructum fuerat, in vicinia muri ab oriente
locatum; nunc Sarraceni quadrangulam orationis domum, quam subrectis
tabulis et magnis trabibus super quasdam ruinarum reliquias construentes
vili fabricati sunt opere, ipsi frequentant; quæ utique domus tria
hominum millia simul (ut fertur) capere potest."
[274] Note XXI.
[275] William of Tyre, Book I. c. 12.
[276] Note XXII.
[277] Note XXIII.
[278] Note XXIV.
[279] Note XXV.
[280] Note XXVI.
[281] Plate XI.
[282] S. John v. 2.
[283] Plate XII.
[284] Plate XIII.
[285] Ant. XIII. 11, § 2; Jewish War, I. 3, § 3.
[286] Note XXVII.
[287] Page 20.
[288] Plate XIV.
[289] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2; 5, § 8.
[290] Ibid. V. 11, § 4.
[291] Ibid. V. 5, § 2.
[292] Ibid. V. 5, § 8.
[293] Ant. XV. 11, § 7.
[294] Plate XV.
[295] Plate XVI.
[296] See Ch. I. p. 15.
[297] S. John v. 2-9.
[298] Plates X., XVIII.
[299] Plate XVII.
[300] Note XXVIII.
[301] Plate X.
[302] Plate XVIII.
[303] Note XXIX; Page 7.
[304] Plate XXIX. See the details of the Golden Gate.
[305] Plate XXVII.
[306] Plate XIX.
[307] Note XXX.
[308] Plate XX.
[309] 2 Kings xxii. 14.
[310] Note XXXI.
[311] Plate XXI.
[312] Ant. XV. 8, § 1.
[313] Ant. XIV. 4, § 2; Jewish War, I. 7, § 2.
[314] Jewish War, VI. 6, § 2; 8, § 1.
[315] Page 23.
[316] Guide d'Orient. Description des Environs du _Haram-es-Sherîf_.
[317] Ant. XV. 11, § 5.
[318] In my opinion, of the date of Herod.
[319] Narrative of a Journey round the Dead Sea, Vol. II. pp. 100, 101,
(edited by Count E. de Warren).
[320] Note XIII.
[321] Plate LVIII.
[322] Holy City, Vol. II. pp. 43, 392. Second Edit.
[323] Note XXXII.
[324] Plate XI.
[325] Plate XIV.
[326] Plate XIX.
[327] Ant. XV. 11, § 5.
[328] Ant. XV. 11, § 5.
[329] Mejir-ed-din, Mines d'Orient, Vol. II. p. 95.
[330] Plate XXIV.
[331] De Edific. Justin., Lib. IV. c. 6.
[332] Note XXXIV.
[333] Eutychius, Annales, II. 246. Dielal-ed-din. Kemal-ed-din.
Mejir-ed-din.
[334] The Holy City, Vol. I. p. 318. Second edition.
[335] Note XXXV.
[336] Plates XXIII., XXIV.
[337] See M. de Vogüé's work, Les Églises de la Terre Sainte.
[338] Plate XI. (Plan).
[339] A variety of marble, generally of a dark brown colour, full of
fossil shells, exhibiting beautiful iridescent colours, due to the
nacreous matter of the shells; sometimes deep red or orange, when it is
called fire-marble.
[340] Plate XXIV.
[341] Plate XXV.
[342] See details, Plate XXIX.
[343] Ant. XV. 11, § 5.
[344] De Ædificiis Justiniani, Lib. V. cap. vi. (Translated in Rev. G.
Williams' Holy City, Vol. II. p. 369).
[345] Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, par le Comte Melchior de Vogüé, p.
272. He also quotes the Rev. G. Williams in confirmation of his opinion.
[346] Jewish War, V. 3, § 1.
[347] Jewish War, VII. 2, § 1.
[348] Plate XI.
[349] Plate XXVI.
[350] Note XXXVI.
[351] Note XXXVII.
[352] Plate XXVII.
[353] Les Églises de la Terre Sainte.
[354] Plate XXIX.
[355] Note XXXVIII.
[356] Note XXXIX.
[357] Note XL.
[358] Note IV.
[359] Notes XXXIX., XL.
[360] Note XLI.
[361] Pages 48, 49, 53, 54.
[362] Levit. i. 11; Ezek. xl. 35-38.
[363] See the enclosed space, covered with cross lines, about the Mosque
of Omar, Plate XI.
[364] Mischna, 2nd part, Treatise _Yoma_, c. 3, § 1.
[365] Ezek. xl. 39-41.
[366] Levit. i. 16.
[367] Jewish War, V. 11, §§ 4, 5.
[368] See the Conduits, Plate X.
[369] See the sections, Plate XII.
[370] Plate XI.
[371] Note XLII.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION, AND THE HOSPITAL OF S. JOHN, WITH
THEIR ENVIRONS--HISTORY OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE FROM THE DEATH OF
CHRIST TO THE PRESENT TIME--GENUINENESS OF THE
SEPULCHRE--GOLGOTHA--EXAMINATION OF THE EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF
THE CHURCH--RUINS OF THE HOSPITAL.
After the publication of the works of the Rev. G. Williams, Professor
Willis, and M. de Vogüé, on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the fruits
of so much learning and research, it is perhaps rash to undertake to
write upon this subject; still, as I only enter upon its history so far
as it concerns things now to be seen and the explanation of my own
investigations, I venture to apply myself to the task; requesting the
reader, who is desirous of fuller information, to study the works of
these authors[372]. If I may happen to differ from them on any point, I
do not intend to discuss their theories, as that would occupy too much
time, but simply to state my own opinions, which have been formed after
a most careful examination of the place by different means, during a
period of eight years.
My principal aim is to establish the genuineness of the site now
reverenced as the Sepulchre of Christ, and to point out the position of
Calvary in its neighbourhood; therefore I begin from this point; the
more so, because the identity of the present tomb is disputed, and those
who disbelieve in it lean especially on the assertions, that its
situation with reference to the ancient city disqualifies it; as it is
within the circuit of the walls, instead of without in accordance with
the Jewish law; and that every trace was swept away by the destruction
of the city by Titus, and the alterations of Hadrian; so that the
basilica of Constantine did not cover the real Sepulchre of Christ. We
proceed then to examine the question.
The place of our Saviour's Passion undoubtedly was outside the city, in
accordance with the Jewish law, as is proved by the words of S.
John[373]: "This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where
Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city." According to the positions
which I have assigned to the walls, Golgotha was at that time without
the city, being very near the second line formed by the walls of Solomon
and Hezekiah; for it must be remembered that the third line was not yet
built, because King Agrippa I. did not arrive at Jerusalem till A.D. 42,
some years after the death of Christ, and the work commenced shortly
afterwards. The fact that a large crowd[374] followed our Saviour also
makes it probable that the place was near the city, for as the next day
was the Sabbath and 'an high day[375],' and as it was about the sixth
hour when He was brought forth to the people[376], and the ninth when He
died[377], they would have had to return home to prepare the Passover,
and not have had time to go any considerable distance.
It is not indeed in my power to state the exact distance of Golgotha
from the city, but at any rate I am certain that it was far enough off
to comply with the legal requirement, that sepulchres should be 50
cubits from the outside of the wall[378]. It was very probable that it
would not greatly exceed this distance, as the enraged populace would be
likely to place the cross where those in the city could glut their eyes
with the spectacle.
In tracing the course I have assigned to the second wall, I sought for
its remains on the spot, being guided by the testimony of Josephus,
without any desire of adapting it to the present position of Calvary;
which indeed (if admitted) is in my favour, as shewing that there were
gardens outside my gate _Gennath_[379], in accordance with the words of
the Evangelist[380], "Now in the place where he was crucified there was
a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet
laid." Therefore I firmly believe that the body of the Redeemer was laid
in the sepulchre now under the great dome of the Church: but of the
locality assigned to Calvary I will state my opinion presently.
As, however, there are some who contest this assertion, I must support
it by the aid of history and tradition. It is not probable that either
the Heathens, Jews, or Christians, would lose sight of the Sepulchre of
Jesus; for each, though from very different motives, would have reasons
for remembering the grave of One whose teaching had introduced a new era
into the world, and who had left behind Him such zealous preachers of
His doctrine. Now the body was obtained from Pilate and entombed by
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, men of note among the Jews, before
the eyes of the women who had followed our Saviour from Galilee[381]. It
is then not likely that this new tomb, belonging to one of them, would
ever be forgotten by any of these persons. We know that the Chief
Priests and Pharisees obtained a guard of soldiers to watch the
tomb[382], who were at the spot when Christ arose[383]. It is then very
improbable that the Sepulchre would be forgotten by that generation. The
number of the disciples augmented so rapidly in a very short time after
the Resurrection, that neither the sect itself, nor the life, history,
teaching, or prophecies of its Founder, could fail to be remembered. We
find it asserted in the Talmud[384], that the sentence against Jesus
Christ was proclaimed during forty days, and all who could bear evidence
in His favour were invited to come forward. If then this story be true,
it shews that the Jews did not deem Him an insignificant person. The
Romans, so much more highly civilized than the Jews, would be alive to
the important effect that the Saviour's teaching was likely to produce
on Paganism, and so would not regard His death and the place connected
with it, without interest.
But even if the Jews and Gentiles had been slow to recognize the
importance of the new doctrine, surely its disciples would remember, and
at the least regard with affection, the scene of the redemption of the
human race by the death of their Lord and Master. Can we believe that S.
Paul would not have conducted his new converts to this spot on his visit
to Jerusalem; that S. James, first Bishop of Jerusalem, (murdered by the
plots of Ananus[385] A.D. 62,) and S. Peter, would be ignorant of it?
Consequently there can be no doubt that the spot must have been well
known when the Christians, led by Simon their Bishop, retired to
Pella[386], A.D. 66, to escape the troubles that were about to fall on
their doomed city. From A.D. 70 to A.D. 135, the year of Hadrian's
visit, Jerusalem lay in ruins; but still it was not entirely deserted,
since we know that he drove the inhabitants away, to make room for his
colony of Roman veterans[387]. The garrison which Titus had left on Sion
to prevent any attempts at rebuilding the city, would not have
interfered with those who came peaceably to dwell near the ruins of
their Temple, or the scenes hallowed by the Redeemer's Passion. Again,
from S. James, the first Bishop, to the days of Hadrian, and thence to
Constantine, there was an unbroken succession of Bishops of the Holy
City[388]; so that it is impossible that the situation of the Sepulchre
should not have been correctly indicated by tradition to the first
Christian Emperor. Indeed, from the time of Hadrian the place was marked
in a manner that prevented all possibility of mistake, as we know from
the words of Eusebius[389]. "For impious men in former time, or, to
speak more correctly, the whole race of demons working by their hands,
were eagerly desirous of overwhelming in darkness and oblivion that
sacred monument of immortality, to which the angel, flashing forth
light, descended from heaven; and rolled away the stone from the stony
hearts of those who thought that the living (Christ) was still lying
among the dead; bearing good tidings to the women, and rolling away from
their hearts the stone of unbelief in the life of Him Whom they sought.
This Cave of Salvation, then, certain godless and impious men purposed
to destroy utterly, deeming in their folly that they could thus conceal
the truth. So having gathered together from different quarters a great
quantity of earth, they covered up the whole; and then having raised it
on high and heaped it up with stones, they concealed the Divine Cave
under this large mound. Then as if nothing further remained, they in
very truth constructed above the ground a grim sepulchre of souls;
erecting a dark recess of the shades of the dead to the unchaste goddess
Aphrodite.... (The Emperor) inspired by a Divine Spirit, and having
invoked God's help, commanded that place to be cleansed, which had been
pointed out to him; hidden though it was by unclean materials cast upon
it by the plots of enemies; not overlooking it though delivered over to
oblivion and ignorance.... And as soon as the order was given, the works
of deceit were thrown from on high to the ground, and the buildings of
error were pulled down and destroyed, together with their statues and
demons. Nor did the vigour of the Emperor rest here, but he ordered the
materials, wood and stone, to be taken and thrown away as far as
possible from the place."
From these passages it is evident that the Emperor Constantine found the
true position of the Holy Sepulchre, and erected over it a magnificent
basilica, which is described by the same author[390]. The work was
commenced A.D. 326, and completed A.D. 335.
The present position of Calvary does not however rest upon the same
indisputable evidence as that of the Sepulchre, as there are no marks of
antiquity nor any other internal evidences to support its claim. The
testimony of the Evangelists proves beyond question that it was near to
the Sepulchre, but gives us no clue to its position relative to that
place, nor tells us whether it was on a plain or a hill, on smooth
ground or on rocky. It seems very probable to me that the Cross would be
erected on a hill, in order to make it as conspicuous an object as
possible. The present Chapel of the Calvary, wherein are shewn the hole
in the rock made for the foot of the Cross, and (at the distance of
three feet towards the south) the fissure caused by the earthquake, are
indeed on higher ground than the Sepulchre; but we must presently
examine whether this elevation is natural or artificial. I will now only
remark that the hole is too small to admit a post large enough to
support the weight of a man, and is perfectly round; though it is very
unlikely that the executioners would have taken the trouble to make the
shape so regular. The holes in which the crosses of the two thieves were
planted are not visible, although the Greek monk in charge of the
Calvary pretends to indicate their position. Abbé Mariti[391], who saw
them before Oct. 12, 1808, writes as follows: "The Arabs call the
penitent thief _Leuss-el-Jemin_, which means the thief on the right
hand; the position of the cross of the impenitent thief is on the left.
If then our Lord was crucified with His face to the north, the other two
crosses would not have been in the same line with His; and the distance
between the holes compels us to suppose that they were placed at right
angles to it." The remark is correct, and I assert, in addition, that
the present Calvary is not large enough for three crosses to stand upon,
being about nine feet wide; therefore I regard the story, at any rate so
far as concerns the two side crosses, as a mere fable. It is impossible
to examine the rock cleft by the earthquake, as it is only visible at
the bottom of an aperture about three inches wide and two feet deep; all
the rest of it being encased in slabs of marble. Its shape therefore
cannot be ascertained, but by examining the place we shall see how far
it extends. It is difficult to say whether the level floor, raised about
two feet above the pavement, on which are pointed out the hole that
supported our Lord's Cross, the positions of those of the two thieves,
and the fissure produced by the earthquake, is one entire block or not.
As the bare rock is only visible at the hole of the Cross and the
fissure, we should suppose that it extended over the whole plateau; but
a close scrutiny gives rise to the suspicion that these blocks have been
brought from some other position and placed here. The platform is only
about nine feet from north to south, and five from east to west, so that
it would not require a large mass. My opinion was confirmed by observing
that two piers are built on the north and south of the platform, and
that on the east there is a wall separating the Golgotha from some of
the rooms of the Greek convent, and on the west the inlaid pavement of
the chapel. This arrangement suggested to me that either the piers and
wall rested upon the rock, or that it was altogether wanting beneath. In
order to determine this point I examined the Chapel of Adam, situated
under the Golgotha, and reached by a descending staircase on the west.
Here it is not difficult to ascertain that the aforesaid piers and wall
go down below the level of the floor, and that the vaulting is entirely
constructed with masonry. The fissured rock, seen from above, is in the
east wall; it is protected by a strong iron grating, which renders it
impossible to see whether it goes down to the level of the floor, or how
far it extends to the north and south. This however may be inferred
without difficulty, for on the south there is a wall, and beyond that an
apartment belonging to the Greeks, and on the north, another wall, and
then the open space inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On the west
is the stone pavement below the wall supporting the grating, which is
3-1/2 feet above the floor. The rock is therefore concealed, but so far
as we can see, it does not appear to descend to the floor. Hence the
only direction in which it could extend is the east; but here, on the
other side of the rock, which cannot be more than 5 feet thick, is a
wall separating it from an ancient staircase, belonging to the Greeks,
leading to Calvary. It seems then very improbable that after levelling
all around so completely, they would have left, to exhibit the mark of
the Cross, a fragment of rock which could not stand without the support
of walls. I cannot believe this, and am therefore compelled to suppose
that the rock is only a piece of the true Golgotha, brought and placed
here for the veneration of the faithful, no doubt at the time of
Constantine. A farther proof that this block is not in its natural
position, but has been brought from another place, is that its mineral
character differs from that of the native rock, preserved in its
original roughness in the remains of an ancient cistern in the Chapel of
the Invention of the Cross, a little to the east of Golgotha.
Far better would it have been had S. Helena and Constantine left the
Sepulchre and Golgotha as they discovered them. Far more strongly would
the rough rock and the unaltered scenes have spoken to the heart, than
all the ornaments they lavished upon it, and those which now load and
disfigure it! From a mistaken notion of reverence they wished to adapt
the ground to the basilica, and not the basilica to the ground; thus
laying the foundation of all the doubts and contests that have since
arisen.
For my own part I am inclined to think that Golgotha was on the west of
the Sepulchre, because we still see, at a little distance in that
direction, some elevated rock in the Syrian chapel, whence it gradually
rises westward up to the Christian bazaar, presenting the same mineral
(calcareous) character as the block on Calvary. If it were in this
direction, it would not only comply with the data of the Bible, and be
more than fifty cubits from the walls, but also be on high ground, so
that the execution could be seen from a large part of the city; whereas
the present site is too near the wall and is in a low situation, so that
even though we allow that the ground may now be somewhat lower than it
used to be, it would be visible to a very small portion of the city. As
there were no strong natural features to mark the spot, and as this side
has frequently been devastated during the sieges of Jerusalem, one place
may easily have been mistaken for another in the same neighbourhood, so
that the tradition on this point is of little value. Therefore, although
I do not positively assert that the present position of Golgotha is not
the true one, I think that the evidence of the place itself is not
sufficient to render its identity unquestionable.
Let us now resume the history of the Sepulchre. Chosroes II., king of
Persia, A.D. 614, completely destroyed the magnificent buildings erected
by Constantine, took captive the Patriarch, and carried off the wood of
the Cross (kept as a relic at Calvary); but through the intercession of
the conqueror's wife, a Christian and sister of Maurice, Emperor of the
East, the faithful were allowed to rebuild the holy places. A monk,
named Modestus, successor of the Patriarch Zacharias, was enabled, by
the assistance of the Emperor Heraclius and John the Almsgiver,
Patriarch of Alexandria, to erect again four churches in less than
fifteen years; but they were much inferior to the originals. During this
period Heraclius conquered the Persians, recovered the Cross, and
replaced it in Calvary with his own hands. More than one description of
the sanctuaries built by Modestus has come down to us; the most
interesting is that of Arculf, who visited them; they were called the
Church of the Resurrection, the Church of Calvary, the Church of the
Invention of the Cross, and the Church of the Virgin[392]. These were
respected by the Khalif Omar, A.D. 636, but, according to the Mohammedan
chronicles, the conqueror took possession of the columns and other
marble ornaments which were lying about in the ruins of Constantine's
magnificent buildings, and ordered them to be worked into his new mosque
_es-Sakharah_. He granted freedom of worship to the Christians, and his
example was followed, if not surpassed, by Harûn er-Rashîd alone (A.D.
786-809), after whose death they suffered many persecutions; and their
churches, especially that of the Resurrection, were plundered and
greatly injured. The dome of that church was repaired by the Patriarch
Thomas, in the reign of El-Mamûn, with timber brought from Cyprus[393].
Hakem Biamr-Illah, Fatimite Sovereign of Egypt and Syria, ascended the
throne A.D. 996, and began an incessant persecution against the
Christians. In the year 1010 he ordered the total destruction of the
churches of Jerusalem. His barbarous decree was executed, and all the
buildings erected by the Patriarch Modestus were ravaged and burnt[394].
A second time the persecution was arrested by a woman, Mary, the mother
of Hakem, who obtained permission to rebuild the churches in the same
year that they were destroyed. The work was commenced, but proceeded
slowly for the want of funds; for when Daker or Daber, successor of
Hakem (through the influence of Romanus Argirius), ordered that the
injuries done to Jerusalem should be repaired, and that the wall should
be restored by the inhabitants at their own expense; and assigned one
quarter of the expense to be borne by the Christians, they were so
heavily burdened by this additional demand, that the works at the
churches were interrupted. It was not till A.D. 1048 that, with the help
afforded by Constantine Monomachus, the sanctuaries were completed
according to the plans of Modestus, in the reign of the Egyptian Khalif
Maabad-Abutamin Mustansir-Billa. They are described by Sæwulf, who
visited Jerusalem during the years A.D. 1102 and 1103[395].
The numerous pilgrimages, which were made annually to the Holy Sepulchre
after A.D. 1048, kindled a wide-spread enthusiasm in Europe and a strong
excitement against the Mohammedans, who had made themselves masters of
the Christian Holy Places. These found their vent in the Crusades, and
the soldiers of the Cross, who took possession of Jerusalem, acquired
the sanctuaries in the condition in which they had been left by
Constantine Monomachus; and it was not till A.D. 1130 that they united
them under one roof, nearly as they are at the present time[396]. The
Church of the Holy Sepulchre was not altered by Saladin on his regaining
the city, A.D. 1187. It was polluted and injured by the wild tribes,
especially by the Kharismian hordes, A.D. 1244; but in 1555 when Father
Bonifacius of Ragusa was Guardian of the Holy Land, the whole building
was repaired and the great dome restored at the expense of Philip II.,
King of Spain; as appears from the testimony of some valuable documents
preserved by the Commissary General of Madrid and the convent of S.
Saviour at Jerusalem. About the year A.D. 1607, Sultan Ahmet I. ordered
the whole church to be destroyed, and a mosque erected on its
foundations, by a decree inflicting the punishment of death upon all who
attempted to prevent its execution. One man alone had the courage to
raise his voice against it, Girolamo Capello, Venetian Ambassador at
Constantinople, whose nation, from its powerful navy, was more highly
respected by the Sultan than any other. By his firmness and energy, he
got the order revoked, and the punishment denounced against all who
tried to carry it into effect, or inquire into the reason of its
revocation. About a century later the great dome was again restored by
help of contributions from Spain. The cost would appear incredible, if
it were not established by authentic documents, and the chronicles of
the Holy Land, still preserved in the convent of S. Saviour at
Jerusalem. These state that, in order to obtain a firman from the Porte
(which was opposed and retarded during 21 years by the Greeks, who hoped
to procure it for themselves), and to complete the restoration 400,000
colonnati (about £92,000) were expended.
A firman was obtained from the Porte, A.D. 1757, by the Greeks,
excluding the Latins, partly or wholly, from some of the sanctuaries,
including even the Holy Sepulchre, which was sold to the Greeks by the
Grand Vizier Regib Pasha. France had already proclaimed her intention of
protecting her Church in the East, and the Chevalier de Vergennes was
charged with maintaining the rights of the Latins at Constantinople;
but, notwithstanding, the places then lost were never wholly recovered.
On the 12th October, 1808, a great part of the church was consumed by a
terrible fire, caused by the Armenians; and the Greeks obtained
permission from the Porte to repair the damage. An ignorant architect,
who has had the audacity to record his name, which however I will not
help to perpetuate, completed the work of destruction, by pulling down,
or covering up, the interesting remnants of Byzantine and Gothic
architecture, which the flames had spared. The tombs of the Latin Kings
of Jerusalem (of which I will speak presently) were demolished by the
Greeks on this occasion; who however try to make us believe that they
were destroyed by the fire.
I conclude this sketch of the history of the building, by stating that
the great dome is in danger of falling in[397]. Year by year it becomes
more and more dilapidated, and the large holes in it, caused by the want
of a covering of lead[398], admit the wind and the rain, so that the
floor below is sometimes flooded to a depth of five or six inches (as
happened in 1857 and 1860), causing so much annoyance to the Priests,
that the services have to be performed under umbrellas, and rendering it
impossible for the congregation to remain without injury to their
health. It has long been hoped that France, the official protector of
the place, would put a stop to these trials, and undertake the work of
repair: and in 1862, France, Russia, and the Porte, came to an
agreement, and the works appeared to be on the point of commencing, as
the architects of the three nations at Jerusalem had consulted together;
but some disputes on the question of ownership arose between the Greeks
and Latins, and the whole matter has been adjourned. While the question
is slowly dragging on at Constantinople, it is far from improbable that
the dome will fall, and it will be a very fortunate thing if this happen
without loss of life.
I will now accompany the reader round the outside and inside of the
church, and point out and remark upon the chief objects of interest
connected with the building; referring him to the Plans and their
description for those of less importance[399].
Before the façade of the church is an oblong open court[400] paved with
large slabs of Palestine breccia, which are all cracked, apparently by
the action of fire; no improbable cause, when we remember how many
Christians have suffered martyrdom by burning on this spot[401]. On the
south side is a number of bases of columns arranged symmetrically,
shewing that an arcade, if not a porch, formerly stood here. A flight of
three steps leads down from these, and the rest of the area is
perceptibly lower than the ground on the south, west, and north, and
very slightly than that on the east. I remark this to shew, that as the
place is in a hollow, it might have been used for a garden, but not for
public executions. Below the pavement is the rock, which lies at the
same level under the interior of the church, and under the floors of the
buildings on each side, east and west. The cistern at the south-east
corner of the place is a stronger proof that it was not used for
executions. The court is bounded on the west side by the chapels
belonging to the Greek convent of S. Constantine; and at the north-west
corner is the bell-tower, erected between the years A.D. 1160 and A.D.
1180, and mutilated A.D. 1187 by the loss of the lantern which
originally surmounted it. The Greeks have made rooms in it, which are
now occupied by the monks[402]. On the east side is the Greek convent of
S. Abraham; on the ground-floor of which are two chapels, one belonging
to the Armenians and the other to the Abyssinians: through the latter
the roof of the chapel of S. Helena, on the east, can be reached. Inside
the convent of S. Abraham the Greeks point out to the credulous the spot
where Melchizedek planted the first olive; on which one of those trees
is still growing. They also shew the spot where he made the first bread,
and that on which Abraham offered up his son Isaac.
The architecture of the south façade of the church belongs to the
twelfth century, and the work was evidently left unfinished. From what
remains it is difficult to deduce the architect's original plan. The
position of the bell-tower might lead us to suppose that there would be
another corresponding with it on the opposite (eastern) side; but then
the Chapel of the Agony, with its precious contents, would be covered
over, together with the part below the Golgotha, which must of necessity
have been mutilated, if, as would seem probable, other doors had been
made into the church. Let us however examine the building which is still
left to us. On the level of the ground are two doorways, and above them
two windows with arches similarly pointed[403]. The arches of the
doorways are composed of three archivolts finely carved, which spring
from three columns of verd antique, placed in the re-entering angles of
the piers of each door[404]. The capitals of these columns, which are
skilfully executed, are a Byzantine imitation of the Corinthian order.
The design of the cornice running along the top of the whole façade is
also ancient. The bas-reliefs on the lintels of the tympana of the two
doors are too well wrought to be the work of the twelfth century. The
profiles of the figures on that above the western door are admirably
executed, as well as their attitudes; they represent several scenes from
the Gospels, as the entry into Jerusalem, the raising of Lazarus, and
the Last Supper. The outlines of the leaves, flowers, fruit, birds, and
men, on the other, are exquisite. The eastern doorway is built up; the
other is the only entrance into the church, and consequently accidents
frequently happen there during the Easter season[405].
By the side of the closed doorway is a staircase leading into the Chapel
of the Agony, which is a square in plan, and is built against the south
wall of the Calvary, communicating with that sanctuary by means of a
window which has replaced an ancient door. This chapel was formerly a
small ornamental terrace-roof, which served as an antechamber to the
Calvary. Tradition asserts that the Emperor Heraclius brought back the
true Cross into the church through this entrance. The Latins believe
that the Virgin Mary remained upon this spot during the Passion of her
Son whence its name is derived. The Greeks call it the Throne of S.
Helena, but cannot give any reason for doing so. The rock does not lie
immediately underneath this chapel, but there is a small oratory,
dedicated to S. Mary of Egypt, which proves that the rock is not met
with in any place round the present Calvary, but only on its summit. In
the lower cornice of the Chapel of the Agony, towards the entrance to
the oratory, is a carving of two four-footed animals (ideal monsters),
which, in my opinion, is a _chef d'oeuvre_, and, like all the other
ornaments on the outside of this chapel, well worth notice.
Besides the two doors in the above façade, the church had another on the
west opening into Patriarch Street (the Christian bazaar). This, owing
to the difference in level, gave access to the lower gallery of the
great rotunda; it is now closed up. It is first mentioned by Edrisi,
A.D. 1154, that is, some years after the choir had been finished by the
Crusaders[406]. There is no doubt that it was made between the years
A.D. 1140 and A.D. 1150. It is ornamented by two columns with capitals,
from which springs a pointed arch closely resembling those in the south
façade[407]. There appears to have been another entrance from the
terrace of the Abyssinians on the east side, because a doorway can be
seen there, apparently of the time of the Crusades, which is now built
up.
I may also remark that the terrace-roofs over the church are divided (as
is shewn by the Plan) between the Greeks and the Mohammedans, and that
the latter have the right of entering the gallery under the dome in the
great rotunda. The Latins are now anxious to close the door
communicating with the roof, but the Greeks are unwilling to allow it.
Hence have arisen disputes that will greatly retard the repair of the
dome, which at one time seemed likely to be commenced without delay.
Most certainly the terrace-roofs of the church ought not to be private
property, but should wholly belong to the edifice; and when this change
is brought about, which will not be done without much difficulty and
great firmness, there will be fewer dissensions, and the church will not
be allowed to fall to ruin. But it is now time to take my reader within
the building.
On entering the church we see on the left side of the door a chamber
constructed of masonry, which is used as a _divan_ by the Mohammedan
guard, placed there to keep the keys and put down any tumults that may
arise in the building. The presence of these men not unfrequently hurts
the feelings of the Christian pilgrim, who is indignant at finding
Mohammedans in possession of the Holy Sepulchre, and is the more
offended by seeing them sitting there at their ease, gossiping, smoking,
and drinking the coffee supplied to them by the various religious
communities occupying the church. To the stranger, who is unacquainted
with the real state of affairs, it must, I allow, appear most unseemly;
but a longer residence in the country would shew him that it is in
reality wisely ordered, because these men do not enter into the disputes
which so frequently arise between the different sects of Christians, and
thus are able to appease strifes, and act with a moderation and
forbearance, which would be impossible to any member of the contending
parties. Indeed, there is much need of these at the Easter season, when
the pilgrims are thronging to or from the different services. Formerly
these guards demanded a considerable fee for admission into the
Sepulchre; and not only the religious communities resident in the city,
but also strangers who came to visit the Holy Places, were obliged to
pay a certain sum. The whole of the money thus received was applied to
the support of the poor in the Hospital of S. Helena (of which I shall
presently speak). The charge is however no longer made, but they are
glad to receive a small present from any one who enters the church at an
unusual time. This they never refuse, provided they can obtain the
consent of one of the religious communities on the spot.
On the right of the entrance is a staircase leading up to the Calvary,
built against the door which is walled up from the outside: it belongs
to the Latins, but they have no power to prevent any one from using it.
A little further on is the entrance of the so-called Chapel of Adam
(belonging to the Greeks), which, as I have already said, is situated
under the north wing of the Calvary, and shews, at its east end, the
fissure in the rock rent at our Saviour's death. Zuallardus, who visited
Jerusalem A.D. 1586, states that this place was dedicated to S. John,
but no one at the present day knows when the change was made. An altar,
built of masonry, stands in the middle of the chamber at the east end.
On its south side is a small hole, into which the pilgrim inserts his
hand to touch the rock enclosing the skull of Adam, while a Greek monk
relates to him that it was brought there by Noah, before the Flood
began. The whole chamber is worth notice, because before the
conflagration of 1808 it contained the tombs, which covered the dust of
Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin[408]. These monuments were
removed by the Greeks, with the intention of destroying a conspicuous
and obvious proof that the Sepulchre had once belonged to the Latins
alone. The remains of the Latin kings however were not profaned, but
were deposited, (as I was informed,) in a recess in the chamber on the
south of the chapel under the south wing of the Calvary, where now the
Greek guardian of the Sepulchre sits to receive the offerings of the
pilgrims, and present them in return with trifles blessed within the
walls of the Sanctuary. It is to be hoped that when Russia and France
have completed the restoration of the dome, the Greeks will bring them
forth from their hiding-place, and erect over them new monuments bearing
the old inscriptions.
On quitting the Chapel of Adam we find, at a short distance, a slab
rising about six inches above the ground, called the Stone of Unction,
because it is believed that on it the body of our Saviour was wrapt up
with spices for burial. According to the monks, the actual stone cannot
be seen, as it has been covered up to preserve it from the pilgrims, who
would have carried it away piecemeal for relics. The account is
plausible; but it is hard to understand how the spot could have been
identified after the great changes wrought by the savage vandalism of
Hadrian. Sanutus[409], who wrote in the fourteenth century, mentions
this stone, but places it in the middle of the choir belonging to the
Greeks. It is the joint property of the Latins, Greeks, and Armenians,
who keep lamps and tapers constantly burning, that bear the devices of
the community to which they belong.
Passing over some unimportant objects, which are sufficiently described
by their titles on the Plan, we enter the western part of the church, in
which is the rotunda supporting the great dome[410]. This, as I have
already said, is an example of the usual bad taste of the Greeks at
Jerusalem. Its heavy and clumsy architectural features are not worth a
description, and it is to be hoped that at the next restoration of the
church, this structure will be replaced by one more worthy to cover the
Holy Sepulchre. On the ground-floor of the rotunda are some chambers
occupied by the monks of the different communities to which they belong,
together with three passages leading up to the lower gallery, and
another going to the so-called tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus. The two
galleries above are divided among the different religious communities.
The whole of the lower one, except the three central arches on the west,
belongs to the Greeks, and the greater part of the upper to the Latins;
the Armenians possessing the last six arches towards the east on the
south side. The property of each party is marked by pictures attached to
the pillars. Above the upper gallery are windows, some grated, the rest
built up. The former look upon the terrace-roof, which belongs to the
Greeks, and are employed by them; the latter used to communicate with a
chamber in the building called the Hospice of Saladin; these were closed
not many years ago. The dome is surrounded by a gallery belonging, as I
have said, to the Greeks, and at the top, in the middle, is a circular
opening enclosed by an iron grating, to prevent the Mohammedans who
occupy the neighbouring houses from throwing anything into the building.
However, the miracle-mongers relate that Jesus Christ was recalled to
life from this place, and that no human power can ever close it up.
Certain it is, that if the architect at the forthcoming restoration does
not find some other means of admitting air and light into the dome, (no
difficult task,) he will be obliged to leave an opening there, at any
rate not less than the present; and the rain will continue to flood the
pavement below, and injure the health of the Priests and acolytes who
pass their time there. In the middle of the rotunda is the monument of
the Holy Sepulchre[411], also an ugly Greek edifice of the date 1810. It
is cased with Palestine breccia of a yellowish and reddish colour, which
is found abundantly in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem; it takes as good
a polish and produces the same effect as marble. A small rude chapel,
belonging to the Abyssinians, rests against the west end of the
building; it was erected between the years 1537 and 1540, when the
Franciscan fathers, then the sole guardians of the Sanctuary, were
prisoners at Damascus. At the east ends of the north and south walls of
the monument are two oval openings; these are chiefly used in
distributing the Holy Fire on Easter Eve; that famous and scandalous
ceremony by which the Greeks and Armenians profane the Redeemer's Tomb.
The upper part of the monument is a flat terrace-roof, and at the west
end of it is a small tasteless dome, covering an opening that
communicates with the lower chamber of the Sepulchre; this, as well as
the other at the east end, has doubtless been made for ventilation and
for the escape of the smoke from the lamps and tapers, which are kept
constantly burning within: but, as every object in the church must have
its legend, the monks relate that from the first Christ was raised, and
by the second the angel departed, who had rolled away the stone from the
Sepulchre. Round the terrace-roof are holes, by which the rain, falling
from the opening above, runs off by drains into a cistern inside the
Latin convent, to the north of the rotunda. Before the door are a number
of standards for candles, belonging to the Latins, Greeks, and
Armenians. In the upper part of the front at the centre, is a picture
belonging to the Latins, who, as first, have the right of performing
service inside the Tomb. The Greeks, as second, are on the right, and
the Armenians on the left. On great solemnities the different
communities adorn the space allotted to them with gold and silver lamps
and flowers, so as nearly to cover the whole façade. A large awning is
extended over the building, and whenever a new one is necessary, as was
the case in 1859, these three communities share the cost and divide the
old one. With their portions the Greeks and Armenians recover the
greater part of their contributions from the Oriental pilgrims, who are
most anxious to possess a scrap.
We will now proceed to examine the interior of the Sepulchre. Directly
on entering the door we see on either hand two staircases, constructed
in the thickness of the east and side walls, and leading to the
terrace-roof. That on the north belongs solely to the Latins; the other
to the Greeks, who however are bound to allow the Armenians to use it on
certain occasions. Within are two chambers; the eastern is called the
Chapel of the Angel, the western is the actual Tomb in which our Lord's
body was laid. The former of these two is undoubtedly built upon the
rock, which I saw and touched immediately under the marble pavement,
when some slight repairs were being made. Its walls, where they can be
seen in the side staircases and the two apertures mentioned above, are
of masonry, but the other parts are concealed by a casing of slabs of
Palestine breccia. In the middle of this outer chamber is a small
pedestal, which (according to tradition) marks the spot where the angel
sat after rolling away the stone from the Sepulchre[412]. In the
building are a great number of lamps, supplied by the Latins, the
Greeks, and the Armenians; two only belong to the Copts. The upper part
of the walls of the Tomb itself is also masonry, but the lower is formed
by the native rock. I have been able to ascertain this for myself at two
points; one at the small entrance-door, which is entirely hewn in the
rock, and the other in the interior of the Chapel of the Abyssinians, in
which, after purchasing the privilege, I was on several occasions shut
up, so that I worked undisturbed, and was able to see the rock at a
height of about four feet above the ground. As the interior of the
building is covered with slabs of marble, it is at the present time
quite impossible to succeed in discovering the rock from within; and I
did not attempt it, being satisfied of its existence by the testimony of
most trustworthy witnesses who had seen it during the repairs in 1808
and 1810. One of these was the Franciscan father Tryphon, who died at
Jerusalem in 1857, at the age of 86; another was an aged Greek monk, an
Archimandrite, of the great convent of S. Constantine. From the
information supplied by them, and from my own observations, I have drawn
the line of the rock in the section-plan of the present tomb. In
confirmation of the accuracy of my informants, themselves men of
education, I can bring forward the following extracts from the accounts
of various authors and pilgrims in former times. Arculf[413], who saw it
in the seventh century, thus describes it: "It was a small round room,
hewn out of the solid rock, which could contain nine men standing in
prayer side by side. The roof was about a foot and a half above the
head of a tall man; on the east side was a small door. The tomb,
properly speaking, was hewn in the north wall of the room. It was formed
by a bed seven feet long, large enough to hold a man stretched upon his
back, placed under a low recess hewn in the rock. It might be termed a
sarcophagus open on one side, or a small grotto with the opening to the
south; the lower edge of the bed was three palms above the ground. The
rock was red veined with white, and still bore the marks of the tools by
which it had been hewn out." From the numerous notices of it during the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, I select that of Willibrand of
Oldenburg[414]. "The rock ... which, still uninjured, and cased with
marble, is exposed in three places to the touch and kisses of pilgrims."
It was visited during the fifteenth century by Breydenbach, who writes
as follows[415]: "The cave, in which is the Lord's Sepulchre, is wholly
cased with marble on the outside, but inside is the native rock, just as
it was at the time of the burial." In the beginning of the present
century it was seen by Abbé Mariti, before the fire of 1808; his
account[416] agrees with those just quoted, and confirms the testimony
given me by eye-witnesses.
It seems then impossible to deny that the Tomb of Christ still exists
upon the traditionary site, and that it in all respects resembles one of
those sepulchral chambers, hewn in the rock, which can be seen at the
present day in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem[417]; in which the corpse
is extended upon a shelf, under an arched niche, excavated in one of the
side walls of the tomb, some little distance above the ground. The arch
above the shelf is indeed no longer to be seen, because it has been
destroyed, perhaps during Hakem's reign: but the two side walls, which
supported it at the head and foot of the shelf, still remain, and,
encased with white marble, form the altar at which the Priests celebrate
mass. It would be more satisfactory to the incredulous if this covering
were removed, but if this were done the rock itself would not long
remain. Each traveller and pilgrim would practise every possible device
in order to obtain a fragment as a relic; and it would be a hard matter
to persuade the Eastern pilgrims, and above all others, the Americans,
to keep their hands off it.
But still, although the rock is concealed, a strong proof of the
existence of a tomb is afforded by the shape of the entrance, which has
every appearance of the doorway of a sepulchral chamber, and closely
corresponds with that leading to the Tombs of the Kings, which was
closed with a large elliptical stone, still to be seen on the spot[418].
I consider however that its height has been since increased, in order to
make a more convenient entrance; because it is now higher on the east
than on the west, while in all the ancient sepulchres still existing the
interior is higher than the exterior. We may then observe with what
rigorous exactness the words of the Evangelists are verified by the
appearance of the Tomb. S. Matthew[419] relates that an angel "_rolled_
back the stone from the door," using the precise word which would
express the way in which the stone now at the Tombs of the Kings would
have to be handled. S. Mark[420] relates that when Mary Magdalene and
Mary the mother of James were on their way to the Sepulchre to embalm
the Lord's body, they asked among themselves, "Who shall _roll us away_
the stone from the door of the Sepulchre?" and that, "when they looked,
they saw that the stone was rolled away, _for it was very great_; and
entering into the Sepulchre they saw a young man _sitting on the right
side_," who shewed them the place where Jesus of Nazareth had been laid.
The stone certainly would be _very great_, if it resembled that at the
Tombs of the Kings; and without entering the sepulchral chamber they
would be unable to see the angel and the place where the Lord had been
laid, (on the _right_ side of the Sepulchre where it is now shewn,) both
by reason of the thickness of the wall, in which the doorway was made,
and because the niche was rather on one side of it. S. Luke[421] also
speaks of the rolling away of the stone, and the necessity of entering
the chamber before they could see that the Lord's body was not there. S.
John[422] also mentions that the stone was removed, and describes the
manner in which S. Peter and the other disciple looked into and entered
the Sepulchre; just as would still have to be done, if the door had not
been enlarged. Had not a pious vandalism been allowed to work its will
from the age of Constantine to the present day, no one would be able to
deny the existence of the Sepulchre; for all objections would be met by
the presence of the outer chamber, which was also excavated in the rock,
as in many examples still remaining in the neighbourhood of the city:
but unhappily those parts of it which had escaped the injuries done by
Hadrian, were completely swept away at the time when the first basilica
was built, in order to isolate the Tomb itself, and exhibit it as an
object of veneration in the centre of the rotunda. This can be inferred
from the words of Eusebius[423]: "Is it not surprising to see this rock
standing alone in the centre of a level space, with a cavern inside it?"
S. Cyril, in the fourth century, writes more expressly; "For 'the cleft
of the rock' he calls the cleft which was then at the door of the
Salutary Sepulchre, and was hewn out of the rock itself, as it is
customary here in the front of sepulchres. For now it appears not, the
outer case having been hewn away for the sake of the present adornment;
for before the Sepulchre was decorated by royal zeal there was a cave in
the face of the rock[424]." Therefore, from the above evidence, we may
draw the following conclusions: that an ancient Jewish sepulchre exists
at this place, that over it Hadrian erected a temple to Venus, and that
consequently this is the identical tomb in which the body of our
Redeemer was laid.
Within the Sepulchre itself, above the shelf, are three paintings; that
in the centre belongs to the Latins, that on the right to the Greeks,
and that on the left to the Armenians. In front of these the three
communities place a certain number of tapers, vases of flowers, crosses,
and other objects; and when they differ about the arrangement of these
things, or of the numerous lamps which hang in the middle of the vault,
that is to say, whenever one of the parties transgresses in the
slightest degree the limit assigned to it by the Sultan's firman, or the
agreements between the Convents, a quarrel soon breaks out; clamour,
yells, and threats, are heard in the Sanctuary itself; and the
combatants sometimes do not separate without broken bones. These scenes,
however, are now becoming more unfrequent.
In the middle of the west side of the rotunda is the entrance of a
chapel belonging to the Syrians, and through the south wall of this we
pass into a small grotto, hewn in the rock, in which are some tombs said
to have been made by Joseph of Arimathea, after he had given up his own;
in these he and Nicodemus are said to have been buried. On the truth of
the tradition I express no opinion; but certainly the existence of the
rock above the level of the ground, and still more the presence of the
tombs, is a strong proof of the genuineness of the Holy Sepulchre. Both
here[425], and in the neighbouring chapel, the rock on rising from the
floor mounts towards the west; thus indicating the lower level of the
excavations round the Sepulchre. The tombs shew that the place must have
been outside the walls before Agrippa traced out his new line on the
north, because, as I have already observed, the Jewish law did not allow
them to be among dwelling-houses. The antiquity of these tombs is placed
beyond question by their shape, and by the marks left by the tools of
the workmen who excavated them, which perfectly correspond with those
that may still be examined in the numerous burying-places in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem. I must not omit to mention that two of the
above-named tombs are very small; these have been begun, and left
unfinished before reaching their full size; and any one who will take
the trouble to visit the Tombs of the Judges[426] will see that they
were excavated and completed in the same manner as these so-called
Sepulchres of Joseph and Nicodemus, and that the same kind of
instruments were used, of which I shall presently speak more
particularly. I mention the Tombs of the Judges, because sepulchres may
there be seen in different stages, finished and unfinished, of which
there is no other example near Jerusalem.
To the east of the rotunda is the Chapel of the Greeks[427], forming the
great nave of the church, in which the rock is found immediately below
the marble pavement. Its most remarkable feature is its regularity and
uniformity. On the east is the Iconostasis, dividing the 'Holy of
Holies' from the rest of the church. This, together with the side walls,
is profusely gilded and covered with pictures and other ornaments,
producing at first a striking effect, which however is soon effaced by
the bad taste, evident not only in them, but also in the two Patriarchal
thrones made of Palestine breccia. Above the choir rises a dome
supported by four massive piers; a rude iron gallery runs round the
drum, and it is lighted by four windows on the level of the Greeks'
terrace-roof. The exterior of the drum is crowned by a cornice,
apparently supported by little corbels ornamented with various incised
carvings, for which many have sought symbolical interpretations; but, in
reality, they are only fanciful Græco-Saracenic decorations. All the
outer surface of the dome is covered with strong plaster to render it
weather-proof; and a small spiral staircase winds outside to the summit,
whence a fine panoramic view may be obtained, which gives the visitor a
good idea of the topography of the ancient city. Inside the church a
small pedestal rises from the middle of the pavement containing a stone
ball encircled by crossing hoops, which is believed by the Eastern
Christians to be the centre of the world. The idea that Jerusalem was at
the centre of the universe has long prevailed among both Jews and
Christians, founded, perhaps, on the words of Ezekiel[428], "Thus saith
the Lord God, This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the
nations and countries that are round about her." It is alluded to by
Dante[429]:
Now that horizon had the sun attained,
By the high point of whose meridian clear
Jerusalem with golden light is stained.
The Greeks, undoubtedly, placed the pedestal to mark the centre of the
Church of the Resurrection.
Returning into the rotunda, and going out of it towards the north, we
find the Latin Chapel, at the place where our Lord is said to have
appeared to Mary after his Resurrection. It stands above the general
level of the church; and the rock is found below its pavement, extending
northward under the Latin Convent, where it rises toward the west; so
that if the buildings were removed, it would be seen united to that at
the tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus; thus affording another proof of the
levelling made around the Sepulchre by Constantine. Inside the chapel an
altar is pointed out, containing a fragment of the column, to which,
according to tradition, our Lord was bound when He was scourged. By a
door on the north we enter the Convent of the Franciscans, the guardians
of the Holy Places. It can accommodate twelve monks and some pilgrims;
but is unhealthy, being damp and ill ventilated.
Leaving this chapel, and passing along the north aisle of the church, we
find on the east, behind the Greek Church, a staircase leading down into
the Chapel of S. Helena[430], belonging to the Armenians, the south side
of which is partly formed by the rock. From the middle of it rises a
dome, supported by four columns (of Egyptian granite) with Byzantine
capitals[431], and surrounded by a terrace-roof occupied by the huts of
the Abyssinians. Near the north-east corner of the chapel is a wooden
altar, concealing a doorway, now built up; it communicated with a
building called the Prince's House, which I shall presently notice. In
the south-east corner is a kind of little balcony (erected by the
Armenians in the 17th century), where, according to a false tradition,
S. Helena stood while the workmen were seeking for the cross in the
neighbouring cistern. This chapel was united to the main building by the
Crusaders. In the south wall is a staircase, the steps of which are hewn
out of the rock, though they are now covered up with stone slabs; it
leads into a vault in which the Saviour's cross is believed to have been
found, together with those of the two thieves, after lying hid there for
293 years. The legend is strongly supported by very ancient Eastern
traditions. The interior, entirely excavated in the solid rock,
corresponds in form with the cisterns so abundant in Jerusalem, and the
holes still remain by which the water entered or was drawn out. The rock
is a soft limestone, and differs from the fragment on the top of
Golgotha; therefore I am inclined to believe that there is no connexion
between the latter and this in the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross.
The rough rock in this chamber, untouched and unaltered, appeals to my
heart at least, far more than all the other places, buried as they are
beneath marble and decorations; and I cannot but think that it would be
a noble work to sweep away all obstructions in the present Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, to clear the ground, and again expose the bare rock over
the whole area; and, defending the Sepulchre itself against the elements
with a dome, to enclose the whole with a cloister in a solemn and
appropriate style of architecture. If this were done, the original
appearance of the ground would be in some measure restored, and the
Golgotha and the Sepulchre, the true trophies of Christianity, would be
visible to all; unbelievers would be convinced by the evidence of their
senses; and while all would be obliged to admit the genuineness of the
sites, each one would be free to meditate in his own way upon the
teachings of the very place consecrated by the Passion, Death, and
Resurrection of his Redeemer. Will this hope ever be realized? Never, I
fear; for then the present Church would cease to be the source of a
large revenue, derived from the purses of ignorant and credulous
pilgrims, who pay to obtain a blessing, or to secure a place at the
distribution of the Holy Fire, or at some other ceremony, or to pass a
night in the Sanctuary[432].
I now pause to consider and describe, more fully than I have hitherto
done, the present appearance of the Calvary. The Golgotha is a platform
supported by vaulted arches of masonry, reached by two flights of steps,
one close to the entrance of the church, the other near the Stone of
Unction. The latter belongs to the Greeks, but they allow it to be open
to all. The whole area is divided into two chapels, north and south: in
the former, called 'The Adoration of the Cross,' is the place where the
cross was erected (as I have already said); it belongs to the Greeks;
the latter, belonging to the Latins, is called the Chapel of the
Crucifixion, because it is generally believed that on that spot the
Saviour was nailed to the cross. In this the altar is well worth notice,
as it is ornamented with a casing of bronze, on which are sculptured in
bas-relief eight different scenes from the Passion of our Saviour. Its
original shape has been altered, though without injury to the general
effect, for it was made four-sided, as it was intended to be placed as a
kind of fence round the Stone of Unction; but the Greeks would not allow
anything belonging to the Latins to be used in their possessions, lest
it should give their rivals a footing there. It is therefore now
arranged as three sides of an oblong. It was given by Ferdinand de
Medici, as is shewn by the following inscription on a plate at the foot
of the altar: "The gift of the piety of Ferdinand de Medici, Grand-duke
of Tuscany, 1588." The same inscription also occurs on the cornice
surmounting the upper part of the altar. The carving is admirably
executed; it is the work of Domenico Portigiani, a Florentine friar of
the convent of S. Mark, and a pupil of the famous sculptor John of
Bologna; as is recorded by the following inscription, placed beneath the
name of the donor: "Made by Fra Domenico Portigiani, a friar of the
convent of S. Mark at Florence in the province of Rome, in the year
1588." The arms of the Medici are sculptured at the four corners, and on
the shield is a Cardinal's hat, because Ferdinand was already invested
with this dignity in the year 1588.
Having now finished the description of the interior of the church, I
proceed to make some remarks upon the monks of the different communities
who dwell there, and upon the pilgrims (especially the Orientals) who
visit it. The monks of the Greek, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, Abyssinian,
and Syrian communities have different chambers in the church, in which
they live in order that they may keep constant watch over the Holy
Places, and offer up continual prayer and praise to God. Though the
space belonging to the Latins is roomy, it is nevertheless unhealthy
from the constant damp, caused by the rain-water falling through the
ruinous terrace-roofs above, which they cannot repair, as these do not
belong to them, but to some Mohammedans. The owners are very jealous of
their property, which brings them in an easy and ample revenue from the
sums paid by the Latin and Greek convents, in the hope of abating the
nuisance of the water. The Greeks and Armenians are better housed in
their upper chambers, as the terrace-roofs above them do not belong to
Mohammedans, and can therefore be easily repaired; but in their lower
rooms they suffer with the Latins. The three poorer communities are
exposed to constant damp, both from the bad repair of the dome, and from
the situation of the church itself, which stands on low ground,
commanded on all sides by higher buildings. All this, however, does not
hinder the monks from being very eager to enter the place, and from
leaving it with great reluctance when they are succeeded by others; and
the pilgrims eagerly seek permission to remain, if only for one or two
nights. The Latins give a chamber and bed to each visitor inside their
convent, but the same comforts cannot be obtained among the other
communities, both from the numbers that throng together, their station
in life, and also the Eastern custom, which allows men and women to be
crowded together in the same place without distinction of sex. Hence it
comes to pass that from the end of October to Easter the galleries round
the great dome belonging to the different sects (with the exception of
the Latins), though close to the Holy Sepulchre, are crowded, almost
every night, with pilgrims, who, after fervent prayer, eat, drink,
sleep, smoke, and make coffee there, as they would do in an inn; nay,
impelled by deep ignorance and blind fanaticism, carry into effect
certain vows, which I cannot more particularly describe without
offending my readers' modesty. In this way the Eastern pilgrims behave,
and would do still worse, did not their father confessors and the monks
in charge of the place, who are furnished with sticks and whips, make
frequent use of them to maintain order. It is a well-established fact,
and one of daily recurrence, that the rude Eastern pilgrim prays in the
interior of each Holy Place, and then when he has gone away a few yards,
forgets the sanctity of the building, and acts as he pleases. He may
therefore often be seen in any part of the church, talking and
discussing his private affairs with his friends; especially if it be a
rainy day, and he can enter without payment. But this is nothing,
absolutely nothing, in comparison with the scenes at the services before
and during the Easter festival; especially when all the religious
communities coincide in keeping it on the same day. The noise, the
clamour, and the confusion are inconceivable; in one corner they are
praying, in another walking about, laughing, and jesting. Sometimes it
happens that the Latins are performing a noiseless service around the
Sepulchre, and the Armenians are yelling like madmen, as they sing in
their chapels; while the nasal tones of the Greeks ring through the
building, and the frantic howls of the Copts and Abyssinians split the
ears. If a procession takes place, it rather resembles a riot; the
banners rise and fall, the tapers bespatter the spectators, the Turkish
soldiers with fixed bayonets clear a way for the officiating Priests,
the attendants belabour the noisier bystanders with sticks; some
struggle for places and tumble over upon those below them; and all is a
scene of pushing, struggling, and tumult, so that it is a lucky thing
when quarrels do not ensue. Sometimes the jealousy of the rival sects
breaks out around the very Sepulchre of Christ, and then occurs every
frantic act that a senseless and barbarous people can commit. In times
past it was not uncommon that lives were lost; either by suffocation in
the dense crowd as it pressed to go out by the only door, at the
conclusion of the services, or even by blows received in the fights. The
clergy of Jerusalem know this by sad experience, and yet take no steps
to put a stop to it, though it would not be difficult. The Greeks and
Armenians will not abandon the ceremony of the Holy Fire[433] on Easter
Eve, through fear that the number of pilgrims would decrease; since the
greater part of them come to the city simply and solely to witness this
so-called annual miracle. The Latins still continue to represent on the
evening of every Good-Friday the descent from the Cross, and the
interment of the Saviour's body; though, in Jerusalem, from the number
and nature of the spectators of different religious sects, the scene is
almost comic; when it is not rendered tragic by furious and sometimes
fatal quarrels[434]. Whoever has visited the place at the Easter season
will I am sure forgive me this description; and I venture to give the
following advice to any one who has not, that if he is going there from
a religious motive, he had better keep away at that time; but that if he
is actuated simply by curiosity, he should not omit to go there; in
which case he will admit the truth of my information. If during the last
few years the services have gone off more quietly, and the quarrels been
less violent, it is due to the careful oversight of Surraya Pasha, and
the energy he has displayed in quelling the rising tumults. It is a
thing much to be desired, that in this nineteenth century, the causes
which excite the scandals and strifes around the sublimest of monuments,
the Tomb of Christ, should be at last abolished.
I conclude this subject by pointing out what are the most frequent
causes of these furious disputes between the monks who occupy the
Sepulchre. Since the church is divided among the different communities,
each guards his rights with the utmost jealousy, and quarrels about the
smallest trifle. A nail driven a little too much on the one side or the
other of the boundary line, a slight repair of a wall or pavement
without the consent of all the parties interested, a candlestick knocked
down or taken away from a Sanctuary, a sweeper trespassing with his
broom on the property of another sect, and dusting where he has no
business, excites long and bitter recriminations, which are only put a
stop to by the interference of the local authorities, and sometimes of
the governments that protect the different religious bodies.
After this somewhat long digression we will go on to consider the
neighbourhood of the Church of the Resurrection. On the east is the
terrace-roof above the Church of S. Helena, the exclusive property of
the Abyssinians; to the west of this are some houses belonging to the
monks, who also possess some wretched dens on the south, abutting on an
old wall, in which is an arcade of five arches, supported by four
pillars with plain capitals; over this runs a cornice, above which are
five pointed windows of the time of the Crusades. From some notices in
Greek manuscripts preserved in the convent of S. Saba, it appears that a
church was erected on this spot by S. Helena, in honour of the Holy
Cross; but this present building, if standing at that time, could not
have escaped the ravages of Chosroes II. of Persia and of Hakem; and we
must therefore refer it to a later date. Accordingly I perfectly agree
with the opinion expressed by M. de Vogüé in his chapter on the
Hospital. This author thinks that the Church of S. Mary Latin occupied
this position, a building with a single nave; and this is strongly
corroborated by a passage in the Gesta Francorum[435], which asserts
distinctly that the first Crusaders found it at the south of the Church
of the Invention of the Cross, and a stone's throw from the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre. He therefore considers these ruins to belong to a
building erected in the middle of the twelfth century, on the site of a
church built by the merchants of Amalfi in the eleventh century; when it
was found necessary to establish a church, with a convent and hospice to
receive all the women who came as pilgrims, in order to keep them
separate from the Hospice of S. Mary the Great, presided over by monks,
at the south of this, which I shall presently notice[436].
The plot of land on which are the ruins of S. Mary Latin was acquired by
the Russians in 1858. In 1860 they began to clear away a quantity of
rubbish and earth, the accumulation of centuries, in order to lay the
foundations of a house for the Consulate; and, in the course of the
removal, fragments of walls and buildings were found of an earlier date
than the Crusades. History informs us that some houses were erected on
this spot by native labourers for the Amalfi merchants; and in
accordance with this we do not find in these remains that precision and
perfectness of execution which characterizes work executed with European
aid. I endeavoured to connect the walls with the mutilated building; but
I found it impossible to restore them sufficiently to draw out a plan of
any sort; the ruin wrought by time and man is too complete. I have
already mentioned that some remains of an ancient Jewish wall were found
during the excavations in this same plot of land, and now add that,
below it, near to the street on the east, there seems to have been a
portico, some fragments of columns of black granite having been found
there. M. de Vogüé, who arrived at Jerusalem after my departure, and
during the progress of the excavations, will no doubt have made further
discoveries; and it is to be hoped that before long we shall have them
described by so able and learned an explorer.
The 'House of the Prince' is a house to the north of S. Mary Latin,
shewing on the exterior architectural features of a period before the
Crusades; these, however, have all disappeared from the interior, where
now nothing is to be seen but some party-walls of Arab workmanship,
built at different periods, most of them not long ago, in order to
divide it into small separate tenements. It belongs to the Franciscan
convent, which gives free lodging there to the poorest of their nation.
How and when it obtained its name I have not been able to ascertain:
there is, however, a tradition that Godfrey of Bouillon occupied it
during his short reign; this is not improbable in itself, but is
unconfirmed by history; and William of Tyre[437] states that the palace
of the Latin king was near the Temple on the south side; meaning by the
Temple the present area of the _Haram es-Sherîf_. In a manuscript
belonging to the Franciscans (preserved in the Convent of S. Saviour) we
find that "from the House of the Prince to the Sepulchre was a
subterranean passage, through which they went to the Church of the
Sepulchre." From this I was led to examine the spot, and found, on the
west side of the house, an aperture level with the ground leading into a
subterranean passage, bearing the appearance of antiquity; but it was so
filled up with rubbish that I was unable to examine it thoroughly;
nevertheless I believe that it communicated with the Chapel of S.
Helena, just at the doorway now walled up, and that its entrance is
covered by the altar nearest to the north-east corner. On the west of
the House of the Prince is a Coptic convent, built upon a part of the
land formerly occupied by the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre; its chapel
is worth a visit; it is of the twelfth century, and no doubt was
originally either the refectory or the dormitory of the ecclesiastics.
From the interior of this convent the open court in front of the Church
of the Resurrection can be reached, by passing through a chapel at its
north-west corner.
Returning through the entrance gate into the street (which I call
Prince's Street) we come to the so-called cistern of S. Helena, on the
left hand. We enter a chamber serving as a refuge to some poor
Abyssinian families; the inner walls are ancient, together with the
small doorway on the north, by which we begin to descend a dark and most
ruinous staircase, that 'craves wary walking;' however, after going down
thirty very awkward steps, we enter the vault, and the staircase at once
becomes perfectly regular, so much so as to appear more like the way
into a comfortable house than into a cistern; for each step is 5 feet
long, 1-1/2 wide, and about 8 inches deep. The staircase (including its
vaulted roof) and the whole reservoir are excavated in the rock. The
latter is about 86 feet long, 72 wide, and 52 high. I was able to
examine it thoroughly in September, 1858, when it was dry. Holes are
made in the vaulted roof and walls, through which it is supplied by
rain-water from the terrace-roofs of the neighbouring houses and from
the street to the north. This I ascertained by descending into it during
a time of heavy rain. There are some small openings on the south-east to
carry off superfluous water. The construction of this is attributed to
S. Helena (like everything else in Palestine); but its magnitude induces
me to consider it Jewish work of an earlier period. Besides, what motive
could she have had for making it? It could not be for want of a
reservoir; there were plenty of them at Jerusalem then as now; and it is
not likely that she would have wasted money to no purpose, when there
were so many works of benevolence and greater utility, on which she knew
well how to spend it.
In the north-west corner of the Plan[438] is the mosque of Ibrahim,
situated in the interior of the _Kanki_, called the Hospice of Saladin;
because he richly endowed it to enable it to entertain the Mohammedan
pilgrims to the Holy City; and at the same time erected the minaret,
which is still standing, and restored the entrance-gate. During the time
of the Crusaders it was the palace of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, whence
the adjoining street is called Patriarch's Street. The lower parts of
its walls on the north and west are ancient and strongly built; but the
upper as well as the interior of the building, have greatly suffered
from wretched Arab alterations, so that it is difficult to form any idea
of its former internal plan. In the Christian bazaar on the west the
wall throughout its whole height and the pilasters are unquestionably of
the date of the Crusades, together with the chambers within on the
ground-floor and story above; as is proved by their pointed arches, with
the columns and capitals supporting them. They are now used as
storehouses for the grain received by the governor: and as the Hospice
has no longer any revenues, it will before long become the property of
one of the Christian communities. The staircase inside at the north
entrance is the only part of the building that retains its former
grandeur uninjured.
Let us now turn our attention to the Hospital. The visitor, on quitting
the court in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the door at
the south-east corner, enters a small street[439], and passing along
this to the east, comes, after a few yards, to a great doorway with a
semicircular arch, standing on the south side of the way, and adorned
with figures representing the twelve months of the year; above the arch
some traces of a lamb, the emblem of the Hospitalers of Jerusalem, can
still be distinguished[440]. This gateway is now walled up, and very
much hidden by the accumulated earth; and before the year 1858 it was
impossible for any one to go along that way without suffering from
nausea, besides wetting his feet with the foul mire, and encountering a
pack of savage hungry dogs that haunted the place--nuisances caused by a
tannery. The court within and the buildings round it were as bad as the
street; so that the place was hardly fit to be visited, being covered
with carcases of animals and the most abominable filth. The inhabitants
of Jerusalem are indebted to Surraya Pasha for the removal of this
pestiferous evil; and the Christians above all, who have thus obtained a
decent approach to their principal Sanctuary; and can visit, not the
prison of S. Peter, as the ignorant guides call it, but the remains of
the time of the Amalfi merchants and the Knights Hospitaler of S. John;
of which I will now give a brief account.
The amicable relations between Harûn er-Rashîd, Khalif of Bagdad, and
Charlemagne, were of the utmost advantage to the Christians at
Jerusalem, and induced the French Monarch to send large gifts thither,
A.D. 810, in order to restore the churches, to build hospices, and
purchase lands for their endowment. The monk Bernard, who visited
Jerusalem in the year 870 A.D., writes as follows[441]: "On our arrival
at Jerusalem we were entertained at the hospice of the glorious Emperor
Charles, where all are welcomed who visit the place from a devout motive
and speak the Latin language. To it is attached a church in honour of S.
Mary, with a noble library, due to the care of the same Emperor, with
twelve houses, fields, vineyards, and a garden in the valley of
Jehoshaphat. In front of the hospice is the market, &c." This
establishment was inhabited by Benedictine monks. In the year 1010 A.D.,
Hakem, Khalif of Egypt, destroyed this building, as it was near the
Church of the Resurrection; but when it was rebuilt, another hospice,
together with the Church of S. Mary, was also founded. William of Tyre
states[442] that "certain merchants of Amalfi, who had obtained the
favour of the Governors of the cities of Syria by importing useful and
needful goods and by their quiet and peaceable conduct, obtained
permission from Belfagar (Abu-'l-Giafar?), Sultan of Egypt, to rebuild a
monastery in the Christian quarter to receive pilgrims, minister to the
sick, and practise every kind of charity." To this building and the
church, which they dedicated to the Virgin Mary, they attached offices
for the inmates, together with a public market, in which any one could
establish a shop on paying a rent of two pieces of gold to the Patriarch
and his clergy. This was opposite to the Church of the Resurrection, and
a stone's throw to the south of the Church of the Invention of the
Cross, as I have already said[443]. When the buildings were finished
these merchants placed in them an Abbot with his attendant monks, and as
these performed the service in Latin, while the rest of the clergy in
the place followed the rites of the Greek Church, their church obtained
the name of S. Mary Latin[444]. Afterwards the monks assigned to an
order of nuns a convent which they had founded outside their property to
the north, and dedicated to S. Mary Magdalene; giving it the name of S.
Mary Latin the Less; but these institutions always bore the name of
'Latin[445].' In course of time the number of pilgrims became larger, so
that the monks were obliged to increase their accommodation, and built a
hospital and another church to the west, which they dedicated to S.
John, Patriarch of Alexandria, called 'the Almsgiver,' from the noble
liberality with which he had succoured the Christians who had taken
refuge in Egypt, when Palestine was invaded by Chosroes II. This new
foundation was supported by abundant alms, collected in Italy by the
help of the Amalfi merchants. When the Crusaders made their triumphant
and bloody entry into Jerusalem, they found the convents of S. Mary
Latin in the above situation, and quite uninjured[446]. The hospital at
that time was presided over by a monk named Gerald, and the nunnery by a
noble Roman lady named Agnes[447]. When the Latin kingdom was
established, Gerald found fellow-labourers in his works of benevolence;
who, together with him, were distinguished by a black dress, relieved by
a white cross on the breast, and devoted themselves to the relief of the
sick, the poor, and the pilgrims. Such was the origin of the Fraternity
of S. John. Agnes adopted the same rules, so far as concerned the
ministrations among the poor, and the two communities chose S. John the
Baptist as their joint protector[448]. So long as the brothers were poor
and few in number, they remained under the rule of the Abbot; but when
they found means, and had obtained powerful protectors on account of the
eminent services they had rendered, they spurned his jurisdiction (about
A.D. 1113), and between the years 1118 and 1159 formed themselves into
an organized body, respected for their prowess in arms as champions of
the Faith; and their white and black flag, an emblem of the faith they
professed and the death they menaced to its enemies, waved over many a
glorious field in Syria. The knights, being compelled to quit Jerusalem
after its capture by Saladin, removed to Margat, then to S. Jean d'Acre,
between the years 1187 and 1192; afterwards they remained about twenty
years in the city of Limasol in Cyprus; thence they went to Rhodes (A.D.
1309-1522); and being driven from that island by the conquests of the
Turks, they established themselves at Malta, and took the name of the
country they had adopted.
During the earlier part of my stay in Jerusalem (1855-6), a certain
member of the order, a man of a chivalrous and philanthropic spirit, was
desirous of re-establishing it upon its primitive footing; but the
obstacles in the way of his project appeared so great, that the attempt
was soon abandoned. His intention was to obtain possession of the
property that had formerly belonged to the knights; a matter itself of
the greatest difficulty, as the land was divided among several owners
(the Greek convent having the largest part), who would not give up a
foot without the fullest compensation.
It now remains for me to say a few words about the present condition of
these buildings. The Plan[449] shews the positions of the Hospital of S.
John, of S. Mary the Great, and S. Mary the Less, with reference to the
Church of the Resurrection. All three in the present day are but heaps
of ruins; only a few walls remain standing, the greater number being so
completely buried under a mass of earth and rubbish, that little or
nothing can be ascertained about their ancient arrangement. We will
however examine their exterior and interior. On the north side, towards
the north-west corner, are some regular Arab cottages; and going
eastward from them, we come to a minaret, built in the fifteenth
century, in memory of the spot whereon Omar offered up prayer, instead
of entering the Church of the Resurrection. Before the erection of the
minaret, Khahab-ed-Din, nephew of Saladin, built a mosque called
_Derkah_[450] on an adjoining plot of land; this had so completely
fallen to decay, that but a few fragments of its foundations were
remaining in 1855; over which the Mohammedans, actuated rather by
fanaticism than religious feeling, built the slight octagonal monument
called the Mosque of Omar. Opposite to the Church of the Resurrection is
the Greek convent of Gethsemane; in the lower part of its walls are some
fragments of ancient work. After this all along the little street
(except at the decorated entrance) are small ill-built shops, covered
with a great heap of earth, which often slips down during the rainy
season. Inside these shops a careful search will discover some poor
fragments of antiquity; such as mutilated capitals, broken bases, and
carefully worked stones, built into rough Arab masonry. The east side
exhibits similar cottages from the north-east corner as far as the door
leading into the bazaar, which, together with the others near it on the
east (though all are in the most neglected and ruinous condition), shews
signs of antiquity in the walls and vaulting. I consider them to be the
work of the Amalfi merchants, restored at a later period by the
Crusaders. In the shops occupied by the braziers, on the west side of
the bazaar bounding this plot of land, are some old passages which
communicated with the interior of the hospital; but now many of them are
walled up or obstructed with ruins. I managed however to get through
certain of them, after some trouble, in order to reach the building near
them on the west. At the eastern end of the south side are small houses
and Arab shops; which however soon give place to the building now called
from its use the Corn Bazaar; which in its well-laid walls, pointed
arches, and solid vaults, shews plainly the work of the Hospitalers. I
endeavoured to enter by the north side, where at the present time the
stalls are placed, but was prevented by the accumulated earth; however I
was able to ascertain that piers and vaulted roofs still remain in the
northern part of the bazaar. The sentence of death is executed on
criminals in this place. Going thence up the street westward, we see on
the north side a row of fine columns, supporting grand pointed arches,
now closed with Arab masonry. In the wall are doors opening into vaulted
chambers like those in the bazaar. These were formerly the storehouses
of the hospital; they now belong to different owners, the Greek convent
possessing the largest share. The arcade towards the west is broken by a
very high common Arab wall, enclosing the south side of the Greek
convent of S. John Baptist; the entrance to which is in the Christian
bazaar, which bounds the Hospital on the east. All the interior of the
convent is modern Arab masonry, but some debased Corinthian capitals are
built irregularly into the façade of the church; some more are to be
seen in other parts, placed upon ancient bases of columns. These were
discovered when the convent was enlarged towards the east. The crypt of
the church, reached by an external staircase on the south side, is an
uninjured building of the Hospitalers; in its east wall is a doorway
with a pointed arch, closed to prevent the earth falling in. The rock
lies about two feet below the pavement, and was discovered nearly at the
same depth to the south of the convent, when the Prussian hospital was
built; so that the correspondence of these levels proves the
nonexistence of Dr Robinson's Tyropoeon. Going northward along the
Christian bazaar, we come to a Turkish bath on the east side, supplied
during a large portion of the year from the pool commonly called the
Pool of Hezekiah[451]. The refuse water is carried off by a conduit,
emptying itself into that which runs along the Street of David. I have
examined it at the two ends, and also in the interior of the convent,
through the kindness of the Greek Prior. Its lower part is hewn in the
rock; but the side walls and vaulting belong to the period of the
Crusaders; it is too narrow to be traversed. From the bath up to the
north-west corner are storehouses and wretched buildings, all of the
commonest Arab work.
The present entrance into the precincts of the Hospital is near the
western end of the northern side. Within, a spacious plateau meets the
eye, formed by the earth which has accumulated at different periods; in
the north-east corner is a very ruinous building; on the east it is
bounded by the vaults of the bazaars below; these are very dilapidated
and covered by a luxuriant vegetation of creeping plants, which daily
makes the ruin worse; on the south are the fallen terrace-roofs of the
ancient halls mentioned above; in the south-west corner stand the walls
of the Convent of S. John; on the west, the low walls dividing it from
the little gardens, terraces, and Mohammedan houses; and on the north,
what we have already described. The plateau itself, on which there are
no houses, belongs to the Greek Convent of S. Constantine; the building
on the north-east is the property of the Governor, and in 1858 would
have been sold to the Greeks or the Armenians, if M. Edmond de Barrère,
the French Consul, had not actively interposed to prevent it, in the
hope that it might one day be restored, if not to the knights of Malta,
at least to France. Let us then enter it.
Its plan is that of a poor convent with an inner court, round which
still runs a cloister on the level of the ground; though it has been
transformed by the tanners, who have made the space between each pair of
pillars into shops. The upper floor of the cloister is perfect, with the
cells within. Opening into it on the south side is a long hall, little
injured, which was probably the refectory; and parallel to this are two
smaller chambers, in a tottering condition[452]. On the north of the
convent[453] are some ruins of a church, sufficiently perfect to give us
an idea of its ancient form. It had three apses at the east end; the
southern of these is still standing; the fragments of the others are
nearly covered by heaps of earth, as are portions of the side walls. We
can ascertain its original length from a part of the west wall, which is
still standing, though enclosed in a mass of Arab cottages, against
which are the remains of two piers with their bases perfect. From these
ruins I can infer that the church was divided into a nave with two side
aisles. I consider the remains, both of the convent and of the church,
to be the work of the Amalfi merchants. Their architecture, proportions,
and masonry are too contracted and insignificant to be of the period of
the Crusaders, who however undoubtedly built the great entrance gateway,
and perhaps restored the church; this latter point, however, cannot
easily be determined, as the building is in such a ruined condition.
Close to the apse still standing is a door, leading into a long dark
chamber, which is exhibited as the prison in which S. Peter was confined
by Herod Agrippa I. The tradition is worthless, and not so old as the
time of the Crusaders; who, on their entry into Jerusalem, found on
Mount Sion a church dedicated to the imprisonment of S. Peter, standing
on the supposed site of the prison. The place may be considered to be
the sacristy of the ancient church, which communicated with the convent.
At the present time there are some richly ornamented capitals within it
of excellent workmanship, together with some cornices; all however are
out of their proper places, being either built into the walls or lying
on the ground.
These ruins belong to the church of S. Mary the Great. All authors
previous to the fifteenth century are unanimous on this point. John of
Würtzburg[454], who visited Jerusalem in the second half of the twelfth
century, states that "near the Church of the Hospital of S. John is a
nunnery in honour of the Virgin, almost close to the end of the church;
it is called S. Mary the Great." This, formerly the monastery, was now
inhabited by the Sisters Hospitaler under the charge of an Abbess, and
was a dependency of the Grand Master of the Order. Agnes was the
foundress, as I have already said; and she was succeeded by other ladies
of rank: two of whom are mentioned by William of Tyre[455], one called
Sibylla, the other Stephania, a daughter of Jocelin (Senior) Count of
Edessa. The ruins of S. Mary the Great have been preserved because
Saladin founded a hospital there, which he richly endowed; but its
revenues are now exhausted. It is not fifty years, since a philanthropic
Mohammedan of Jerusalem endeavoured to re-establish the charitable
foundations of Saladin, but the managers have again squandered the
property. It is now quite deserted and has become a receptacle of filth,
waiting every day to be applied to some other purpose.
Let us now look for the position of the Hospital, which is well
defined[456]. It occupied a piece of land bounded on the north by the
court in front of the door of the Holy Sepulchre and by Palmers
Street[457], formerly the Tan-yard Street; on the west by Patriarch
Street, or the Christian bazaar; and on the east and south by a small
street which, beginning from Palmers Street, opposite to the Sepulchre,
ran southward between the convent of S. Mary the Great and the Hospital,
and turning to the west led into Patriarch Street[458]. The principal
buildings, with the church, were erected between A.D. 1130 and 1140,
under the superintendence of Raymond of Puy, Grand Master of the
Hospital. William of Tyre relates that they were so large, especially
those opposite to the door of the Church of the Sepulchre, that they
surpassed it in magnificence; besides which they had a large peal of
bells, whose sound drowned the voice of the Patriarch when he was
preaching on the Calvary. No part of these splendid buildings now
remains perfect; all are a mass of ruins, or covered with earth and Arab
cottages. Sir John Maundeville, who visited Jerusalem A.D. 1322, found
the hospital still standing, and states that it was supported by 124
columns of stone and 54 pilasters built into the wall[459]. I was
therefore very anxious to examine the ground in the hope of finding some
remains of these. I carried on excavations for many days in various
directions: I forced my way with great difficulty from vault to vault;
but found neither fragments of columns nor capitals, only very many
pilasters. I discovered a large crypt by chance; for the ground gave way
under my feet, and I fell into it; but it was so filled with earth that
I could not explore it. When the Greeks remove the ruins in order to
build upon this site, it may be possible to discover some remains of the
ancient walls, and perhaps to make out something about its arrangement.
FOOTNOTES:
[372] Note I.
[373] S. John xix. 20.
[374] S. Luke xxiii. 27.
[375] S. John xix. 31.
[376] S. John xix. 14.
[377] S. Matt. xxvii. 45, 46.
[378] Mischna, 4th part, _Bava-bathra_, c. II., § 8.
[379] Page 30.
[380] S. John xix. 41.
[381] S. Matt. xxvii. 60, 61; S. Luke xxiii. 55; S. John xix. 38, 39,
41, 42.
[382] S. Matt. xxvii. 62-64.
[383] S. Matt. xxvii. 66; xxviii. 4.
[384] Treatise Sanhedrim, fol. 43 (Venet. edit.).
[385] Ant. XX. 9, § 1.
[386] Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. III. 5.
[387] Ibid. IV. 6.
[388] Note II.
[389] Euseb. Vita Constant. III. 26, 28.
[390] Note III.
[391] Histoire de l'État présent de Jer. ch. IV.
[392] Note IV.
[393] Eutychius, Ann. Tom. II. pp. 421-423.
[394] So William of Tyre reports, Lib. I. c. 3, but Cedrenus attributes
their destruction to Azis, father of Hakem. I am inclined to credit the
former, because, according to historians, Azis shewed kindness to the
Christians, having married a wife from among them, the sister of John,
Patriarch of Jerusalem, (Dositheus' History of the Patriarchs of
Jerusalem); while all agree in depicting Hakem as a savage bloodthirsty
tyrant; so that it is in the highest degree improbable that (as some
assert) he restored the churches destroyed by Azis. Cedrenus betrays his
own mistake when he says that Azis burnt the patriarch and the church
together, A.D. 968; whereas he did not ascend the throne till A.D. 975.
[395] Note V.
[396] Note VI.
[397] Plate XXXI.
[398] Note VII.
[399] Plates XXX., XXXIV.
[400] Note VIII.
[401] As for example, Maria the Portuguese, a nun of the third order of
S. Francis, A.D. 1578, and Cosimo of Granada, a Franciscan friar, A.D.
1559.
[402] For details of the capitals of the columns in it see Plate XXXVI.
[403] See M. de Vogüé's excellent description, Les Églises de la Terre
Sainte, p. 199 et seq.
[404] Plates XXXII., XXXIII.
[405] Note IX.
[406] Note X.
[407] Plate XXXVI.
[408] Note XI.
[409] Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. pars 14, c. 8; Note
XII.
[410] Plates XXXIV., XXXV.
[411] Plate XXXV.
[412] S. Matt. xxviii. 2.
[413] Mabillon, Acta Sanctorum, Sæc. 3, pars 2.
[414] Itinerarium Terræ Sanctæ in Leo Allatius, Symmikta, ed. 1653, p.
147.
[415] Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum, p. 40, ed. of 1486.
[416] Note XIII.
[417] Plates LVI., LIX.
[418] Plate LVI.
[419] S. Matt. xxviii. 2.
[420] S. Mark xvi. 1-6.
[421] S. Luke xxiv. 2, 3.
[422] S. John xx. 1, 4, 5, 6.
[423] Euseb. Theoph. See Lee's translation, p. 199, Camb. 1843.
[424] S. Cyril, Catechet. Lect. XIV. (Library of the Fathers, Vol. II.
p. 169).
[425] Plate XXXIV. (section).
[426] Plate LIX.
[427] Plate XXXV.
[428] Ezek. v. 5.
[429] Inferno, II. 1 (Wright).
[430] Plate XXXV.
[431] Plate XXXVI.
[432] I except the Latins from this reproach.
[433] Note XIV.
[434] Note XV.
[435] Gesta Francorum expugnantium Hierusalem (Gesta Dei per Francos,
Tom. I. p. 573, ed. 1611).
[436] Les Églises de la Terre Sainte. De Vogüé, pp. 249, 262 et seq.
[437] Lib. XII. c. 7 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II. pp. 819, 820, ed.
1611).
[438] Plate XXX.
[439] Note XVI.
[440] Plate XXXVII.
[441] Recueil de Voyages et de Mémoires publiés par la Société de
Géographie. 4to. Vol. IV. p. 789.
[442] Lib. XVIII. c. 4 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II. pp. 933, 934,
ed. 1611).
[443] Page 125.
[444] Note XVII.
[445] William of Tyre, Lib. IX. c. 18 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II.
p. 773, ed. 1611).
[446] Albert of Aix, Lib. VI. c. 25 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. I. p.
281, ed. 1611).
[447] William of Tyre, Lib. XVIII. c. 5 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II.
p. 935, ed. 1611).
[448] See Sæwulf's description, Note V.
[449] Plate XXX.
[450] Mejir-ed-Din, p. 123.
[451] Plate XXXI.
[452] Plate XXX.
[453] Plate XXXVIII.
[454] Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ. Pez. thes. anecd. noviss. Vol. I. pt. 3,
col. 526.
[455] William of Tyre, Lib. XIX. c. 4 (Gesta Dei, &c. Vol. II. p. 958).
[456] De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 251.
[457] Note XVI.
[458] Note XVIII.
[459] Early Travels in Palestine. Bohn's Ant. Libr. p. 168.
CHAPTER V.
INVESTIGATIONS IN THE VIA DOLOROSA (OR THE WAY OF THE CROSS). THE
RELIGIOUS AND OTHER REMARKABLE BUILDINGS IN IT OR IN ITS
NEIGHBOURHOOD AND IN THE REST OF THE CITY, TOGETHER WITH ALL THE
CONVENTS OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.
The _Via Dolorosa_ is the street our Saviour is supposed to have passed
along on his road from the Prætorium to Calvary. The following is the
course assigned to it by the only tradition which mentions it. It begins
in the street which passes by the northern side of the barrack of the
_Haram_[460], and goes westward till it meets the central valley
(Tyropoeon), which it follows for a short distance southward; it then
turns along the first street to the west, and after going through the
Judgement Gate, must have again turned to the south a short distance
beyond it, (opposite to the little street running to the north,) in
order to reach the Church of the Resurrection, just at the north-east
angle inside the Chapel of S. Helena. The last part of its course, if
this were its course, is now entirely covered by the buildings of the
Greek Convent of S. Charalampes. The present Via Dolorosa is divided
into fourteen stations: these are visited with religious care by
pilgrims, because they are asserted to be the very places at which the
last scenes of the Passion of Christ were enacted. They are as follows:
(i). Prætorium of Pilate (Barrack of the Haram); _Jesus condemned to
death_.
(ii). Site of the 'scala sancta' (near to the north-east corner of the
Barrack); _Jesus given His Cross to bear_.
(iii). A column lying on the ground south of the Austrian hospice (at
the north-west corner of the Armenian Catholics' property); _Jesus falls
the first time_.
(iv). South-west corner of the same property (a little street leading to
the house of the Governor of the city); _Jesus meets His mother_.
(v). A stone built into the south wall of the street going up to the
Judgement Gate; _Simon the Cyrenian assists Jesus to bear the Cross_.
(vi). The house of Veronica (in the above street); _Veronica wipes the
face of Jesus_.
(vii). The Judgement Gate; _Jesus falls the second time_.
(viii). A small aperture in the wall of the Greek Convent of S.
Charalampes (west of the above gate); marking the spot where _Jesus
beheld the women weeping_.
(ix). A column lying on the ground by the Copts' convent (at the
north-east corner of the Church of the Resurrection); _Jesus falls the
third time_.
(x). A mark on the pavement at the south side of the platform of the
Calvary (before the window opposite to the Chapel of the Agony); _Jesus
stripped of his garments_.
(xi). A small square of mosaic work before the Latin altar (also in the
south part); _Jesus nailed to the Cross_.
(xii). A hole at the east end of the north side of the platform of the
Calvary, beneath the Greek altar; _Place where the Cross was erected.
Death of Jesus_.
(xiii). In front of the last station (six feet from the Greek altar);
_Jesus taken down from the Cross_.
(xiv). _Sepulchre of Jesus Christ_, under the middle of the great dome.
This is the description of the stations given by the Latins; but the
Greeks and Armenians do not agree with them about all the places; and I
attach importance to this fact, since the Greeks have lived in the city
for the longest time; and this difference of opinion on their part very
much diminishes the value of the tradition. I said that the sole
authority for the Via Dolorosa was tradition; because neither the Bible,
nor Josephus, nor the configuration of the ground, afford us any
positive _data_ to aid in identifying the present road with that trodden
by our Saviour on His way to Calvary; and the tradition is of very
little weight, as I will presently shew.
Let us then consider in detail the places mentioned above. The Prætorium
of Pilate is noticed by the Evangelists, who, however, do not say
exactly where it was situated. However, with the help of Josephus I
have been able to ascertain its position. In the third chapter[461] I
shewed that the tower Antonia occupied the north-west corner of the
_Haram_[462], and that the rock which rises high in the south wall of
the barrack was the _north_ side of that fortress. Hence the Prætorium,
which was inside the tower[463], cannot be identified with the barrack,
which stretches across the greater part of the valley that formerly
defended the Temple on the north, and divided it from Bezetha[464]; and
consequently is outside the Antonia, and so cannot be on the site of the
Prætorium. This therefore I consider to have stood on the surface of
rock now exposed at the north-west corner inside the _Haram_ wall[465].
The tradition relating to the Prætorium is very ancient. The Pilgrim of
Bordeaux, A.D. 333, says, in his description of the city: "As you go
from Sion to the Neapolitan gate, on the right in the valley below are
walls where was once the palace of Pontius Pilate." I think that these
walls were founded, at least in part, on the rock exposed in the south
side of the present barrack, or else he would not have been able to see
them; and since this was the north side of the tower Antonia, it is
quite possible that they belonged to the Prætorium, and perhaps the
projecting rock was mistaken for walls; a thing which is not improbable,
since S. Cyril[466] (in the fourth century) in mentioning the Prætorium
states that 'it is now laid waste.' Antoninus of Piacenza found there
(in the seventh century) a church dedicated to S. Sophia[467], but
whether this was built by S. Helena or Justinian I do not know, since it
is not mentioned by Eusebius or Procopius. It is more probably the work
of the Emperor, who erected other buildings of this kind on Moriah,
while the former paid no particular attention to the place. A historian
of the first Crusade writes as follows[468]: "The Flagellation and the
Coronation (with thorns) of Jesus Christ, within the city, receive the
reverence of the faithful ... but it is now not easy to ascertain their
true positions; because, above all other reasons, the whole city has
been so often destroyed and even razed." It follows then from this
passage that the Christians, about eight centuries ago, had doubts of
the truth of the tradition. John of Würtzburg, and other authors of the
twelfth century, place the Prætorium on Mount Sion, which shews that the
traditions at that time were uncertain and confused. From the end of the
twelfth century all have agreed in recognizing the barrack as its site.
The author of the _Citez de Jherusalem_[469] clearly indicates its
present position: "A little in advance of this street (that of
Jehoshaphat, for so the street leading to S. Mary's Gate was then
called) was the house of Pilate. On the left hand in front of this
house was a gate leading up to the Temple." Quaresmius[470] states that
in his day the remains of a church built on the Prætorium were to be
seen, consisting of the choir and some of the side-chapels with traces
of paintings. Of this only a few fragments now remain in an inner court
of the barrack.
From these _data_ it follows that the site of the Prætorium has been
known since the fourth century, and that no doubt by tradition; but as
there was a great accumulation of ruins upon the place, the position
could only be fixed by what remained uninjured, namely the rock; and it
might very easily happen that in course of time it should be placed to
the south instead of the north of this mark. My opinion as to the
position is supported by Josephus, and is not contradicted by the
expressions in the authors before the Crusades; for the 'standing walls'
could only be on the rock, and the 'waste place' of S. Cyril within the
north-west angle of the _Haram_.
An ancient chapel within the barrack is pointed out as the spot where
Jesus was crowned with thorns; possibly it was originally dedicated to
the Passion of the Redeemer. Its plan is a square, the length of a side
being about 16 feet; above it rises an octagonal dome, supported by a
drum of the same shape. Four sides (alternate) of the octagon are
replaced in the lower part by small pointed arches, in order to adapt
this form of the drum to the square plan of the building. A pointed
doorway in the south wall leads into a small square chapel, with a niche
on each side. The arrangement of the arches, the form, and the
ornamentation of the building, resemble Roman architecture; but the work
shews it to be of the period of the Crusades. Quaresmius[471] is the
first to mention this chapel; no notice of it occurring in any author
anterior to his time. It is now used as a storehouse of barley for the
artillery-horses.
Turning to the east on leaving the barrack, we find in its north wall a
doorway built up; half of which is Saracenic work in red and white
stone. Through it our Lord is believed to have left the Prætorium; and
the staircase which was transported to the Church of S. John Lateran at
Rome is said to have been the very one by which he descended. When I
examined this door at the end of 1854, its lowest part was two feet
above the level of the street, having a semicircular step built into the
pavement, which was pointed out as a fragment of the sacred staircase. I
was surprised that the Christians had not taken care to remove it;
especially as they had had an opportunity when the barrack was built by
Ibrahim Pasha, who would have readily granted their request. In 1857 the
military commandant constructed a raised footpath (one foot high) along
by the barrack-wall, and the step was covered up without any one making
the slightest attempt to preserve it. The tradition about this place is
very untrustworthy; the configuration of the ground does not confirm it,
and the Bible does not mention that our Lord ascended or descended any
staircase. The present street runs entirely over accumulated rubbish,
which at this point is 16 feet thick above the old level of the valley,
so that the door must at that time have had a flight of at least 28
steps to form a communication with the bottom of the valley; and the
lowest part of the door itself is 15 feet below the level of the inner
court of the barrack, which would require 25 steps more; so that
altogether there must have been some 53 steps in all. This would not be
an unlikely approach to a barrack, but it is most improbable that the
Antonia would have had such a weak point in its defences on the most
important side as this stone staircase would have been. The valley which
divided Moriah from Bezetha has been entirely overlooked by the
believers in the 'Scala sancta.' Again, it is well known that the
Prætorium was in the interior of the Antonia; how then could this door
be in the Prætorium? If the Antonia be placed outside the north-west
corner of the _Haram_, then the Prætorium would have been in the valley,
and the fortress could not have been defended on the north, in the way
Josephus says it was; and if (as I think) it be placed inside the
enclosure, then the gate and staircase could never have occupied the
positions now assigned to them. Again, we are told that all this part of
the city was utterly destroyed; therefore the Prætorium too must have
been swept away, and its ruins have helped to fill up the valley. In
fact, the door now shewn is only a fragment of some work of the time of
Saladin or Solyman.
Nearly opposite to the door of the 'Scala sancta' is a little opening
with an iron grate; this is the entrance to the Chapel of the
Flagellation; and beneath the altar in the middle they point out the
exact place where the Redeemer was bound to a column to be scourged.
Here Quaresmius[472] saw a small but handsome and well-preserved chapel,
which had been used as a stable by Mustafa Bey, son of the Governor of
the city. Abbé Mariti, who visited it A.D. 1767, says[473], that he saw
"a large square hall, covered by a high vaulted roof; the façade
resembled that of a church or oratory, and though the walls were very
black, traces of pictures could still be discerned on them. They assert
that the Saviour was scourged on this spot, but I do not see on what
grounds. As this building is in a way connected with the Prætorium, many
have given credence to this tradition; though, as I believe, it is only
founded on the reverence felt by the Christians for that chamber, which
no doubt induced them to build there a chapel in memory of the
Flagellation. Many miracles are said to have been performed here. The
people of Jerusalem, both Christian and Mohammedan, relate stories about
them, which remind us of the mediæval legends. The Mohammedans have
converted the place into a stable." The above shews that the tradition
itself is not ancient. The Franciscan monks relate that the chapel and
the adjoining land, occupied by the hospice, were given to them by
Ibrahim Pasha, and that they restored and enlarged the chapel in 1839,
aided by the liberality of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria; but that the
expense of laying the foundations was very great, as they were extremely
deep, especially on the south side. The place therefore now pointed out
beneath the altar cannot be the exact spot where our Saviour stood,
because of the great quantity of earth above the rock. How, too, can
this site for the Flagellation be reconciled with the position of the
'Scala sancta' or of the Prætorium? It is quite impossible that they can
have been connected together in former times, because of the above-named
valley. The size also of the tower Antonia is an obstacle, for each of
its sides was only half a stadium, whereas, if we accept the traditional
site for the Flagellation, the Prætorium alone must have been nearly of
that size. The present chapel is dedicated to the Flagellation, and is
in no way remarkable: the few remains of antiquity it possesses have
been covered over with whitewash, excepting some capitals built into the
side walls, which appear to be Roman work.
Quitting the above place and following the road westward, we arrive at
the arch of the 'Ecce Homo,' called at the time of the Crusades the
'Porta Dolorosa[474].' It is so named because it is believed that from
it our Lord was shewn to the people by Pilate[475]. I have already
proved[476] that the arch is much too modern to admit of this being the
case; and if it were so, it seems impossible that the place should have
been passed over in silence by Eusebius at the time of the Empress
Helena, and by other authors after him, like Antoninus of Piacenza,
Willibald, and Bernard the Monk. How is it that the writers before the
time of the Crusades do not mention it? Had there been any tradition of
the kind, it would never have been omitted (at least if they believed in
it): so that it seems certain that the belief sprung up during the
Crusades, the origin of it, no doubt, being that the arch was at first
regarded as dedicated to the Passion of Christ. I have already stated,
and now repeat it, that, for military reasons, the Jews would never have
allowed this arch to stand during the siege, and that if they had, it
would not have escaped the Romans. An author of the present day has
attempted to interpret the letters carved on two stones in the north
pilaster on the west side; but with regard to that, I will quote the
words of the Abbé Mariti[477]. "They have assured me that about sixty
years ago (i.e. before 1767) these words were read TOL...TO..., and at a
still earlier period TOLLE TOLLE CRUCIFIGE EUM. Others assert that they
have read thus TO. C. X. For my own part I have only been able to make
out a single O in a clear Roman character; but the stones on which the
letters are carved are so much injured that they will soon crumble
away, and thus put a stop to all conjectures." As then only one letter
could be deciphered at the time of Abbé Mariti, I hope to be believed
when I say that even this is now indistinct. But even if the inscription
was rightly read as above, that is no proof that the arch was standing
in our Lord's life-time; it establishes no more than that some one
carved the inscription in remembrance of an event which unquestionably
happened in the vicinity.
On some high ground to the north of the arch of the 'Ecce Homo' are a
ruinous mosque and a minaret, which are approached by the little street
running along the east side of the new buildings of the Daughters of
Sion; this, according to tradition, is the site of the palace of Herod
Antipas, to which Pilate sent our Lord to be judged by the Tetrarch of
Galilee[478]. I have carried on many excavations in order to examine
this spot, and have discovered stones of the Herodian period in the
lower parts of the walls, besides others scattered about among the
ruins, or built into the masonry, and therefore think that this is
really the site of the palace; and that it must be the place from which
Antigonus went to visit his brother Aristobulus by the way of the
subterranean passage, Strato's tower, in which he was murdered[479]. It
appears probable that a church was erected here during the Latin
kingdom, but it has been so much altered that now it can hardly be
recognized. No writer before or after the Crusades mentions it, but the
remains, and their position with reference to the subterranean passage
and the Antonia, induce me to believe the tradition.
Returning to the arch, and going along the street westward as far as the
central valley, we come on the south side to the Station of the First
Fall of Christ. The Evangelists make no mention of any falls; but, from
reading their narrative, we may well suppose that, worn by the sorrow
and agony of that night, He fell many times: still to the faithful heart
and thoughtful mind all additions to the sublimity of the Gospel
narrative are offensive, while they cannot be instructive to the man in
whom these qualities are wanting.
Some yards from this spot, rather to the west, are the ruins of a
church, perhaps of the date of the Crusades; said to be on the spot
where the Virgin Mary swooned at the sight of her Son's sufferings; to
record which a chapel was erected, bearing the name Chapel of the
Virgin's Swoon. This had already been destroyed in the time of
Quaresmius; but it appears that afterwards the Mohammedans repaired it,
converting it into a mosque. The upper part has again fallen to ruin; in
the lower is the Agency of the Austrian Lloyd.
Following the street southward from the Station of the First Fall, we
come to the spot pointed out as the place where the Virgin Mary met
Jesus. There is no mention of this circumstance in the Evangelists; it
is therefore only a tradition; and how can it be true of a place in a
street which has only existed a few centuries (as is shewn by the
houses on each side), and runs over a mass of ruins? Moreover, in this
direction the Roman armies under Pompeius, and again under Titus, made
their attacks on the Temple; it is therefore very improbable that after
the time of the latter there would be any traces of a street left. When
Hadrian rebuilt the city he set up idols in the principal sacred places
to insult the Jews and Christians; and we may therefore believe that, in
laying out the streets afresh, he would have swept away every trace of
the tradition, if any had then existed. Close to the station, on the
south, is a great pointed arch with delicately executed details,
supported by two well-built piers. It dates from the Crusades, and very
probably was the entrance to some religious building, erected to
commemorate one of the events of the Passion; or perhaps a convent may
have been at this place. Arab houses are built on each side of it facing
the street, so that nothing can be made out there. I entered these to
see if I could ascertain anything, but my examination produced little
result, because an Arab wall completely masks it; while a number of
small longitudinal and transverse party-walls, all of Arab work, have
entirely transformed the appearance of the place. However, in these I
found some polished stones, and fragments of ornaments, with mutilated
capitals and broken columns; all proofs of the existence of a building
of the time of the Crusades. Perhaps a nunnery[480], dedicated to S.
John, once stood on this spot, belonging to the Benedictines of Bethany,
and used by them as a refuge in time of war. Here the guides not
unfrequently point out the house of the beggar Lazarus, opposite to the
arch; and also shew the palace of the wicked Dives, at a little distance
to the south in the same street. This is a house built of different
coloured stones. These 'Jerusalem antiquarians' have converted the
parable into a historic fact, and so endeavoured to preserve the traces
of the dwellings! I suppose they think that the poor men "full of sores"
were of more importance in former times than now. There are still
numbers of lepers, who, from morning to evening, wait outside the Jaffa
Gate to beg; and many give them an alms, but who now ever bestows a
second thought on them, or would remember where they lived? The 'palace
of Dives' is a handsome building of the sixteenth century, erected by
the liberality of Solyman for a hospital. It is still used for the same
purpose by the soldiers belonging to the garrison; but if not soon
repaired, it will share the usual fate of Mohammedan government
property, and fall into ruins.
The Evangelists tell us that Simon the Cyrenian aided our Lord in
bearing His Cross, but do not mention the place where he encountered
Him[481]. It very probably was near the present Station, or a little to
the south of it, as he no doubt entered the city from the country by
the North Gate or Gate of Ephraim (now the Damascus Gate). A small stone
built into a modern Arab wall marks the place. We must, however,
remember that this street runs upon a mass of rubbish 17 feet thick, as
I discovered during the repairs of the sewer; so that the actual site of
the meeting is covered up. This remark also applies to the next station.
The Mohammedans and Jews are wont to throw dirt at the stone, when they
see Christians kneeling before it, so that one frequently finds it
necessary to make the fanatics undo their work, reminding the former
that Isa (Jesus) was one of their prophets, and the latter that it is no
longer the time to renew the ancient scenes of persecution. I mention
this to shew how serious quarrels frequently arise in Jerusalem, which
are not appeased without much difficulty.
The Evangelists make no mention of Veronica. Much has been written upon
this point: some considering her to be the sick woman who was healed by
touching the hem of the Saviour's garment[482]; others, a lady of noble
birth named Berenice, whose name was changed to Veronica after she
became a follower of Christ; deriving the word from Vera-icon (true
image)! The tradition of Veronica and the Holy Napkin dates from a very
early period in the history of Christianity; as do the different Holy
Napkins, which are in existence in various places. In 1854 the walls
(Arab work) of the House of Veronica were in a ruinous condition, and
were entirely rebuilt by the Mohammedan owner. I then discovered that
its foundations rested on made ground, so that they were of no very
great age. On digging down for the rock, to lay the new foundations, the
workmen came upon large stones, which I consider to be the remains of
the second wall of the city, not of any former House of Veronica.
Further on the street is arched over, and in the side-walls are remains
of ancient masonry. Here some place the House of the Wandering Jew! This
tradition however (or rather legend) is not accepted by the Christians
of Jerusalem. The number of stones of ancient Jewish workmanship in the
lower parts of the wall and inside the buildings on each side, and the
position in the line of the second wall, in its course from the Antonia
across the Tyropoeon, lead me to think that the Gate of Ephraim
formerly stood exactly on this spot. The pointed arches in the doors
half buried in the accumulated earth seem to shew that some building
occupied this site in the time of the Crusades.
Tradition asserts that the sentence of death was affixed to the
Judgement Gate, by which the condemned criminal went out on his way to
execution, and that as our Lord passed by here He fell the second time.
Adrichomius holds that the name is derived from its being the place
where the Sanhedrim assembled to pronounce sentence, but he gives no
reason for their meeting there rather than in any other place. I
consider that probably it was called the Gate of Ephraim[483] previous
to the building of Herod's wall, and that the name was afterwards
changed. The Evangelists make no mention either of it or of the second
fall of Christ.
Our Lord's meeting with the 'daughters of Jerusalem' is mentioned by S.
Luke[484], but, owing to the circumstance that Titus attacked the second
line of walls from this side, it is obvious that, even if the event
happened in this neighbourhood, all traces of the exact spot must have
been swept away in the changes that the place has undergone; so that the
tradition is valueless.
The station of the Third Fall needs no comment. With regard to the
Calvary and Sepulchre I have already expressed my opinion in the fourth
chapter. I believe the other stations to be in the neighbourhood of
them, so that while I cannot undertake to fix their exact position, I do
not absolutely refuse to give any credence to them.
I hold, therefore, that the present Via Dolorosa is only a
representation of the true one; and regard it in the same way as I do
the Stations in Churches; that is, as a useful agent in arousing
religious feelings, and bringing to remembrance the solemn scenes of the
Redeemer's Passion. The changes wrought in the city at its destruction
by Titus and rebuilding by Hadrian, and the numerous alterations at
other times, the accumulation of rubbish, and, above all, the
impossibility of the position of one part of the street, lying, as it
would do, in the north ditch of the Antonia, seem to me insuperable
difficulties in the way of establishing the identity of this with the
road trodden by our Saviour. That I believe to have commenced on the
west side of the Antonia, and to have followed the line of the present
street of S. Helena's Hospital up to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Along this, in my opinion, the Stations might more reasonably be placed;
for, whatever theory be adopted about the tower Antonia, the difficulty
of the valley cannot be explained away.
I now pass on to consider the other buildings, religious and civil, in
the city; and with this view conduct my reader to S. Mary's Gate, from
which point we will begin our examination. Near the gate is the Church
of S. Ann, now belonging to France. When I first saw it in 1854 it was
used as a shelter for the Governor's horse-soldiers, while the
courtyard, all strewed with ruins, was frequented by camel-drivers, who
tethered their beasts there, so that it had become covered with filth:
and as the Mohammedans took no care of the fabric, it became more
ruinous every day, without any attempt at repairing it, even so far as
was necessary to keep it in use for a stable. Since the year 1761 it had
been abandoned by the Mohammedans, because (as they said) shrieks and
howls were heard every time that they went there; and in 1767 they were
so fully persuaded of this, that the Santon himself, who was in charge
of the place, offered the keys to the Franciscans, by whom (after due
consideration of the consequence of accepting them) they were refused.
It was then entirely deserted, except that the monks, by permission of
the Pasha, continued to celebrate mass in it on the Festival of the
Conception, and on that of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, who
(according to them) was born there. So matters went on until in 1856 M.
de Barrère happily thought of endeavouring to obtain it for the Roman
Church, and was so well seconded by his government at Constantinople,
that his hopes were realized; for on October 19, 1856, the Sultan
granted it to France, and on November 1, M. de Barrère took possession
of the building with all formality, receiving the keys from Kiamil
Pasha. The repairs were begun about a year ago, and soon Jerusalem will
possess a new church, one of the finest in Palestine. Having given this
preliminary account, let us examine into the history of its foundation
and its vicissitudes.
Some think that it was founded (as usual) by S. Helena; but of this we
cannot be certain, as it is not mentioned among the churches built by
the Empress, which, according to Nicephorus, exceeded thirty in number.
"Moreover this woman, the mother of the Emperor, most pleasing in God's
sight, founded more than thirty churches in these Holy Places[485]." In
the seventh century the pilgrims speak of a church of the Nativity of
the Virgin near the pool 'Probatica.' S. John of Damascus[486] writes
thus: "The Virgin was brought forth in the house of 'the Probatica,' of
Joachim;" and again, in the First Oration on the Nativity of the
Virgin[487]: "Happy be thou in all respects, O Probatica, ancient temple
of the seed of Joachim, but now a church!" Phocas mentions it in his
description of the remarkable places of Antioch and Jerusalem. Other
authors, from Sæwulf to William of Tyre, name it, and all agree in
placing it on the same spot, and repeating the tradition; but none of
them give us any certain clue to the history of its foundation. As every
one expresses his own opinion on this point, I will follow the general
example[488]. That the church was in existence before the Crusaders
entered Jerusalem is evident from the Arabian historians; for Abulfeda
tells us that under the rule of the Khalifs, before the Franks gained
possession of Jerusalem, the Church of S. Ann was converted into a
college for public instruction[489]. Again, Sæwulf visited it A.D. 1103,
that is, in the first four years of the Latin kingdom, when as yet they
had not thought about building churches. William of Tyre[490] relates
that three or four nuns inhabited the adjoining convent; which is also a
proof of its existence previous to the Crusades; because so small a
number of sisters would not have had the means of building such a
church. Now the remarkable edifices which were erected during the whole
period of the Latin kingdom are recorded by several writers; and many
manuscripts of this age have come down to us. Considering the importance
of this Sanctuary (the supposed birthplace of the Virgin), and the
station in life of those who there dedicated themselves to the monastic
life under the rule of S. Benedict, we can draw but one conclusion from
their silence; namely, that the present building is older than the
Crusades. But further, Arda, wife of Baldwin I., being repudiated by her
husband, entered the convent A.D. 1104, and liberally endowed it.
William of Tyre[491] speaks of her munificence, and also of the unseemly
manner in which she quitted the place. Why then does not he mention the
church? Jueta or Gioeta, daughter of Baldwin II., in 1130, dedicated
herself to the monastic life, and lived in the convent until that of S.
Lazarus at Bethany was finished, which was built for her by her sister
Milisendis. On this occasion also William of Tyre[492] mentions the
buildings, but not the church.
M. de Vogüé[493] writes as follows: "Towards the middle of the twelfth
century, John of Würtzburg expresses wonder at the number of the nuns
(who followed the rule of S. Benedict), and at their devotion; and
mentions the church; meaning, I think, on this occasion, the church now
remaining." I cannot agree with this opinion, for the reason that, had
the church been rebuilt, the author would not have omitted to mention
it, since it would have been one of the first buildings erected under
the Latin kingdom. If the plates be examined[494], I need not enter into
details, as they will be found sufficiently clear; but will only call
attention to the shape of the church (a trapezium)[495]; a plan which I
think prevents us from attributing it to the time of the Crusaders. I am
therefore induced to consider it as originally a Byzantine building,
which was restored by them. From Plate LXIII. we see that the Church of
S. Cross has the pointed arch like that of S. Ann, and is still
plainer[496]. Now the former was standing when the Persians under
Chosroes II. invaded the country; as is stated by Georgian manuscripts
in the Greek convent of S. Constantine at Jerusalem. Hence the presence
of pointed arches does not forbid us to suppose that S. Ann's Church was
also built before the Crusades. M. de Vogüé[497] says "that the last two
western piers (inside the church) are much more massive than the rest,
and were intended to sustain bell-towers." With this I do not agree,
because the difference in size is imperceptible; indeed, perhaps they
are even smaller than the rest: and further, I do not find the walls at
the north-west and south-west corners sufficiently strong to support
towers; on the contrary, through their weakness they have fallen greatly
to ruin; and lastly, I find no traces of them on the roof. Until then
stronger arguments are brought forward than have hitherto been, I retain
the opinion expressed above; which is, I believe, sustained by history
and the place itself.
In the church we must not omit to notice the dome as belonging to a date
posterior to the original building, but a little prior to the minaret at
the south-west corner, a large part of which is still standing.
When Saladin took Jerusalem, A.D. 1187, he established various
institutions for the Mohammedans; and among others founded a school,
A.D. 1192, in the Church of S. Ann, after repairing the injuries caused
by the destruction of the neighbouring convent. The Arabic inscription
on the entrance-gate on the west records this event. It runs as follows:
"In the name of God, kind and merciful! All the blessings ye enjoy come
from God! This sacred _Medresse_ (School) has been founded by the
victorious King, our Master, Salah-ed-Din, Sultan of Islam, and of the
Mohammedans. Abul Muzafar Yusef, son of Eyub, son of Sciasi, has given
life to the empire of the Head of the Faithful. May God bless his
victories, and pour out His bounty upon him, in this world and in the
next. This institution has been founded for the doctors of the rite of
Imam Abu-Abdallah Mohammed, son of Edris-es-Shafei. May God grant him
mercy. The year five hundred and eighty-eight[498]." This school was
deserted in the fifteenth century, owing to the want of means to carry
it on, caused by malversation on the part of its managers. We have seen
what its condition was in 1767. In 1842 Tayar Pasha entertained the
design of re-opening the school, and with that view ordered the interior
to be repaired, and the minaret to be built. The latter however was
never finished, because the builders and stone-masons of Bethlehem (some
of whom told me the circumstances) got on slowly with the work, and even
threw many of the stones prepared for building into the cisterns; acting
thus because they were unwilling to see a place sacred to Christians
profaned by the Mohammedans. By examining the spot, I proved the truth
of the workmen's story; for I found a quantity of prepared materials in
a cistern on the west, and also in another on the south of the church.
Into these I descended before the place was examined by the three French
architects who were sent, one after the other, to Jerusalem to begin the
repairs; which are now progressing well under the superintendence of M.
Mauss, a young man of distinction and great promise. Within the church,
under the choir, is a crypt in which the rock is exposed. There,
according to an old tradition, was the abode of S. Joachim and S. Ann;
and there the Virgin Mary was born. It was already known in the seventh
century, and the first who mentions it is S. John Damascenus[499]. It is
difficult to see what authority can be found to establish the truth of
the tradition. It is doubtful whether the Virgin was born at Jerusalem
or Nazareth; but even supposing she was born at the former place, why
did S. Ann live in a crypt? Surely there were houses in Jerusalem! I
think that the church was simply dedicated to S. Ann. We find in a
manuscript, preserved in the Latin Convent of S. Saviour, that a passage
formerly ran from this church to the Tomb of Mary in the Kidron Valley;
but all my attempts to discover its opening into the interior of the
church were unavailing; perhaps it may be buried under the ruins of the
Convent. In the Tomb of Mary, at the extremity of the western arm of the
cross, there is a doorway closed with masonry, which cannot be seen from
the outside, because of the accumulation of earth. In 1858 a Greek monk
was working in a plot of land on the western bank of the Kidron Valley,
at no great distance from the tomb, and found a cistern, very long from
east to west, hollowed out in the rock, its walls being covered with a
strong cement. When I heard of this I went to examine it, and by
striking the walls inferred the existence of two openings, one on the
east, the other on the west. Perhaps they communicated with the
subterranean passage; and the reason why they are in these positions,
may be that the cistern was made by widening the passage which was
already on the spot. I trust that the architect in charge of the
restoration at S. Ann's Church may be able to discover these
subterranean passages. I do not describe the insignificant remains of
the Convent of Benedictine nuns, because they possess nothing of
interest. Not a capital nor a shaft of a column is to be found among the
shapeless fragments of ruins, which reveal nothing of their former
splendour, nay, not so much as whether they could have been ever
beautiful.
The Church of the Magdalene (called _Maïmonieh_ by the Arabs) is
situated to the north-west of the Church of S. Ann, and to the
south-east of Herod's Gate. According to tradition it stands on the site
of the house of Simon the Pharisee, where the penitent sinner washed the
Saviour's feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. S.
Luke[500] does not mention the place at which this circumstance
occurred. The three other Evangelists[501] state that it happened at
Bethany, so that I cannot admit the truth of the tradition without
denying that of the Bible; consequently I consider the church as only
dedicated to the memory of the penitent Magdalene. All that now remains
of this building is the porch, part of the choir, and the side walls,
which are left standing at irregular heights above the ground;
everything else is a heap of ruins, overgrown with creeping plants; and
in the middle a potter carries on his craft of making pipes, water-pots,
and the like. It is commonly said to be the property of the Greek
Convent, but I am not certain whether this is true. I removed the
rubbish from the interior to search for the remains of pillars, in the
hope of being able to ascertain the plan of the building; but my labours
were fruitless, and I must therefore refer my reader to M. de Vogüé's
work[502], only observing that the Church of the Magdalene does not (as
he asserts) belong to the same class of churches as that of S. Ann, for
the former is a rectangle in plan, the latter a trapezium. For the rest
I highly appreciate the labour he has bestowed upon the subject; but, as
I have not been fortunate enough to verify his discoveries in my
subsequent visits to the spot, I cannot say whether the church belongs
to the era of the Crusades, or to an earlier period. I cannot however
admit that it can be called a French work[503], because the Crusaders
were not French alone, but of many different nations. The same author
writes, "The only contemporaneous documents which we possess relating to
the Magdalene Church are in the account of John of Würtzburg, and in the
Cartulary. He tells us that it was served by the Jacobite monks. 'Near
the city-wall, not far from S. Ann's on the north, is the Church of S.
Mary Magdalene, occupied by the Jacobite monks. These assert that it
stands on the site of the house of Simon the Leper.... A cross marked on
the pavement of the church indicates (according to the same monks) the
spot where Mary knelt at the feet of Jesus[504].' The Cartulary contains
the title of an agreement[505] between the Latin Canons of the Holy
Sepulchre and the Jacobite monks of S. Mary Magdalene. The document is
not dated, but from the signatures it must have been written about A.D.
1160. After Jerusalem had been taken by the Saracens the church was
converted into a school, and was called _Maïmonieh_, the name it still
bears among the Mohammedans. 'The school of _Maimun_' (writes
Mejir-ed-Din) 'near to the gate of the city called Sahera, was formerly
a Greek church (i.e. Christian): it was endowed in 593 (A.D. 1197) by
the Emir Faris-ed-Din-Abu-Said-Maimun, son of Abdallah-el-Kasri,
treasurer of King Salah-ed-Din.'" Let us now consider the testimony
quoted above. John of Würtzburg undertook his journey after the middle
of the twelfth century, and found the Jacobites already established in
the Magdalene Church. Now if the church had been built by the Crusaders,
the pilgrim would have been sure to mention it, nor would they have been
likely to give it up to the Jacobites. I believe that the Canons allowed
it to remain the property of the Jacobites, because it had originally
belonged to them. It also appears to me that the names of the Canons
must be exactly known before it can be proved, on the evidence of the
signatures alone, that the agreement was made in A.D. 1160. Again, why
are the words of Mejir-ed-Din[506], 'a Greek church,' necessarily to be
taken as equivalent to a Christian church? I maintain that Saladin and
his followers were too well acquainted with the difference between the
Latins and the Greeks to make this slip in a public document. I am
therefore inclined to believe that the church had been built before the
arrival of the Crusaders, and that possibly it might have been injured
during the siege, and repaired afterwards by the Jacobites, who were for
that reason allowed to retain it. I cannot adopt any other theory,
because I am unable to understand the Crusaders giving a church to the
Jacobites, who were considered heretical after A.D. 541, because they
maintained that there was but one (the divine) nature in Christ, and
were therefore called Monophysites.
On the east of the Chapel of the Flagellation is an ancient chapel,
called _Deïr Addas_ by the Mohammedans, and by the Christians, the
Chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin. It is now used as a warehouse.
There is no mention of it in any ancient documents; and it is very
small, being not more than 16 feet wide, with a dome about 10 feet in
diameter. Perhaps it is owing to its insignificance that there is no
dispute about the founders. Its masonry shews that it is older than the
time of the Crusades.
On the north of the Austrian hospice is the ancient Church of S. Peter,
now converted into a mosque, and kept by the dancing Dervishes. Its plan
consists of a nave with two side aisles of equal length, terminated by
semicircular apses; they are divided by two perfectly plain piers on
each side, sustaining a vaulted roof, with sharp groins, and supported
by pointed arches. The total length of the building (inside) is 40 feet
2 inches, the nave is 10 feet wide from pier to pier, while the north
aisle is 5-1/2 feet, and that on the south, owing to an irregularity in
the wall, is a little narrower, being about 5-1/4 feet. It is difficult
to assign a date to this church, because it is not mentioned by ancient
authors, and is built in a mixture of several styles. Some think that it
belonged to the order of the Knights of S. Lazarus, whose mission was to
succour and cure, if possible, the lepers. From this order has arisen
that of S. Maurice and S. Lazarus of the kingdom of Italy.
On returning to the central valley we find, exactly at the vaulted
passage under the house of Dives, a street rising westward (which I
consider to have been the true way of the Cross,) and on the south side
of it is a building (several centuries old), of Saracenic architecture,
having doorways elegantly ornamented with arabesques and mosaics, and
with white, red, and black stones found in Palestine[507]. This is
considered, by the Christians, to be the hospital built by the Empress
Helena; and it is said by tradition to have been erected before the
church of the Resurrection, in order to accommodate the labourers
engaged upon it, and to have been afterwards devoted to the reception of
poor pilgrims. I admit the truth of the tradition, but not that the
present building is of that date, for it is entirely Saracenic work.
The Mohammedans call it Tekhiyeh el-Khasseki-Sultane (Convent of the
favourite Sultana), and from documents which they possess in the
_Mekhemeh_ concerning the registers of landed property, it is clear that
it was built by the Sultana Rossellane, the favourite consort of Solyman
the Magnificent, who established there a hospice for the poor and the
pilgrims. It is shewn by the same authorities that the Sultana had
obtained large revenues from the Sultan for the support of this charity,
consisting of an annual tax paid by the villagers of Bethlehem, Bethany,
and Beitjala, together with the fees paid by the Christians on entering
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This fact is also confirmed by an
Arabic inscription on a stone built into the wall near the entrance to
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at a height of 8 or 9 feet above the
ground. This charitable foundation is still daily at work, but on a
reduced scale, owing to its diminished income. I think, then, that this
charity may have been commenced by S. Helena (whence its name); then
continued by the Latins after her death, and during the Crusades; and
kept up by the Mohammedans after their conquest of Jerusalem, till it
was finally enlarged and enriched by Rossellane; who also built large
rooms there, and resided in it herself to minister to the poor and
destitute; as is stated in the Mohammedan traditions, and in the
chronicles preserved in the mosque _Kubbet es-Sakharah_.
We will now take a survey of its exterior and interior. At the first
glance the negligence of its managers is evident; for a grand and
magnificent building, the finest in the city, which, if in good order,
would be very useful to the Governor of the place, is becoming every day
more ruinous, without any attempt being made to repair it. In 1859
Surraya Pasha was desirous of restoring it, and commissioned me to make
a plan, which he afterwards forwarded to Constantinople; but he was not
seconded by the higher authorities, and in course of time the place will
fall down, unless (as is much to be desired) it be purchased by one of
the wealthier Christian communities. During my investigations in the
interior I found the rock, which in one part forms a slope rising
westward, in which place steps are to be seen four feet wide, but not
more than two inches high. These, I think, may be the remains of the
street that went up to Golgotha; because it is in the direction of the
south-west corner of the tower Antonia (as placed by me). The north
façade is built of well-wrought stones of different colours, skilfully
laid with even joints, especially in the door-posts, where lead is
employed instead of mortar. By this side the guides generally conduct
the visitor into the building. On the ground-floor on the east are shewn
several chambers, where the food, distributed among the poor, is
prepared. One, of great size, has a well constructed vaulted roof
supported by piers: it is occupied by horse-mills, which grind the corn
for the establishment; but the millstones are almost useless, the
fittings broken, and the horses only are excellent, as they belong to
the managers, and therefore work little, and feed well. In another place
the bread is made and baked, and is by no means bad. The chamber next
the oven is used as a granary; in this are two large brass caldrons 6
feet in diameter and 5-1/2 deep, which are no longer used, being too
large. The place which serves as a kitchen is remarkable for its
architecture and its central dome; and I believe that originally it was
a bath-room; it is now all begrimed with dirt, the pavement is broken,
and only one caldron (5 feet in diameter and 4 deep) over a large
furnace is in use; four others are seen as a reproach to the managers,
who keep them unworked, and leave them to be destroyed by the damp, so
that they may then sell them as worthless. In the one in use a quantity
of wheat is boiled, and after being seasoned with good oil, is
distributed among the poor, each of whom also receives from two to four
loaves. This dole is given to all who apply for it, without regard to
their religion. On the great Mohammedan festivals a good piece of meat
is also given to each, with plenty of rice and honey, which are
furnished by the wealthy proprietors, who have made their fortunes out
of the hospital. As this building is assigned to S. Helena by the
Christians, so also are the caldrons. What excellent brass they must be
to have lasted in use from A.D. 326 to the present time! In order to
mount to the upper story it is necessary to leave these rooms and go to
the door opening into the street, more to the west. Let the visitor now
beware where he sets his foot, for a heap of filth covers up several
steps of the stairs, which are flooded in winter with rain-water from
the ruined terrace-roofs, and infested by vermin in summer. It is
therefore better to go round by the central valley to the south gate,
and so avoid the nuisance. I speak from experience.
On the south is a fine pointed doorway, with well-carved ornaments in
good relief, leading into a spacious hall, in which are medallions
containing good arabesques. Beyond this is a very large court surrounded
by a cloister with pointed arches, which also have arabesques in their
details. The hall, the cloister, and the court, are now only used to
shelter the camels and horses of the first comers; consequently they are
in a filthy state, and their ornaments are daily being destroyed. A
spiral staircase in the north-east corner of the hall leads to the upper
floor, where is a Gothic window of two lights, with a marble column as
mullion, crowned by an elegant arabesque capital. After going over this
floor and mounting to the roof, we see the remains of a splendid
apartment with all the requisites of a Mohammedan _Harem_[508]; but here
care is necessary to avoid a fall. The view from the summit of the
terrace is far from uninteresting; the whole _Haram es-Sherîf_ is well
seen, with a considerable extent of the central valley, the hill Acra
(as placed by me) full in view, and also Bezetha, separated from Moriah,
and rising above it. Here the student and the archæologist will form a
good idea of the topography of the ancient city; and the descriptions
of Josephus, especially with reference to Acra and Bezetha, will be
readily understood.
Opposite to S. Helena's Hospital on the north is a Saracenic house,
apparently of the same date, which is in a very unsafe state. In the
south façade is a great number of delicately wrought and interesting
arabesques. It is used by certain Mohammedans, who meet there for
prayer. They belong to an order of Dervishes, who are very free from
fanaticism, and employed in doing good. When I speak of the convents
belonging to the different sects, I will give a fuller account of them.
To the south of the House of Dives is seen on the east side of the road
the front of a Saracenic fountain[509], which (as is stated by an
inscription) belongs to the age of Solyman. To avoid repetition, I may
mention that all the fountains in Jerusalem, so far as regards their
ornamentation, belong to the same epoch. It is now dry, because the
revenues, destined to supply it with water and repair its conduit, have
been absorbed by their former managers.
Keeping along the valley towards the south we come to a street leading
up to Temple Street; following this westward, we find on the left, after
a few yards, a Saracenic doorway, the ornamental details of which are
elegant and well executed[510]. It was the entrance to a boys' school
for Mohammedans, founded by Omar, and afterwards enriched by Saladin;
but a mass of ruins is the only memorial remaining of their liberality.
Near this gate on the west is a street; and at the beginning of this, an
opening in the ground covered with a large slab, giving admission into a
passage leading to the Fountain of the Virgin in the Kidron valley; of
which I shall speak again at greater length.
Opposite to the above-named gate is an ancient edifice, which, from the
masonry, may be attributed to Saladin or Solyman; it is called by the
Mohammedan chronicle the Hospital of Omar. I have examined the interior,
and it appears to me, from the arrangement of some of the principal
walls, to have been a church in the days of the Latin kingdom, most
probably the Church of S. Giles, mentioned by various writers of the
time of the Crusades[511]. The Saracenic architecture in its façade may
have been the addition of one of the two above-named Sultans, and shews
how rich the neighbourhood of Jerusalem is in fine coloured stones,
which take a polish like marble. Many of these are fastened together
with lead without mortar. This building might be thoroughly restored for
a small sum of money; but it is involved in the same destiny as all the
other ancient buildings belonging to the Mohammedans in Jerusalem, and
unless it be sold will soon be a heap of ruins.
In a small street on the west of the above is an ancient edifice, which
shews the hand of a skilful architect in the regularity of its façade,
and the arrangement of its inner walls. The wall of the former consists
of small stones with deeply-cut rustic-work up to the level of the first
floor; along which runs a very plain cornice beneath a row of
square-headed windows, also crowned with a projecting cornice. The
remainder of the façade is constructed of polished stones accurately
laid. In the ground-floor rooms, now converted into offices, are the
shafts and capitals of columns, and from the general appearance of the
building we may infer that it has been a chapel. Local traditions state
that it once belonged to the Germans; and it is not impossible that it
may have been a dependency of the establishment that afterwards gave
birth to the Teutonic order of knights. Returning to the Hospital of
Omar, and following the small street opposite to it, we arrive, after
crossing the central valley, at the spot on the western wall of the
_Haram_, where the Jews (as we have already mentioned[512]) come to
bewail the calamities of their nation. The stranger who visits the place
when the unhappy sons of Israel are gathered together there, returns
saddened by the sight of their grief. Ceaselessly swaying their bodies
from side to side, they utter their prayers in a wailing chant, broken
by sighs and sobs, as they kneel among the ruins of their departed
grandeur, a feeble and waning remnant in their fatherland. This
continual motion, as I was informed, is in memory of the wandering of
their ancestors, during the forty years that elapsed between their
exodus from Egypt and their entry into Canaan. Having easy access to the
_Haram_, and the power of introducing any person with me, I several
times offered to take various Jews into the place, and shew them the
true remains of the Temple of Solomon and of Herod; but they always
refused for the following reason. When the Temple was destroyed a great
number of holy vessels were buried in the ruins; therefore every Jew in
the Holy City refrains from visiting the sacred enclosure, for fear of
treading upon their dust, and so confines himself to lamenting outside
the wall. If one of them enters the _Haram_ (so they told me), he is
excommunicated by the chief Rabbi, and expelled by the whole body as a
sacrilegious person. All rules, however, have their exceptions, and so
has this; for Baron de Rothschild and Sir M. Montefiore, on the occasion
of their visit to Jerusalem, obtained permission from the authorities
and entered the _Haram_. This greatly displeased many of their brethren,
who grumbled loudly at it in secret; but the excommunication was not
fulminated; perhaps because they remembered that these gentlemen had
liberally aided in supporting them in times past, and were likely to do
so for the future; and consequently thought it would be very foolish to
offend them by an act of ignorant fanaticism.
Returning by the same street, we will now enter the Jewish Quarter and
visit the synagogues. The great ancient synagogue may be compared to a
vaulted cave; the way into which is down a badly constructed and worse
kept staircase. Some piers which were formerly ornamented with
wood-carvings and gilding (of which some slight traces still remain)
sustain the roof of these subterranean chambers, many parts of which
threaten to fall down. They are lighted by the feeble rays that struggle
through the broken panes of the closely grated windows. The place is
always damp, both from its low situation, and from the water which runs
into it during the winter-rains by the staircase, the windows, and the
leaky vaulted roof. Round the upper part of the chamber latticed wooden
galleries are built; but these are so separated one from another, and so
patched from repeated repairs, that they look more fit to be fowl-pens
than seats for the women, who seem to me to occupy a very dangerous
position. Below are shattered, rotten, worm-eaten benches, haunted by
swarms of voracious fleas, which are occupied by the men. At the end of
each chamber is a kind of wooden cupboard, with more or less tasteless
ornament about it, in the middle of which is the tabernacle, usually
covered with a torn curtain, which on festival days only is replaced by
another, given by some European benefactress. The tabernacle contains
nothing but a copy of the Scriptures, written on parchment rolls. The
tables of the law are kept with a holy veneration in the principal of
these chambers, wrapped up in a purple cloth embroidered with gold.
While the services are going on, each Israelite has upon his head a
piece of striped blue and white woollen cloth, edged with a cord, which
hangs down from each corner. Many also wear a little box on their
foreheads in which a copy of the ten commandments or of some other
passages of Scripture is enclosed[513]. When the Rabbins unroll the
parchment before the worshippers, each draws near to touch it reverently
with the end of one of the cords of his veil. The sad and solemn
psalmody of the Doctors of the law, answered by verses of the Bible
recited by all the people, with sighs and every manifestation of
profound grief, produces a feeling of compassion for this unhappy
remnant of Israel, whose constancy and resignation under so long and
heavy a burden seem to deserve a better fate.
What I have said of this synagogue may also be applied to the rest,
which, as they are smaller, so are they more inconvenient, and in a
still more ruinous condition. During my stay in the city a new synagogue
was built on the eastern slope of Sion, called the Polish. It rises
majestically, and its dome dominates over a large portion of the city,
but I know too well that it will not last long, as its foundations are
bad; because the master-mason who directed the work had not sufficiently
examined the ground, and so mistook its nature. They were laid in a
great measure on ancient walls, which, not so much from ignorance of
their existence, as from a mistaken economy, were not properly examined.
Therefore when the new walls were finished, and the greater part of the
dome completed, cracks, caused by a settlement, appeared all along the
building. Consequently it became necessary to strengthen the foundations
and to modify the design of the façade by closing up arches and windows,
and using iron tie-rods. At present it seems likely to stand for some
years; but not for a long period, as its materials and masonry are not
very strong.
A German synagogue on the east of the Polish, reached by threading a
labyrinth of dirty lanes, is now being repaired. Those in charge of the
work have begun to restore the façade, over which they have wasted a
great quantity of money in loading it with useless ornament; and have
paid no attention to the interior, which, in my opinion, should be the
first consideration: consequently they are now at a standstill for want
of funds. There are other small synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, but
these are not worth notice, being only rooms used for that purpose.
Quitting the Jewish Quarter by its south side in order to reach the Sion
Gate, we come upon the Armenian property, and stop a little to examine
their churches. In the outer wall of the Convent, close to the Gate of
David, is a small chapel, said to occupy the site of the house of Annas
the High-Priest, father-in-law to Caiaphas[514], whither our Saviour was
brought after he had been made prisoner at Gethsemane. The tradition is
not very old, and is of little value, because, after so large a part of
the city towards the south has been destroyed, and the whole greatly
changed by the ravages of Titus's army and other causes, it is highly
improbable that the site of a house can be exactly fixed.
Adrichomius[515] says of this chapel, "the house of Annas, father-in-law
to Caiaphas, where afterwards the Church of the Holy Angels was built."
It is small, but divided into a nave and two side aisles by two pillars,
which sustain the vaulted roof.
Outside this chapel, near the wall, is a very old olive-tree, which
gives rise to the Arab name _Deir-Zeitun_ (Convent of the Olive). It
certainly is not so old as the time of our Saviour, as it could not have
escaped the ravages of the Roman troops, and besides, is growing upon a
thick mass of rubbish. The Armenian monks relate that the Saviour was
tied to it when he was brought to the High-Priest's house; and in
consequence of this legend, the Christians (especially those of the
East) hold the tree in great veneration, and think themselves happy if
they can procure a little piece of it. On this point I may adopt the
words of the Abbé Mariti[516]. "In order to check the rush of devotees
upon this tree, and to preserve the advantages resulting from it, the
Armenians have surrounded it with a wall to prevent the faithful from
approaching near to it. Of its fruit they make rosaries, which they
present to pilgrims, who requite the donors with large gifts. In order
to increase the fervour of devotion they keep a lamp burning near the
tree, the oil of which is said by the monks to have worked miracles;"
and therefore has a ready sale among the credulous.
The Church of S. James the Great, one of the best in Palestine, belongs
to the Armenians. Its founder is not positively known, but it was
certainly built after the departure of the Crusaders from Jerusalem. It
is generally thought that it was one of the Spanish Kings, probably
Peter of Arragon, who in 1362, being on terms of amity with the Sultan,
gave large gifts to the Holy Land. The name of the church (after the
patron Saint of Spain), and tradition, are in favour of this
supposition. After the Mohammedan conquest of the city, the Armenians
doubtless occupied it and the adjoining convents, but it is stated in
Jerusalem (by the Franciscans) that in the time of Ibrahim Pasha, A.D.
1837, when the Armenians were obliged to prove their title to certain
parts of the convent and church by producing documents, they had none in
their archives, and, under false pretences, came to the Franciscans to
see if they had preserved any. This would shew that they had some doubt
themselves to their right to the property they enjoy. However, one of
their members (a respectable Armenian from Constantinople) to whom I
mentioned this, asking him whether it were true, asserted that they had,
besides firmans of Omar Kotab, of Saladin, and others, one from Mohammed
himself. This he affirmed with shouts and gesticulations, and with every
sign which an Oriental uses to impress his hearer with a belief in his
veracity. He promised to shew me this document, but some how or other
never found an opportunity, although, unquestionably, the monks do
exhibit it to credulous pilgrims. The church is well worth notice. It is
said to stand on the spot where the Saint was martyred[517], but it
would be difficult to prove the truth of the tradition. The façade[518]
is very plain, and of later date than the rest of the building. It has a
porch where the Easterns leave their shoes before entering the doors;
both from reverence, and to avoid injuring the marble pavement and rich
Persian carpets. In the upper part of the porch is a gallery, occupied
by the women during service, so that they are separated from the men.
The interior is divided into a nave and two side aisles, of different
dimensions, by four large piers, and is lighted by a graceful dome. On
the walls are pictures, which are very remarkable both from the subjects
and style of painting; for example, in depicting the souls in purgatory,
the artist seems to have had before his mind one of Dante's divisions of
Hell. There is a profusion of gilding and mosaic work; the latter is
admirable, being composed of the different breccias abundant in the
country. The design of the inlaid work of mother-of-pearl and
tortoise-shell is remarkably good; and, in a word, the whole church is
kept in such excellent order, that it is an honour to its owners. On the
right hand we find, on entering, a small chapel richly ornamented with
marble and inlaid work, where the supposed spot of the Saint's martyrdom
is shewn. The Latin monks are permitted by the Armenians to celebrate
mass here on the festival of the Saint. On the same side, but nearer the
entrance, is the treasury, which is worth a visit, not so much for the
gems it contains as for certain Armenian antiquities, among which the
most remarkable are some sceptres of the ancient kings, and a staff made
of a single piece of amber 3-1/2 feet long. A piece of the true Cross,
three inches long and as thick as the third finger, enclosed in a casket
enriched with precious stones, is preserved among the numerous relics.
The Latins assert that it belongs to them, and was appropriated by the
Armenians when they were exposed to persecution. In the Chapel of S.
Miazim is a box containing three large stones, which the monks exhibit
with great reverence, stating that one came from Mount Horeb, another
from the Jordan, and the third from Mount Tabor. Thus far I can believe
them; but, in order to render them more marvellous, they say that they
formed part of the twelve stones which the children of Israel set up in
the Jordan[519]. The Armenians had discovered this fact before A.D.
1628, because it was related to and believed by a certain Alberto
Follesi, a Florentine of that date. They have the property of
foretelling rain and wind.
On leaving the Church of S. James, and following the street to the
north, we find, on the right, a small arch opening on to a street
running eastward; and going some little distance along this, we see, on
the left, a ruined chapel, which, at the time of the Crusades, was the
traditional site of S. Peter's prison[520].
Keeping along the street which turns to the north we reach the Syrian
convent, in which is a church said to stand upon the site of the House
of S. Mark, whither S. Peter went on his release from prison[521]. Here
a font is shewn, which is asserted to be the one used for the Virgin
Mary. Besides this there is nothing else remarkable within. It is really
surprising how the Christians at Jerusalem have preserved all the
traditions of the most ordinary localities, and been able to discover
the exact spots after all the changes and injuries the city has
undergone! Behind the English church and near the English hospital is
the small Church of S. James the Less; its plan is an oblong of 32 feet
by 19. The choir, with a cornice running round it on the inside, is
still to be seen. It is said to occupy the site of the ancient House of
S. James.
The English church was built in 1841. It is a cruciform Gothic building,
which style (in my opinion) is altogether out of place in Jerusalem. The
interior is not remarkable. The services are performed with propriety,
and it is the only church free from the insect-plagues of Jerusalem,
and in which the visitor can pray undisturbed by noise or laughter;
because the number of worshippers is small, and the Eastern Christians
are not attracted there by any pomp or ceremony. I may venture to add,
that perhaps this latter circumstance is the reason why the number of
proselytes does not increase in proportion to the benevolent exertions
of the Jews' Society. Both its members, and the zealous missionaries who
from time to time sojourn in the country, should not be ignorant of the
nature of the spirit with which they daily have to deal in the East, and
should know that the greatest obstacle to their success is the severe
form of their religion. The Oriental dislikes reading, and is averse to
hearing sermons, which he either does not understand or is wearied by.
He is more gained over by the eye than by the ear, and is with
difficulty persuaded that a priest in a black gown or plain white
surplice can be as important a person as one of his 'Papas,' who wears a
magnificent vestment in the church, shouts and chants loudly, and makes
a thousand signs of the cross, and as many genuflexions. More ceremony
and a more elaborate ritual would contribute greatly to the success of
the English missionaries, whose excellent organization and conduct
deserves all praise.
Nearly opposite to the above is the citadel of Jerusalem, called the
Castle of David, or of the Pisans. I have already spoken[522] of all the
objects of antiquarian interest which are to be seen there; and have
nothing to add beyond expressing my surprise at the carelessness of the
government in suffering every part of it to fall into decay. The
garrison of the city is not quartered there, but only a guard is posted
at the entrance, to prevent any one from going inside who is not
furnished with an order from the Commandant of the place. The reason of
this strictness is that part of it is used as a powder magazine; and
besides, some cannon are kept there, most of which are useless, as they
have been spiked or battered. Formerly various pieces of armour of the
time of the Crusades, which had been found in the neighbourhood of the
city and in other parts of Palestine, were preserved here, but the
collection has been dispersed. Some of the principal officers of the
garrison thought fit to represent to the department of artillery at
Constantinople, that it would be a good plan to dispose of them, as they
were articles of no value. The requisite order was quickly given, and
then, according to the usual custom of the government, the money was
kept back from the exchequer and used for private purposes. The
traveller who mounts to the top of the tower will be well repaid by the
general view of the surrounding country. The scenery is unattractive and
almost saddening; ranges of arid hills enclose the city, white with bare
faces of heated rock, whereon no herbage grows. Both near and far these
are dotted over with ruined Arab cottages, with little mosques and
tombs; and when the eye turns aside to range over the intervening
fields, it finds nothing more pleasing on which to repose. Everywhere is
barrenness, everywhere desolation; below there seems to lie a city of
the dead rather than of the living; around, a land of tombs rather than
of men.
Going from the citadel along the street toward the north-west we arrive
at the Latin Convent of S. Saviour, within which is the parish-church of
the same title. On each side two pillars supporting the very low vaulted
roof divide the nave from the two side aisles. In front of the high
altar rises a little slightly-depressed dome, and opposite to it is the
choir with well-carved stalls. The size of the building in length and
breadth is also very small in comparison with the number of people
frequenting it. For many years past the monks have had a plan for
enlarging it; but they have always been prevented from carrying their
design into effect by the prohibition of the authorities; and so the
Latins have to suffer from heat or damp according to the season of the
year. It is therefore to be hoped that the place will soon be made more
commodious.
Besides the churches and chapels which I have already noticed, many
others are indicated either by ruins, or tradition, or history
(especially by the chronicles of the time of the Crusades[523]); but as
they are now destroyed, or at least no longer used for worship, and
their remains are not of any interest, I pass them over in silence. It
is stated[524] that at the time of the Crusades the Christians possessed
as many as three hundred and sixty-five churches and monasteries in
Jerusalem. I now proceed to mention those convents which still belong to
the different religious communities, the number of which is far below
that just mentioned.
The Latin Convent of S. Saviour is the chief and greatest of those
belonging to the Guardians of the Holy Land. Here dwell the Superiors of
the Friars Minor of the Order of S. Francis; and consequently from it
orders and instructions are issued to all the rest of the convents,
which are dependencies of the Holy Guardianship, in Constantinople,
Egypt, Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine. The site of the building is one of
the best in Jerusalem, as it stands on the highest part of Mount Gareb,
near the north-west corner of the city-wall, and there looks down upon
the greater part of the city. It resembles a castle rather than a
convent; but this is due to the additions made by the monks during the
three centuries it has been in their hands, rather than to its original
design. The first abode of the Franciscans was on Mount Sion (which I
will describe in speaking of the 'Coenaculum'), but being dispossessed
by the Mohammedans A.D. 1550, they were obliged to occupy a place on
the same hill, called from its smallness the 'Oven.' In course of time,
being assisted by contributions from Europe, they hired from the
Georgians the Convent of S. Saviour (then called _Deir 'Amud_, Convent
of the Column), where they established themselves on a surer footing
inside the city. This they afterwards purchased from the proprietors,
A.D. 1559, by the favour of the Sublime Porte, who imposed on them hard
conditions[525]. The price of the ground was 1000 sultanins (about
£120), and that of the buildings 1200 Venetian sequins; but as the
property was much too small they obtained permission to increase it,
A.D. 1561, and again on other occasions, and so gradually brought it to
its present condition. The earliest part of the convent is that which is
round the church. There are two entrances, a large door on the south
side, and a small one on the west; both are strengthened and defended
with iron, a necessary precaution in a country where the power of
self-defence is requisite in case of popular tumults; which now,
however, very rarely occur. By entering the great door we can visit the
ground-floor of the convent, in which we find many large cisterns, hewn
in the rock, and supplied by the rains. When there is a drought in the
country, the poor Latins, and not seldom the Mohammedans, draw their
supplies of water from these. Here we see all the offices required by a
great convent that entertains and supports a large number of pilgrims,
such as gardens and courts, stables, extensive cellars, storehouses for
food, wood, and charcoal, horse-mills, ovens, and forges; shops for
carpenters, turners, shoemakers, and wax-candles; a dispensary well
supplied with medicines, and zealously and efficiently served, always
liberally open to all comers; and lastly, a printing-press, which though
small is admirably managed, and annually publishes books on religious
subjects in Arabic, Latin, Italian, and other languages; the type being
cast on the premises. In the upper story are the monks' cells, the
apartment of the Guardian of the Holy Land, and that of the Procurer
General, an infirmary, reserved for the brethren, workshops, in some of
which the vestments are made, in others the clothing of the monks; a
shop where the manufactures of the Holy Land are sold, such as rosaries,
shell-work, crosses, and the like[526]; a library containing some most
valuable manuscripts and many excellent books; and finally, the Church
of S. Saviour (mentioned above), with the adjoining sacristy. In this a
very great number of objects are preserved, valuable not only for the
intrinsic worth of the precious metals and jewels which they contain,
but also for the work of the artists who made them. These are but rarely
shewn, and the more splendid have not seen the light for years. They are
the gifts of many of the European courts in past and present times, and
of countries which have had a love for the Holy Land. The convent
ordinarily contains about fifty inmates, clerics and laics; but can hold
a much greater number; as in fact it does at the Easter festivals.
The Latin Patriarchate is a house belonging to the Franciscans, which
was intended for a hospice. In 1859 the foundations of the new
Patriarchate were laid near the north-west corner of the city. It is not
yet finished, but before long Jerusalem will possess a good new house,
which, while convenience is not sacrificed to vain show, will be
internally well arranged. M. Valerga himself drew the plan.
Opposite to the Latin Convent of S. Saviour on the south, is that of the
Sisters of S. Joseph, who have been lodged in two native houses, altered
to receive them. The interior is very confined and damp, and in
consequence unhealthy. The poor nuns, in number fourteen, suffer with
resignation, waiting until it please Heaven to grant them a better
abode, and with that a wider field for their benevolent labours in the
instruction of poor girls.
To the north of the arch of the 'Ecce Homo' is the Convent of the
Daughters of Sion, which I have already mentioned[527]. It is a new
building, the interior of which might have been very well arranged, but
the plans of the architect were continually altered by the
changeableness of a person who had that power. We, however, must not
deny to him the merit of having introduced into Palestine this excellent
order, whose members came thither with the object of converting the
Jews, but at present are occupied in educating orphans.
The Greek Catholic Convent is near the Jaffa Gate, and is inhabited by
two or three 'Papas,' whose Bishop usually resides at S. Jean d'Acre.
Internally it is in no respect worth notice. The church is a very large
modern room; and on its south wall is a singular picture representing
the Last Judgement, Paradise and Hell; angels are contending fiercely
with devils, and the condemned struggling with the righteous on the
banks of a river, whereon Charon is rowing his boat. The seven mortal
sins are also unmistakeably represented. The painting is not fitted for
the walls of a church.
The Armenian Catholics have at present only a single monk in Jerusalem,
a good and energetic man. As the representative of his co-religionists
he purchased in 1856 a plot of land containing the third station of the
Via Dolorosa, and bounded on the south by the fourth station. This he
would not have been able to acquire, had he not been aided by the alms
of his party and the support of M. de Barrère, the French consul, who,
as usual, earnestly pressed his cause with the local authorities. The
property was utterly neglected by the Mohammedans so long as it was in
their possession, and considered to be the ruin of an ancient bath; the
eastern part was used as the Pasha's stable. A church, convent, and
hospice for pilgrims, will soon rise upon the spot; and I trust that in
removing the ruins they will discover some traces of the second line of
walls, which I believe to have passed over this ground.
The central Convent of the orthodox Greeks is that of S. Constantine,
which is situated on the west of the Church of the Resurrection.
Attached to it, on the north side, is the Patriarch's house, which has
no architectural merit, but is well arranged and comfortable, with a
good garden. The convent itself, though very large, is no better than a
labyrinth of cottages of different sizes and heights, which have been
bought from time to time and joined together as best they could. It is
therefore full of court-yards, large and small, lanes, passages, and
flights of steps; and has also a small but well-kept garden, near the
sacristy. Inside is an excellent dispensary, and all the offices and
workshops, which this Royal Convent requires, not only for its own
purposes, but also for the use of all its dependencies, especially those
in Jerusalem. The chapel is dedicated to S. Constantine; it abuts
against the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre, and is of great antiquity. It
is adorned as well with pavements of valuable marbles, as with original
pictures, curious specimens of Byzantine art; and possesses a great
number of sacred silver vessels and magnificent vestments. There is also
a very ill-arranged and dusty library, rich in Greek, Arabic, and
Georgian manuscripts, and in ancient Byzantine books; but they are
rarely examined, consequently the rats and worms are more attentive to
them than the monks. They cannot be seen without the permission of the
Patriarch or his deputy; nor can the treasury, which is full of ancient
works of Byzantine art, given by Russia and every other country in which
the members of the Greek church are found, and the cry of Jerusalem is
heard. I have never seen it, nor am I aware of any other traveller who
has. In the lower parts of the buildings, on the east, the native rock
appears, which is a continuation upwards of that seen inside the Church
of the Resurrection, at the tombs of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
The parts of the convent near the Holy Sepulchre, and to the east and
south, enable us to understand the words of William of Tyre[528]
concerning the Hospitalers, "That during the disputes between the Canons
and the Knights, the latter shot arrows out of their own convent into
that of their adversaries." In fact, the Canons then inhabited the
south-east part of the present Greek convent, as well as the church, and
the part behind to the north of it. There are fifty monks in the
convent, and six Bishops, besides Archimandrites, Priests, and laics;
about eighty in all. They are distinguished by the title of Monks of the
Sepulchre. Besides these is a large number of boys who attend upon the
Papas and the church, and wear the monastic dress; and many servants
taken from the people of the city.
In addition to the convent of S. Constantine, the Greeks possess many
other convents in Jerusalem. These are, S. Demetrius, S. George of the
Hospital, S. Michael the Archangel[529], S. John the Fore-runner, S.
George of the Hebrews (in whose church is an ancient Byzantine mosaic
pavement), S. Charalampes, S. Abraham, S. Nicholas (where an ancient
Georgian church is worth a visit, as well as the printing-office, which
publishes good reprints of books in excellent type), the succursal of
Gethsemane, and a new convent by the Damascus Gate. Each of these is
under the government of a Prior, who performs service in their
respective chapels, and, at the season of pilgrimages, entertains
strangers sent to him from the great convents; by whom, as I will
explain presently, his revenues are chiefly supplied.
The nunneries are, Megala Panagia (Great S. Mary's), S. Theodore, S.
Basil (near the position I assign to the tower Psephinus; the Dead Sea
is visible from its terrace-roofs); S. Catharine, Micra Panagia (Little
S. Mary's), and S. Euthymius[530]. The females who come on pilgrimage to
the Holy City are entertained in these. The Prioresses and the sisters
are taken from the lower orders, and many of them act as servants in the
convents of the Priors and Papas.
The principal Armenian convent, to which the Patriarchate is attached,
is on Mount Sion. Its great extent, its situation, its many advantages,
its excellent masonry, and, above all, its admirable internal
arrangements, render it unquestionably the best establishment in the
city. It may be compared to a fortress, without ditches indeed, yet
strong enough to defend itself against an attack of the populace or of
the peasants in case of a riot. Its terrace-roofs command an extensive
panorama, and would supply an ample space for exercise to the monks,
even without the large courts and gardens enclosed within its walls. The
latter are the best in the city, and contain some majestic
cypress-trees, and some cedars, which the vivid fancy of the Easterns
attributes to the age of David. This belief is shared by the pilgrims,
and slips of them never fail to fetch a high price. The west front of
the convent is European work, of the same date as the church. The
Armenians assert that it was erected by Spain for a hospital or hospice;
but nothing certain is known on this point. The Patriarch's apartment is
most comfortable and well appointed. The library is well kept. Many of
the books are of no great value; but there are some important
manuscripts and rare liturgies. The printing-press is well managed: they
print in Armenian, Arabic, and sometimes Turkish characters, and publish
reprints of ancient liturgies and tales, but no books of any size. The
full complement of monks, including the laics, together with the
Patriarch and two Bishops, is from forty to fifty. This number is
necessary in order to supply the services of the Church of the
Resurrection, the Sepulchre of the Virgin, and the Convent of Caiaphas
outside the Sion Gate.
The interior of the Syrian convent is not remarkable. It is a plain
ordinary Arab building, but outside it on the north is a great pointed
arch entirely built up, called by the Orientals the Gate of S. Mark's
House, at which S. Peter knocked. As the arch and its foundations are of
the date of the Crusades, I of course do not believe the legend. The
Syrian Bishop has two or three monks, who assist him in performing the
church services and in receiving pilgrims.
Some houses near the church belong to the English mission, and are
inhabited by the missionaries and other persons attached to it. They are
neat, but do not call for special mention.
The Prussian mission possesses a house near the Judgement Gate, occupied
by the Pastor who has the spiritual charge of the mission, and another,
near the English church, inhabited by deaconesses, who are engaged in
the instruction of girls (as I shall presently explain), and in
rendering charitable aid to the sick.
The Coptic convent is on the north of and near to the Pool of Hezekiah;
it is a plain Arab house. Its inmates are far from clean, and the
visitor generally carries away unpleasant reminiscences of their
dwelling; they also possess another house near the north-east corner of
the Church of the Resurrection, of which I have already spoken[531]; as
well as of the miserable dens that shelter the Abyssinians.
The convent of the Kusbeck Dervishes stands against the south end of the
arch of the Ecce Homo. With the exception of their chief, they are
engaged in work in Jerusalem, and spend the money thus earned in
pilgrimages to the Mohammedan sanctuaries. They are sober, prayerful,
peaceable men, free from the vice of fanaticism. When I was
superintending the buildings of the Daughters of Sion I had good
opportunity of learning their character. Even at the time of the
massacres of Lebanon I never saw them shewing signs of joy. Their chief
is an intelligent and very moderate man.
The convent of the Dancing Dervishes is on the summit of Bezetha (as I
call it), next to the ancient Church of S. Peter, which I have already
mentioned. Inside and outside, especially in the lower part, we see
remains of the Crusaders' work. At the present time there are only two
inmates, who are more disposed to good than evil. Its minaret commands a
view of Jerusalem, and of the whole length of the Tyropoeon valley,
from which the topography of the ancient city is far more readily
understood than from any description or plan.
The Howling or Lancer Dervishes, as I call them, do not live in a
community, but very frequently assemble in a house opposite to the
Hospital of S. Helena, which may be considered as their convent. Many of
the principal Effendis of the city belong to this order. The badge of
membership is a necklace of wooden beads round the neck, and a long
staff with an iron lance-head in the hand. They were founded by an old
Mohammedan santon, an inhabitant of the neighbourhood of S. Jean
d'Acre, who came to Jerusalem in 1856 to preach a course of sermons.
When these dervishes hold their meetings, or are coming from them, they
sing at the top of their voices in the streets, from which practice I
have given them their name. Their distinctive marks might lead us to
mistrust them, but in difficult circumstances they have proved
themselves worthy of confidence; so perhaps I did wrong when I was
hard-hearted enough to break the lance-handle of a country dervish, who
met me on the Jaffa road, and demanded a _bakshish_ rather in the tone
of a soldier than of a monk. I made him amends by repairing his lance,
and gave it back to him, comforting him with the assurance that it would
be as good as ever for the next traveller he met.
The Jews have no establishments where the Doctors and Rabbins live in
common, so that I pass over in silence their dwellings, which are
destitute of everything except neatness.
I believe that I have now gone through all the buildings in the interior
of Jerusalem without exception, and have only to speak of the waters;
but these I shall leave for another chapter, and consider them after I
have described the neighbourhood.
FOOTNOTES:
[460] Plate II.
[461] Page 64.
[462] Jewish War, V. 5, § 8.
[463] Ibid. V. 5, § 8.
[464] Ibid. V. 4, § 2.
[465] Plate XI.
[466] S. Cyril. Catech. Lect. XIII. (Libr. of Fathers, Vol. II. p. 163).
[467] Holy City, Vol. II. p. 375.
[468] De Vogüé, Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, p. 299, quoting from
Gesta Francorum expugn. Hierus. Bongars. p. 573.
[469] Quoted by De Vogüé, p. 299.
[470] Elucidatio Terræ Sanctæ, Lib. IV. Pereg. 6, c. 2, Vol. II. p. 181,
col. 2, ed. 1639.
[471] Ibid.
[472] Elucidatio Terræ Sanctæ, Lib. IV. Pereg. 6, c. 5, Vol. II. p. 196,
col. 2, ed. 1639.
[473] Hist. de l'état présent de Jérus. Ch. XIII.
[474] Note I; Plates XII., XIII.
[475] S. John xix. 5.
[476] Ch. III. page 60.
[477] Histoire de l'état présent de Jésus. Ch. XIII.
[478] S. Luke xxiii. 7-11.
[479] Jewish War, I. 3, § 3.
[480] M. de Vogüé (Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, p. 304) states that
it is mentioned in the Citez de Jherusalem.
[481] S. Matt. xxvii. 32; S. Mark xv. 21; S. Luke xxiii. 26.
[482] S. Matt. ix. 20.
[483] Nehem. xii. 39.
[484] S. Luke xxiii. 28.
[485] Nicephorus, H. E. Lib. VIII. c. 30.
[486] De Fide Orth. Lib. IV. 14. Quoted by Quaresm. E. T. S. Lib. IV.
Pereg. 3, c. 12., Tom. II. p. 103, col. 2, ed. 1639.
[487] C. 11 (cf. c. 6), also quoted by Quaresm. Ibid.
[488] See De Vogüé, Les Églises, pp. 233, et seq.
[489] Note II.
[490] Lib. XI. c. 1. Gesta Dei, Vol. II. p. 795 (ed. 1611).
[491] Lib. XI. c. 1. Gesta Dei, Vol. II. p. 795 (ed. 1611).
[492] Lib. XV. c. 26. Gesta Dei, Vol. II. p. 887 (ed 1611).
[493] Les Églises, &c. pp. 242, 243.
[494] Plates XL., XLI., XLII.
[495] I was the first person who made a plan of it before it came into
the possession of France.
[496] Note III.
[497] Les Églises, &c. p. 235.
[498] i.e. of the Hejra, corresponding with A.D. 1192.
[499] De Fide Orthodoxa, Lib. VI. c. 5.
[500] S. Luke vii. 37, 38.
[501] S. Matt. xxvi. 6, 7; S. Mark xiv. 3; S. John xii. 1.
[502] Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, p. 292.
[503] Ibid. p. 294.
[504] John of Würtzburg, c. VII.
[505] Cartulary, p. 221: "Between the Latin Canons of the most glorious
Sepulchre and the Jacobite monks of S. Mary Magdalene."
[506] Mejir-ed-Din, p. 123.
[507] Plate XLIII.
[508] The part of a house assigned to the females of a family.
[509] Plate XLIV.
[510] Plate XLIV.
[511] La Citez de Jherusalem: see De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. pp. 303,
439. Furnus S. Egidii in vico Templi. Cart. p. 331.
[512] Ch. III. page 72.
[513] A custom derived from a literal interpretation of Deut. vi. 8. See
also Prov. vi. 21; vii. 3.
[514] S. John xviii. 13.
[515] Adric. No. VIII. (Quaresm. E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 5, c. 14, Tom.
II. p. 172, col. 2, ed. 1639).
[516] Mariti, p. 82.
[517] Acts xii. 2.
[518] Plate XXXIX.
[519] Josh. iv. 9, 20.
[520] M. de Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 304.
[521] Acts xii. 12.
[522] Ch. II. p. 29. See also Note VIII. to the same chapter.
[523] See De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. pp. 303, 304.
[524] By an anonymous Greek writer in Scriptt. Hist. Byzant. XXV. c. 12.
Ed. Venet. 1733.
[525] Note IV.
[526] Note V.
[527] Ch. III. p. 60.
[528] Lib. XVII. c. 3 (Gesta Dei, &c. Tom. II. p. 933).
[529] Note VI.
[530] Note VI.
[531] Ch. IV. page 126.
CHAPTER VI.
EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE CITY ON THE EAST, SOUTH, AND
SOUTH-WEST--THE VALLEY OF KIDRON, CALLED ALSO THE VALLEY OF
JEHOSHAPHAT, WITH ITS MONUMENTS AND REMARKABLE PLACES--THE MOUNT OF
OLIVES--BETHPHAGE--BETHANY--THE VALLEY OF HINNOM--THE MOUNT OF EVIL
COUNSEL--SOUTH-WESTERN PART OF THE VALLEY OF GIHON--MOUNT
SION--CHRISTIAN CEMETERIES--TOMB OF DAVID, AND SUBTERRANEAN
VAULTS--THE COENACULUM--THE HOUSE OF CAIAPHAS--THE GROTTO OF S.
PETER--THE LEPERS.
As we go out of the eastern gate, called S. Mary's and also S. Stephen's
Gate, we see on the left-hand a pool, by name _Birket-Hammam
Sitti-Mariam_ (the Pool of the Bath of our Lady Mary). The origin of
this name is that it receives the waters of the ditch outside the
eastern wall, and then by a conduit supplies a bath inside the city,
near the Church of S. Ann. This bath is a favourite with the women of
Jerusalem, who attribute to it miraculous virtues; but unfortunately
they can only profit by them for a few days in the year, as the
neighbouring cisterns and the pool, instead of retaining the water,
allow it to escape; since the reservoir and conduits are in a ruinous
condition, and the proprietor of the bath is too blind to his own
interest to repair them.
On the right of the gate, as we go out, we see a Saracenic monument,
which is daily falling to ruin[532]. Some of the Arabs believe that it
was built over a sepulchre; others, that it is a monument to mark the
spot where the Khalif Omar pitched his tent after traversing the Valley
of Jehoshaphat. Whichever be the true account, it ought to be preserved.
But the Mohammedan makes no effort to arrest the ravages of time.
Hence a large portion of the Kidron valley is seen at a glance,
especially that part which is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat[533], a
name derived from the tomb attributed to that king, which is covered
with earth on the east of that of Absalom. Adamnanus, the historian of
Arculf's travels, is the first to mention the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and
his description agrees with that given by Willibald, another author of
the eighth century[534]. The celebrity of this valley is due to a
belief, widely spread among both Christians and Mohammedans, that it
will be the scene of the Last Judgement. This has arisen from the words
of the prophet Joel, "I will also gather all nations, and will bring
them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there
for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among
the nations, and parted my land"[535]; and again, "Let the heathen be
wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit
to judge all the heathen round about[536]." In this same valley many of
the ancient Jews, both high and low, have been interred, and the custom
still continues; for they possess a cemetery extending along the eastern
bank of the valley, while the two on the western belong to the
Mohammedans. It appears that the Christians have also used the place for
the same purpose, since, in November 1856, when the Greeks were
cultivating a plot of ground on the western bank of the valley, a short
distance from the tomb of Mary, they found a well-executed slab of
Palestine breccia, on which a cross and the following words were carved:
"The monument which contains Stephen and Juliana." On its removal the
two skeletons were found. As the work went on, fragments of stone, stone
crosses, and human bones were found, unquestionable proofs that it was
the site of an ancient Christian cemetery. It is then certain that this
valley has long been used for the cemetery of the city, as it is at the
present day. In the reign of Josiah mention is made of the "graves of
the children of the people[537]." Urijah, who was slain by Jehoiakim,
was "cast into the graves of the common people[538]." Adrichomius[539]
says that "it received the corpses of the common people and of the
great." I believe that the ancients had a reason in selecting this place
rather than any other for their graves, which was that the winds do not
usually blow strongly from this quarter in Palestine, and therefore the
effluvia from the cemetery would not be borne into the city, but would
be confined to the lower parts of the valley.
It is then to this, also called the Kidron Valley, from the Arab name
_Wady Kedron_, that I conduct the reader, in order that we may examine
it thoroughly. After descending by the road nearly to the bottom of the
slope, we come to a bare patch of yellow limestone-rock, said to be the
spot were S. Stephen was stoned. The tradition however does not rest
upon a probable foundation, and is more recent than the time of the
Crusades; and as no mention is made in the Bible[540] of either the
gate or the direction of the place where the Proto-martyr suffered, I
must be allowed to doubt its truth. It however is so firmly implanted in
the minds of the pilgrims of the different sects who visit the place,
that their eyes are able to discover the Saint's effigy on the rock
itself; and they forget that even if it had been sculptured there, it
would have long ago disappeared under the hammers of the devout
believers, who have for some centuries made a practice of breaking off
fragments as relics. Several writers have demonstrated the worthlessness
of the tradition, by shewing that from the fifth century to the close of
the Latin kingdom at Jerusalem, the place of the Saint's martyrdom was
believed to be outside the present Damascus Gate, which then bore S.
Stephen's name[541]. It is not known for what reason this name was in
the fourteenth century transferred to the east gate, which, during the
Crusades, had always been called the Gate of Jehoshaphat.
Near this pretended site of the Saint's martyrdom is the opening of a
cave, which some consider to have been the entrance into the vaults of a
church, erected by the Empress Eudoxia. I endeavoured to clear it out,
but was prevented by the quantity of stones and earth it contained;
however, I was able to ascertain that it had been an ancient cistern,
and did not present any indications of the presence of tombs. I think
that the letters at the opening, now scarcely visible, are the work of
pilgrims. Eudoxia's church was a little distance from the Damascus Gate
(as I will presently explain); and the steepness of the rocks and the
unevenness of the surface here precludes us from believing that this can
have ever been the site of a church, and there are no traces of ancient
walls, nor hewn stones lying about, to shew that any building has been
erected here.
Following the road eastward from this point, we arrive at the dry bed of
the Kidron torrent, crossed by a small stone bridge, the lower part of
which is evidently very ancient. Above this is some masonry of the time
of the Crusades, and the rest, including the arch, is old Arab work. In
the present day the Kidron is only full of water after a heavy fall of
rain, and quickly becomes dry again as soon as this ceases. Kidron is a
Hebrew word, meaning 'darkness;' derived either from the former depth of
the valley down which it flowed, or from the circumstance that its
ancient bed was narrow and choked with projecting rocks, or from the
cedar-groves, which some believe to have once flourished upon the slopes
of the valley[542]. This torrent is famous in both the Old and New
Testament. David crossed it in his flight from his rebellious son
Absalom[543]; Asa burnt and destroyed an idol here[544]; Hezekiah and
Josiah, in restoring the worship of God, cast down here the uncleanness
from the Temple and the broken idol altars[545]. Our Saviour frequently
crossed it on his way from the Mount of Olives and Bethany; especially
it is mentioned on that night when he went to the garden of
Gethsemane[546]. At the present day the Kidron is a means of discovering
antiquities, in the following way. In the spring of 1855, after a heavy
rain-fall, I noticed that some peasants of Siloam were examining the mud
which had been brought down by the torrent. I approached them, and
learnt that they were searching for old coins. I at once determined to
imitate them, and every year at the time of the heavy rains went to the
Kidron with a couple of men, and constructed small dykes to retain the
mud; and when the water had fallen, I riddled the soil thus deposited,
and always found coins; sometimes of considerable value, such as
shekels, medals of Alexander and Antiochus, and of others[547]. The
reason that these things are found in the Kidron is that the rubbish
from the city, and especially from Mount Moriah, was from the earliest
periods thrown down the western bank of the valley; consequently all the
ground on that side is artificial and not well consolidated; so that the
heavy rains wash down the earth into the torrent, together with the
objects hidden in it. There is no difficulty in the process, and the
supply is by no means exhausted; so that any collector of Jewish coins
may profit by the above description.
After crossing the bridge just mentioned, we see, immediately on our
left hand, a cubical building, three of whose sides are buried in the
ground, while the façade[548] (on the south) is uncovered. Before this
is a little open platform reached by some steps[549]. It is said to
cover the tomb of the Virgin Mary, but we have no evidence which enables
us to fix the date of its erection. An examination of the tomb itself
would lead us to suppose that the buildings around it were
contemporaneous with S. Helena: for it is a small chamber hewn in the
rock, which I have seen on the inside and outside of the eastern wall,
in the lower parts (close to the ground), and underneath the marble
slabs covering the Greek altar, which has been constructed upon a shelf
along the chamber-wall, originally made to support a corpse, exactly
like that in the Sepulchre of Christ. It is, then, beyond all question,
an ancient Jewish tomb; and at the erection of the church the rock was
hewn away all round, in order to detach it from the main mass (which is
seen close by), and isolate it in the middle of the building; just as
was done at the Holy Sepulchre. We may therefore infer that this work
was contemporaneous with that at the Church of the Resurrection, and
that it was executed by order of S. Helena[550], as is stated by
Nicephorus Callistus, an author of the fourteenth century. I hold that
S. Helena began the work, but did not complete it, because at this time
not only was the traditionary site of the tomb a matter of dispute, but
also the question of the Assumption of the Virgin was as yet undecided
by the learned; a point which was not settled till after A.D. 431, when
it was declared by the third General Council, held at Ephesus, that the
tombs of the Virgin and S. John were in that city. Besides, if S. Helena
had erected a building over the tomb, I cannot account for the silence
of Eusebius, the historian of that Empress and her son Constantine, upon
that point. I am confirmed in my opinion, that S. Helena did not do more
than commence this work, by the fact that neither S. Jerome nor S.
Epiphanius, who visited and described Jerusalem, make any mention of
this as a sanctuary. Had it then existed, they would not have omitted to
name it; especially since, in the fourth century, the belief was widely
spread that the Virgin had not died, but had been borne away by the
Angels into heaven in her bodily form; and therefore these authors would
not have neglected so important a matter as her tomb. Consequently I do
not assign the building to the time of Helena.
In course of time, when all questions concerning the Assumption were
settled, the Sepulchre of Gethsemane rose in importance; and in the
fifth century a church was standing there, which we find mentioned for
the first time by S. John of Damascus[551], in connexion with the
following incident. The Empress Pulcheria, wife of the Emperor Marcian,
was anxious to obtain the corpse of the Virgin to be the chief treasure
of the church, which she and her husband together had erected in honour
of the Mater Dei, in the district Blachernæ (Constantinople)[552].
Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived at the capital of the Empire on
the occasion of the Council of Chalcedon, held A.D. 451, and had an
interview with the Empress, who asked him to search in the church at
Gethsemane, which was erected over the spot where the Virgin was buried;
and if he discovered the sacred relics, to transport them to
Constantinople[553]. The Patriarch, however, answered that the tomb was
empty, and that the place was regarded with veneration, because the body
of the Virgin had been deposited there for a few days. Indeed, at that
time it was commonly believed that she had lain three days in the grave
like her Son[554]. We have therefore to enquire who founded this church
mentioned by Pulcheria. The authors of the eighth and ninth centuries
are silent upon this point, and one only of the tenth, Sayd-Ebn-Batrik
(an Arabian) says, that it was the Emperor Theodosius II. Hence
Quaresmius[555] conjectures that the monument was built between the
years A.D. 429 and 457. This would explain the silence of S. Jerome, who
died A.D. 420. Antoninus of Piacenza[556], A.D. 600, speaks of the Holy
Virgin's house, whence, he says, she was taken up into heaven. A short
time after, A.D. 614, it was plundered by the Persians under Chosroes
II.[557] The Khalif Omar, A.D. 636, found the church built over the
Sepulchre, and twice visited it for prayer. It was still standing at
the end of the seventh century, when it was seen by Arculf, who gives
the following description of it: "The lower part, beneath a wonderful
stone flooring, is a rotunda. The altar is on the eastern side, and to
the right of it there is the hollow Sepulchre of S. Mary in the rock in
which she once rested after her burial.... In the upper and round Church
of S. Mary four altars are shewn." These words clearly prove that the
present church is not the one seen by Arculf: since in that there were
two rotundas, which have now disappeared. This is also proved by the
following fact, that, in the seventh century, when the Khalif
Abd-el-Melik was erecting the great mosque of the _Kaaba_ at Mecca, he
commanded the columns to be cut away from the Church of Gethsemane, but
rescinded the order owing to the prayers of certain Christians of high
rank, who promised some other marbles; so that the church was preserved
for that time[558]. In the eighth century it was seen by Willibald[559],
who mentions, but does not describe it; and says that the tomb did not
contain the corpse of the Virgin Mary, but was dedicated to her burial.
He states distinctly that it was in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Bernard
the Wise[560], A.D. 870, saw the rotunda, and the tomb within it, and
says,--"Besides, in that very village (Gethsemane) is the round Church
of S. Mary, where is her sepulchre; which, though unprotected by a roof,
is never wetted by the rain." The account shews that it was then in a
very ruinous condition. From this time until the arrival of the
Crusaders we have no further mention of this monument; and the first to
notice it again is Sæwulf, A.D. 1103. At that time service was performed
by monks wearing a black habit, of the order of Cluny[561]. "These,"
according to M. de Vogüé[562], "gave to the church in the valley of
Jehoshaphat the form which it has retained up to the present day." But,
I ask, did the church of Sæwulf contain the same rotundas as that which
Arculf visited, and Bernard saw in ruins? The want of evidence makes the
question a difficult one, because in such an interval of time they might
have fallen to the ground, or have been altered during the persecutions
of Hakem, A.D. 1010. We may then suppose that it might have been
repaired, or entirely rebuilt, and its plan changed at that time. If the
Khalif had found it standing, he would probably have respected it, on
account of the reverence felt for it by the Mohammedan women; which
protected it in the days of Saladin, and continues to do so at the
present day. Again, Sæwulf relates that, during the siege, A.D.
1099[563], all the churches without the city were completely destroyed.
How then did he find it standing in 1103? Were the monks of Cluny
installed there at once and enriched by Godfrey[564], so that they were
able to rebuild it in four years? Had this been the case, surely Sæwulf
would have mentioned it. "The anonymous author of the _Gesta Francorum
expugnantium Hierusalem_, who wrote in 1106," M. de Vogüé goes on to
say[565], "also states that in his time the church built over the
Virgin's tomb by the early Christians was quite in ruins." Now if we are
to believe this author, we cannot accept the statement of Sæwulf as
exact, that all the churches were destroyed. Consequently, I hold that
the monks of Cluny rebuilt it after, not before this time.
I think that the plan of the church in the fifth century was not very
different from the present one, because I believe that the great work of
making the stairs was executed when the first building was erected, in
order to reach the tomb which was situated, as we have seen, low down,
being covered, by the lower rotunda, mentioned by Arculf, with the other
above it. In confirmation of this, we find mention made of a platform
before the building in the year 1100, (perhaps the present one, though
it might be somewhat larger,) which was enclosed by a cloister, where
were buried Werner de Gray, cousin of Godfrey, who died at Jerusalem in
the month of May, A.D. 1100, and the Knight Arnulph, Prince of
Oudenarde, who was slain by the people of Ascalon in 1107[566].
Therefore, I consider this platform to be the only natural entrance into
the subterranean church, as it still is. With regard to the building of
the present walls, and particularly of the vaults, and to the
alterations in the plan with reference to the tomb, I agree with M. de
Vogüé, that the monks of Cluny rebuilt the church early in the twelfth
century, availing themselves (at least in my opinion) of the ancient
foundations. Since that period it has been noticed by many authors; and
from their remarks it is evident that the work of the monks has not been
changed. Indeed Edrisi, A.D. 1154, describes the church under the name
of Gethsemane; stating that it was a mile distant from the Gate of
Jehoshaphat, and was a very large and handsome edifice. Here M. de Vogüé
very justly remarks, that this expression could not have been applied to
the ruins seen by the author of the _Gesta Francorum_. John of
Würtzburg[567] minutely describes the interior of the church as it was
during the twelfth century. The Sepulchre of Mary, he says, was situated
in the middle of a cave, with a 'ciborium' over the sacred remains. He
also tells us very clearly how the monument was isolated, and in what
way this had been effected; and that it was covered with marble, and
with many ornaments in gold and silver. He also mentions some
inscriptions that were in the church, with many other points of detail.
The description of the church given by John Phocas, A.D. 1185, is not
less distinct, and is equally applicable to the present monument[568].
"The church, which stands about the tomb of the Mater Dei, is beneath
the ground; it has a vaulted stone roof, is prolonged, and rounded at
its extremity. The Sepulchre is placed like a tribune, in the middle. It
is excavated out of the rock in the form of a rectangle, and the
vaulting is with sharp groins. Inside a kind of bench is hewn out of the
eastern wall, of the same rock as the monument; on this the Virgin's
body was laid, being brought hither from Mount Sion by the Apostles."
In the time of the Latin kingdom a monastery was erected close to the
church for the monks who officiated therein. This is frequently
mentioned by the historians of the time of the Crusades, in the
Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre, and by Sebastian Pauli, who gives the
names of the different Abbots, with dates. One of them, Julduinus, in
1126, was a witness to a deed of gift from Hugo Lord of Joppa (Jaffa) to
the Hospital of S. John, in which he is called Abbot of S. Mary's in the
Valley of Jehoshaphat[569]. When Saladin took Jerusalem, A.D. 1187, the
Saracens utterly destroyed the convent, and used the stones to repair
the city-walls[570]; but they spared the church, owing to the reverence
with which the Mohammedans (especially the women) regarded the mother of
Isa (Jesus). The church then from the time of the Crusades, up to the
present day, has not been altered; as is proved by the descriptions of
Willibrand, Brocardus[571], Marinus Sanutus, and others, in the
thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, who all agree on this
point. Sanutus[572] states that it was only lighted by an aperture in
the vaulted roof, on the side of the Mount (of Olives), and by the
staircase; as all the other openings were closed up. Therefore for the
last five centuries it has remained in its present condition. After A.D.
1187, the church was for a long time abandoned; and the Christian
pilgrims, who desired to visit it, were obliged to obtain the keys from
its Mohammedan owners; but, in the year A.D. 1363, it was ceded to the
Friars Minors of the Observance[573] by the Sultan of Egypt, at the
request of Joan, Queen of Naples. At the same time they obtained
permission to rebuild a convent; which is a strong proof that the
convent of the monks of Cluny no longer existed. This design, however,
was not carried into execution for want of funds. Owing to various
difficulties the Franciscans were unable to take possession of their
sanctuary before the 30th of March, 1392. The only effect of this
concession was to give them the right of performing service in the
church, for the Mohammedans were still its owners. This privilege
excited the jealousy of the Eastern Christians, who strove by intrigues,
backed by large bribes to the authorities in Constantinople, to deprive
the Latins of the sanctuary; to whom it rightly belonged, not only by
the treaty of 1362, but also as it had been built by the Crusaders.
Eventually all the Eastern Christian sects obtained the right of using
the place; the Latins, however, retaining the exclusive privilege of
performing service in the tomb itself. This also was abrogated by the
artifices of the Greeks in 1740; but afterwards the Sultan restored it
by a firman to its former owners. Thereupon their enemies, by the aid of
calumnies and bribes to the ministers of the Sublime Porte, not only
succeeded in retaining possession of the tomb, but also in obtaining the
keys of the whole building; which they now hold, enduring with
resignation the presence of the Syrians, Armenians, and Copts, who
occupy small chapels in the interior of the church. The Latin monks
retain the right[574] of performing service during certain days of the
year, especially on the Assumption of the Virgin; but they do not avail
themselves of it, and justly protest, whenever they have a good
opportunity, against the iniquitous usurpation to which they have been
subjected.
Let us now proceed to examine the exterior and interior of the building;
noticing those parts that are of greater importance, and leaving the
explanation of the rest to the Plates[575] and their descriptions. The
church has unquestionably been buried by the accumulation of the soil
around it; which has partly been deposited by the water running down the
slopes of the hill, and by the Kidron torrent; and partly raised by the
quantity of rubbish cast down here from the city. I have already said
that the church was originally built in a low situation, as is shewn by
the great staircase, the platform in front of it, and the windows and
doors in it; which prove that it was formerly lighted from without. It
was enclosed by an outer wall, whose remains may still be seen
projecting from the surrounding earth. This was no doubt erected chiefly
with a view of protecting the building against streams of rain-water and
land-slips, and preventing its windows from being obstructed. It has
however proved an inadequate barrier. The terrace-roof is apparently in
the usual style of the country, being nearly flat. It is covered with a
strong cement, but this is not sufficient to keep the damp out of the
vaults, because it is so overgrown with vegetation, that it resembles a
field more than what it really is.
In the interior of the church we see, on the right hand, a door, now
closed up, which, in the days when the Latins had possession of the
place, communicated with the Grotto of the Agony by an outside passage,
which was not, as many assert, subterranean. I am convinced of this,
because I have carefully examined the grotto, and found that it has no
other entrance than the one still in use, which is now reached by a
passage leading from the north-east corner of the platform. This passage
is much later than the church, as it was made by the Franciscans about
the middle of the eighteenth century, when they were wrongfully
compelled to give up the tomb to the Greeks[576]. After descending some
steps we come to two chapels; the one on the right dedicated to the
tombs of S. Joachim and S. Ann, the other on the left in honour of the
tomb of S. Joseph. Most of the monks of all the sects and the ignorant
guides inform the stranger that the saints themselves are buried here.
On this point neither the Bible nor history give us the slightest clue,
either to the time, place, or manner of their deaths, or to the spot
where they are buried. The tradition is worthless, as it only dates from
the fifteenth century, and has never been mentioned by any author of
importance before or since; but only by those who, for the sake of
making a book, and acquainting the world that they have been at
Jerusalem, publish all that they hear without any inquiry into its truth
or falsehood. I maintain that it is impossible these can be the tombs of
the parents of the Virgin, because there is not an atom of rock in any
part of the place where they stand, not even in the ground; and the
tombs themselves are constructed of masonry. Besides, the shape of the
two chapels shews that they were built to contain sarcophagi, in which
probably (as Abbé Mariti and M. de Vogüé assert) the bodies of members
of the families of the Latin kings were deposited. This opinion is
confirmed by the testimony of William of Tyre[577], who says: "The Lady
Milisendis of blessed memory, who will be a member of the angelic host,
lies buried in the Valley of Jehoshaphat on the right hand of the
descent to the tombs of the blessed and undefiled mother of the Lord,
the Virgin Mary, in a stone crypt guarded with iron gates, and near to
an altar; whereon acceptable daily sacrifices are offered to the
Creator, for the repose of her soul, and for the spirits of the faithful
departed." This description is as plain as it can be, and does not say
one word about the parents of the Virgin Mary. In this chapel the
staples and hooks can still be seen by which the iron gratings were
hung, until no doubt they were carried off by the Mohammedans.
Descending still lower almost to the bottom of the steps, we find on the
left hand a small doorway leading into a chamber quite dark, with walls
of masonry, which is now used by the Armenians as a sacristy. It has a
tesselated pavement, and was, I believe, formerly used as a mortuary
chapel. Quitting it we enter the transverse arm of the cross, which lies
east and west. In the eastern arm[578] the tomb of the Virgin stands by
itself, as I have already described it. Near it on the south is a small
niche, especially allotted to the Mohammedans, who visit the place for
prayer, as I have often seen. This is the only Christian church in
Jerusalem in which the Mohammedans abstain from smoking, or from using
it, if needful, as a place for conversation; a mark of respect which
they do not pay to the Sepulchre of Christ. Inside the north wall, near
the tomb, is the grotto, from which water falls down in drops; this is
carefully caught by the Greeks, and sold to visitors with the reputation
of possessing many virtues. I tasted it in 1857, when I was making a
plan of the building, and found it very good[579]. Opposite to the great
staircase is the northern arm of the cross. This has been divided by the
Greeks into two stories by means of a wooden floor; the lower serving
for a sacristy, the upper for the chamber of the lay-brother who takes
care of the place. Here also we find a window, closed with masonry,
because it is blocked up on the outside with the accumulated earth. At
the extremity of the western arm is the walled-up doorway, which I
mentioned[580] in speaking of the subterranean passage, said to exist
between the Church of S. Ann and this place. The description annexed to
the Plan will shew the places where the different religious sects
perform their services, and the other points of detail; therefore I pass
on at once to the Grotto of the Agony[581], which came into the keeping
of the Franciscans A.D. 1392, together with the Tomb of the Virgin, and
is still held exclusively by them.
This is said to be the scene of the Agony of Christ on the night before
He suffered[582]. It is true that the Evangelists make no mention of a
grotto; but tradition and its situation are in favour of this place. Its
situation, I say, because it is a stone's throw (according to S. Luke)
from the place (also traditional) where the three Apostles awaited him.
The tradition is very ancient, and I firmly believe that the Apostles
themselves informed the first converts both of this spot and of that
where our Lord was betrayed to those who came to take Him prisoner. It
seems impossible that His followers would forget the incidents of that
night. Gethsemane was outside the city on the slopes of the Mount of
Olives, across the Kidron; and its position is clearly defined[583]. We
must also remember that there have never been at Gethsemane the same
materials for the enemy to lay waste and destroy as there were within
the city; so that the spot would not here, as elsewhere, be concealed
under ruins and earth.
There was a church at the Grotto of the Agony (perhaps built by S.
Helena) which is mentioned by S. Jerome[584], as follows: "Gethsemane is
the place where the Saviour prayed before His Passion; it is on the
spurs of Mount Olivet; a church is now built over it." Not a vestige of
this church now remains. In the seventh century Arculf[585] saw the
Grotto, and thus describes it: "In the side of Mount Olivet is a certain
cave, not far from the Church of S. Mary.... In it are four stone
tables, one of which near the entrance of the cave in the interior is
the Lord Jesu's. To which little table His seat is fixed, where He was
sometimes wont to recline, together with the Apostles, who sat together
at other tables." Epiphanius Hagiopolita, towards the middle of the
eleventh century, states that "near the Tomb of the Virgin, is the holy
grotto to which Christ retired with His disciples[586]." Now though
these two authors do not mention that our Lord withdrew to this place to
pray, still that does not contradict the fact, and we may naturally
suppose that the Saviour selected a spot which was already well known,
and where perhaps he had been wont to teach. Therefore I identify their
grotto with that of S. Jerome, which I consider to be the Grotto of the
Agony. Sæwulf tells us that it was known by this name before the arrival
of the Crusaders; and during the Latin kingdom there was a church there
dedicated to S. Saviour, as we find stated in the Citez de
Jherusalem[587]: "In front of this church at the foot of the Mount of
Olives is a church in a rock, which men call Gethsemane--there was Jesus
Christ taken. On another part of the way, as one goes up towards the
Mount of Olives as far as a stone's throw, is the church called S.
Saviour. There did Jesus Christ pass the night in prayer before He was
taken, and there did He let fall the blood-drops from His body as though
it had been sweat." All these testimonies, then, go to prove that this
is really the Grotto of the Agony. The Plan and Section will make clear
its interior, which is excavated from a limestone rock. The Abbé Mariti,
who visited it April 30, 1767, endeavoured to discover the inscription
mentioned by Quaresmius[588], which Father Nau[589] asserts that he read
above the larger altar on the north; but as he could only find some
illegible traces of letters, he extracts the inscription from the works
of Quaresmius; it ran as follows:
HIC REX (SAN)CTUS SUDAVIT SANGUINEM...
SEPE MORABATUR DU C...
MI PATER SI VIS TRANSFER
CALICEM ISTU A ME.
Quaresmius also states that the Crusaders adorned the vaulted roof with
paintings, traces of which he saw. These were also seen by Mariti, but
were then nearly obliterated by the action of time and damp. They have
now been destroyed by the repairs effected by the Franciscans.
Let us now visit the Garden of Gethsemane[590], which is exactly a
stone's throw distant from the Grotto towards the south-east. The
entrance-gate is at the south end of the east wall. Gethsemane was a
little village, with a garden close to it, to which Jesus was wont to
retire[591]. The name is interpreted to mean 'rich earth,' from _Get_
(earth) and _sman_ (rich): by others it is rendered 'olive-mill.' Either
of these explanations is appropriate; for the land is very good, and
especially suited to olive-trees, which are planted all about the
neighbourhood. I cannot say they are cultivated, because the Arabs take
no trouble with them after the first planting. The garden belongs to the
Franciscans, and a few years ago was enclosed with a wall, in order to
preserve its eight old olive-trees from the injuries of ignorant
vandalism or mistaken piety. These are highly valued, because their
stumps, or at any rate their roots, are believed to have been there at
the time of our Saviour's Passion. I do not think this can be said of
their trunks, because I think that they could not have escaped at the
time when all the wood for a considerable distance round Jerusalem was
cut down by the Roman army during the siege, A.D. 70[592]. They are even
respected by the Mohammedans, as is shewn by their exemption from the
tax, which every fruit-tree pays to the Government[593]: their owners
being charged only eight bushels for all the trees. The monks to whom
they belong satisfy ordinary pilgrims with flowers grown in the garden,
with a few leaves or little slips of the olive, but give to their
benefactors and to persons of distinction rosaries made with the fruits,
and oil extracted from them.
Outside the south-east corner of the garden-wall a rock is pointed out
as the place where the Apostles, Peter, James, and John, fell
asleep[594], and where Judas betrayed his Master. The tradition attached
to this spot is very ancient; it is mentioned by the Pilgrim of
Bordeaux[595], A.D. 333. Sæwulf also mentions it, A.D. 1103, but without
alluding to any buildings in connexion with it. The Crusaders, however,
certainly erected some memorial there, which is noticed by
Brocardus[596], A.D. 1230, under the name of the Chapel of Gethsemane,
"placed on a rock on the side of the Mount of Olives, under which the
Apostles were overcome by sleep." At a later period Phocas calls it 'the
sleep of the Apostles.' Some slight ruins are now seen there, consisting
of dressed stones, shafts of columns, and jambs of a door; unmistakeable
indications of a chapel. The original one indeed may have been destroyed
in 1187, but it must have been rebuilt, because an old Bethlehemite
(aged 86) assured me in 1856 that he remembered to have seen there the
remains of a small building, inside of which was a stone stained with
blood. This I have no doubt was a piece of yellow Palestine breccia with
red veins, which abounds in the country. I do not, however, pretend to
fix the exact spots in this locality at which the different
circumstances of the Agony happened, but simply follow the tradition
which in this instance is of great weight.
We will now proceed southward along the east bank of the Kidron, down
the so-called Valley of Jehoshaphat. No other spot is better fitted than
this to excite high and solemn thoughts in the hearts of even the most
indifferent. It is in truth the valley of meditation, of tears, and of
death. No living creature disturbs the visitor who comes to muse in its
mournful solitude. A city buried under its own ruins, a torrent-bed
without water, a few trees with bare branches or but a scanty foliage,
naked rocks, barren mountains, mounds of rubbish formed by fallen
buildings, graves all around, broken tombs, monuments of martyrs or of
prophets, and lastly, the place of the Agony of the Son of God, make up
a scene that overpowers the mind with emotion and compels it to solemn
reflexion.
The eye, at its first glance towards the slope of the mountain, is
arrested by a large space of ground full of graves, each of which is
covered by a single stone. Here is the Jewish cemetery. To fill a little
trench in this spot numbers of Jews leave their country, and, regardless
alike of the toils and costs of the journey, and of the hardships they
have to undergo, flock eagerly to Jerusalem to end their days within its
walls, and sleep their last sleep in the land of their fathers. Each
stone bears an inscription; and among them are some of considerable
antiquity, dating from the year 1296. This field of the dead was
enlarged in 1858 by the Jews, with the assistance of their European
brethren: it therefore stretches away for some distance eastward, rising
up the southern slopes of Olivet. Each year they do some work in order
to prepare the ground for burials; and by this means, in 1859 and 1860,
they found bases, shafts, and capitals of columns, and a considerable
number of large dressed stones, on the eastern summit of the mountain.
These are, undoubtedly, the remains of some Christian memorials, which
were destroyed by the Mohammedans in their successful attacks. When Abbé
Mariti visited the Holy City in 1767, the Jews paid a sequin per diem to
the Governor as rent for the ground, and in addition each grave was
purchased separately. The tax to the Pasha is now no longer exacted, but
a payment is made to the Sheikh of the village of Siloam, who nominally
takes care of the ground: the graves, however, are still bought, but the
price is paid to the Jewish administration, who ask more or less
according to the rank of the deceased and to the position chosen.
On the slope above the Kidron, to the west of the cemetery, are four
ancient monuments, called the tombs of Jehoshaphat, Absalom, S. James
(also called the Retreat of the Apostles), and Zacharias. We will visit
these one by one.
First is the tomb of Jehoshaphat, standing at the north-east corner of
the vestibule excavated in the rock, which surrounds the tomb of
Absalom[597]. The Bible[598] tells us that King Jehoshaphat was buried
with his fathers in the city of David, consequently his name has been
wrongly given to this tomb. It is indeed possible that he may have
caused it to be made, but there is no evidence to prove this. In 1858
only a very small portion of its frontispiece was visible, owing to the
accumulation of earth brought down by the rains, and to the heaps of
stones, placed there by the Jews to prevent any one from entering it;
because they sometimes bury therein the corpses of those who have paid a
high price for a place of such distinction, and left enough property to
satisfy the greed of the Sheikh of Siloam, who otherwise would not allow
them to fulfil the wishes of the deceased. Accordingly I gained over the
Sheikh, and during the night, with the aid of some of his peasants, not
only laid bare the whole frontispiece, but also opened a small passage
to the interior, into which I made my way. However, I was soon driven
out again by the insupportable stench from the corpses. Nevertheless, I
was determined not to be conquered; I bought permission to enlarge the
hole, and some hours later entered again; and though two corpses, in the
last stage of decomposition, lay almost across the doorway, I made a
sketch of its plan, which will be found sufficiently exact, measurements
excepted. These I had not time to take; the reeking mud of bones, rotted
by the infiltrated water, emitted an overpowering odour; besides the day
was at hand, and before it came the passage must be closed again. The
frontispiece, however, was left exposed. The tomb is entirely excavated
in the rock, and its frontispiece, 10-1/2 feet long, is in the same
style as that at the Sepulchre of the Judges[599]. I will reserve my
opinion of its ornamentation till I have described the three other
monuments. Dr Isambert[600], of Paris, states that a Roman Catholic
missionary, who entered it in 1842, found there a very ancient copy of
the Pentateuch. Surely he forgets that the Jews have been in the habit
of burying in this place for some centuries, so that his 'very ancient
Pentateuch' would not have escaped them! Besides, this book was probably
only a Synagogue roll, imperfect copies of which are often buried near
the corpses of the Rabbins[601]. Mr Finn, then Her Britannic Majesty's
Consul at Jerusalem, informed me that he had learnt from some Jewish
traditions that the true position of the tomb of Jehoshaphat was 20 feet
to the west, and nearly in front of that of Absalom. Being desirous to
verify this statement, I took some labourers, and explored all that
part; but found everywhere nothing but solid rock, without the slightest
trace of any work.
Let us now proceed to examine the Tomb of Absalom, the most elegant and
magnificent of those in the neighbourhood of the city. It is a cubical
monolith, each side being about 20-1/2 feet. The tapering columns of the
lower part support a Doric entablature, consisting of an architrave, a
fillet, and a frieze ornamented with triglyphs (with guttæ) and pateræ
on the metopes, above is an Egyptian cornice. All this lower part is
hewn out of the solid rock; the rest is masonry[602]. The total height
of the monument is 52-1/4 feet, and that of the monolith about 20 feet.
These measurements are only approximate, owing to the quantity of small
stones, which have raised the general level of the ground, and are
difficult to clear away. On the east side is the opening through which
the corpses were introduced[603]. It is very small, and was in all
probability formerly closed by a stone in the manner usual with the
Jews; but I have not been able to determine this point, because the
monument is almost buried on that side, and I was reluctant to encounter
the expense of removing the earth, and the vexations to be undergone in
obtaining the permission. There is a breach in each face of the cube. I
entered by that on the north, and found myself in a small chamber, 8
feet square, containing many stones that have been thrown in from
without. In the northern wall is a sepulchral niche, and another in the
western. In the southern is the opening to a staircase, which would no
doubt have led me, had I been able to enter it, to the Tomb of
Jehoshaphat. The heaps of small stones, round about the outside of the
monument, increase daily, because the Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans,
who pass by, hurl a stone at it to mark their abhorrence of David's
rebel son. This custom has prevailed for a long time; for Surius[604]
relates that it was in force in his days, and that every one on throwing
his stone cried out, "At the villain, at the barbarian, at the murderer,
who made war against his father!" I believe that the origin of this was,
as we are told in the Bible[605] and Josephus[606], that the servants of
Joab took the body of Absalom down from the tree, and casting it into a
deep dark crevice, covered it up with so great a heap of stones, that
they formed a kind of sepulchral mound. This took place in the wood of
Ephraim, on the other side of Jordan[607]; it is therefore evident that
Absalom was not buried in the present monument. The monolithic portion
may indeed date from his time, but the upper story is much later; for we
read[608], "Now Absalom in his life-time had taken and reared up for
himself a pillar, which is in the King's dale: for he said, I have no
son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his
own name: and it is called unto this day Absalom's place." There can be
no doubt that this part of the Kidron valley was called the 'King's
dale,' because we find the 'King's garden[609]' here, which establishes
this point. With regard to the monument, Josephus[610] fixes its site by
saying that "Absalom had erected for himself a white marble pillar in
the King's dale, two stadia distant from Jerusalem, which he named
Absalom's Hand, saying, that if his children were killed, his name would
remain by that pillar." The white marble is the breccia of Palestine,
which can be worked and polished like marble. The monolith supporting
the pillar is left, but the rest is gone, perhaps having been destroyed
by Joab, when he returned to Jerusalem with his victorious army. I
therefore believe this to be the pillar of Absalom mentioned in the
Bible, especially as it is two stadia distant from the city.
To the west, and almost opposite to the monument just described, is a
little bridge over the Kidron. An uncertain tradition points out this as
the place where Jesus crossed the stream on His way to the house of
Caiaphas, and also shews on a rock close by the impression made by His
knees as He fell. There is no mention of this in the Bible; it is named
by Quaresmius[611]. This road, from the garden to the so-called house
of Caiaphas (on Sion), is commonly called the 'road of the Capture.' The
topography of the ancient city is unfavourable to the story. A few yards
to the south of the Tomb of Absalom is the Retreat of the Apostles, or,
according to some, the Tomb of S. James[612]. The Arabs call it _Diwan
Faroon_ (Divan of Pharaoh); but they cannot tell for what reason. The
outer porch is supported by two columns and two pilasters, sculptured
from the rock in which the whole monument is excavated. The porch is
about 31 feet wide and 9 deep. In the northern wall is a door, leading
by a staircase up into the rock above the sepulchral chamber. In the
eastern wall is another door leading into the principal room, a square
of 13 feet, into which three smaller chambers open, containing each a
niche for a corpse. In the south wall of the vestibule is a square door,
leading into a corridor connected with the monument on the south.
Tradition relates that S. James and the ten other disciples concealed
themselves here on the night when our Saviour was taken prisoner in the
garden of Gethsemane, and that they remained here until the day of the
Resurrection, when He appeared to S. James[613]. Hegesippus[614] says
that S. James was buried near the Temple, and that a monument was raised
to his memory, which remained until Hadrian rebuilt the city. The Roman
martyrology tells the same story. M. Mislin observes, that this site is
not opposed to the tradition, because it may be said to be near the
Temple; since, at the time of the Saint's death, they did not bury
within the walls of the city. On this point I leave the reader to form
his own opinion. I myself do not vouch for the tradition; although the
Saint may possibly have been interred here, even if the tomb was not
originally constructed for him.
The Tomb of Zacharias is a monolith, hewn out of the mountain; so
excavated that there is a passage five feet wide round all the sides,
except of course the western. Each of its faces is 17-1/2 feet long,
decorated with two columns in the middle, and two half-columns each
attached to pilasters at the corners, all forming part of the same
block[615]. Around it is a number of Jewish graves, which make it
impossible to determine its true elevation; but the height of the
portion visible above them is 19 feet. The decoration is not completed
in every part. On the eastern side the columns are only rough-hewn, and
not finished off as on the three other sides. Inside the monolith is a
sepulchral chamber connected with the corridor from the Tomb of S.
James. This Zacharias is thought to be the son of Jehoiada, who was
slain by king Joash between the temple and the altar[616]; with whose
death the Jews are reproached by Christ[617]. So the Jews at the present
time believe, consequently they hold the place in great veneration, and
pay very highly to be interred after death anywhere near it; which is
the cause of the accumulation of stones round it. The Pilgrim of
Bordeaux calls it the Tomb of Isaiah, and Benjamin of Tudela the Tomb of
Hosea.
To the south of this is another tomb almost buried, on which however two
columns can be distinguished. By partially uncovering it I ascertained
that it was an ancient monument. It might be supposed to be that of
Hosea, but I will not undertake to prove it. I am very much disposed to
think that the piece of ground containing these four monuments may be
the garden of Uzza, in which Manasseh and Amon were buried[618]; or, at
any rate, that they were tombs intended to receive the remains of
members of the royal family, or of men of distinction in the country. I
refer my readers to the excellent description of the four monuments in
M. de Saulcy's work[619]. I think that when they were first constructed
they were without decorations, and that they were elaborated at a much
later period; because on them we find the Greek and Egyptian styles of
architecture; consequently I attribute this part to the time of Herod.
Dr Robinson[620], struck with the similarity between these and the rock
sepulchres of Petra, in the mixture of Grecian and Egyptian
architecture, considered the decorations to be perhaps contemporaneous
with the Herods, who were of Idumæan origin, or possibly to belong even
to the era of Hadrian.
Following the road southward along the Kidron we arrive at the Fountain
of the Virgin, on the west bank of the torrent. This is highly esteemed
by both Christians and Mohammedans, who believe (according to an ancient
tradition) that the Virgin Mary used to frequent it to draw water and
wash the clothes of her Divine Son. The latter have an oratory, where,
after ablutions in the fountain, they offer up their prayers to the
mother of Isa (Jesus). A small mosque stood here in the sixteenth and
seventeenth century, but even its ruins have now disappeared. The Arabs
call the place _Aïn Sitti Mariam_ (Fountain of our Lady Mary), and also
_Aïn um-el-Deraj_ (Fountain of our Lady near the steps). It is at the
extremity of an excavation in the rock, reached by 28 steps, which, as I
have already said[621], have been constructed owing to the rise of the
ground. These are divided into two flights by a chamber with a pointed
vaulting (Crusaders' work), which is 9-1/2 feet wide and 10-1/4 high.
The lower grotto is 26 feet deep, the water flows into a basin 16 feet
long, 6 wide, and 7 deep; and from this to the upper pool of Siloam
through a subterranean conduit. I shall consider this conduit and the
intermittent flow of the fountain in the chapter on the waters. Popular
superstition attributes the interruption of the stream to a dragon, that
lives concealed at the source, and arrests its course in quenching his
thirst. It is also commonly believed that the water is supplied by
reservoirs under the _Haram_, which is not far from the truth, as we
shall see. On our way from the fountain to the Pool of Siloam we follow
the bed of the torrent for a little way, and then take the road skirting
the western bank of the valley. This leads us to a small pond adjoining
the western corner of the pool situated almost at the south extremity of
Ophel, at the end of the Tyropoeon Valley. This pool is frequently
mentioned in the Scriptures. Isaiah speaks of its 'waters that go
softly[622];' Nehemiah[623], of the wall of the Pool of Siloam; S.
John[624], of the man born blind, who was sent to 'wash in the Pool of
Siloam.' Josephus frequently names it, especially in one of his
addresses to the besieged Jews, when he tells them, as a sign of God's
anger, that the Fountain of Siloam, which before the siege had ceased to
supply them with water, now gave forth plenty to the Romans. He tells
them also that the same thing took place during the siege by
Nebuchadnezzar[625]. On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles the
people went with great solemnity to draw the water of Siloam, and
brought it to the altar, where it was mingled with the wine of the
sacrifices; in remembrance of the water which God had given them in the
desert by the rod of Moses, and to entreat Him to send down rain on the
new-sown seed. At this festival our Lord was present when he cried, "If
any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink[626]." The Talmud[627]
asserts, "whoever has not seen the joy of that day has never seen joy."
In the evening those who were the wisest and most highly cultivated of
the nation assembled together in the vestibule of the Temple, and sang
to the music of instruments before all the people; they danced, clapped
their hands, and jumped about in a disorderly manner, and the applause
was tremendous. This was done in remembrance of the dance of David[628].
From this we see in what esteem the waters of Siloam were always held;
and it did not diminish after the prevalence of Christianity. The
Bordeaux Pilgrim, A.D. 333, writes thus, "At the bottom of the valley on
the left-hand, near the wall, is a pool, which is called Siloa. It has a
portico of four bays, and there is another large pool without." S.
Jerome[629] mentions the intermittent flow of the water: "But we, above
all, who live in this province, cannot doubt that the Fountain of Siloam
is by the lower slopes of Mount Sion, which flows not steadily, but
bubbles forth at uncertain intervals, and comes with a loud roar through
the hollow parts of the earth to the caves of very hard rock." This
description appears at first sight to contradict the words of the
Prophet Isaiah, who speaks of 'the waters of Siloah that go softly.' The
two, however, may be easily reconciled; for the waters ordinarily flow
quietly into the pool; but when the peasants dam up the outlet in order
to retain the stream for irrigating their gardens, the current rolls
along noisily. I made the experiment in 1861, when an Arab Effendi,
Jusef Bachatip, requested me to examine whether there was a sufficient
supply of water to work a corn-mill.
Nicephorus Callistus[630] states that "S. Helena constructed wonderful
works at the pool which is called Siloe." I doubt this; the stones still
remaining there, and the inner walls, indicate a higher antiquity than
the time of her visit to the city; moreover, I think that if she had
built anything, the Bordeaux Pilgrim would have mentioned it; and we
know that the place was highly regarded by the Jews. It is also
remarkable that he says nothing of a church, while, in A.D. 600,
Antoninus of Piacenza[631] relates, "There is a basilica there, within
which are latticed enclosures, in one of which men bathe in order to
receive a blessing, in the other women; and in front of the door is a
great pool, made by the hand of man, in which the people bathe at
certain hours." S. Boniface[632] adds, that the basilica was dedicated
to S. Saviour the Illuminator. In the beginning of the eleventh century
Albert of Aix[633] writes, "At that place, where there is a square
walled building like a cloister, in the middle of which a little stream
is received." He, however, does not mention a church, nor does John
Phocas, who confines himself to saying, that he saw the columns and the
vaulted roofs which adorned and surrounded the source, without
mentioning the basilica; and afterwards adds, "It would be easy to
repair the ruins of the sacred fountain, but no one touches or puts his
hand to them, and so they are going day by day to ruin, like the
buildings at the other Holy Places[634]." Certain eminent authors of the
present day assert that in the fourth or fifth century the pool was
covered by a church. This I cannot admit, because I find no mention of
it in S. Jerome and Phocas. Antoninus of Piacenza must have mistaken the
porches for a basilica; and we know from his other descriptions that he
is by no means to be trusted; while those who have followed him have
been misled by his words, and by the shafts of columns and other ruins
in the neighbourhood.
During the siege of Jerusalem, A.D. 1099, Raymond d'Agiles[635] gives
the following account of what happened at the fountain of Siloam:
"Whenever the fountain began to flow, the Christians flung themselves
into it one on the other, and very often perished along with their
cattle. It was thus choked with the bodies of men and animals who had
fallen into it." This does not prove the goodness of the waters[636];
for we know from Tudebode[637], that water was so scarce during the
siege, that the pilgrims went a distance of six miles to fetch some
though bad and offensive, in little leathern vessels which they had made
of the hides of oxen and other animals (after the custom of the
country). This water, corrupted though it was, was sold at such a high
price, that a crown would not buy enough to quench a single man's
thirst. If, then, men were in such want as to drink this water, they
would be very glad to get that of Siloam. Saladin compared this stream
to the rivers of Paradise; but as it is the only naturally flowing
stream to be seen in Jerusalem, and as it irrigates the luxuriant
gardens of Siloam, and also in times of drought is valuable to the city
for many purposes, we can understand the feeling that produced this
Oriental exaggeration. In his time a small mosque was built near the
pool.
Let me now describe its present appearance. It is an oblong pool,
exhibiting everywhere signs of neglect. Earth and stones slip down into
it from the higher ground all round, and partly fill it. The peasants of
Siloam, whose gardens are irrigated by its waters, are sometimes obliged
to clear it out, but the work is done carelessly. Its dimensions are 52
feet in length, 19-1/2 in breadth, and 20-1/4 in depth. The revêtement
is a modern restoration, and in it are incorporated shafts of grey
granite columns, the fragments of the above-named portico. At the
north-east corner of the reservoir is a small arch with a flight of
steps, which are in a ruinous state. This leads down into a little
basin, into which the conduit (3 feet wide and about 12 high) from the
Fountain of the Virgin empties itself. This explains why the stream in
the Pool of Siloam is intermittent, like that at the Fountain, and also
the etymology of the word, which signifies 'sent[638].' There is an
opening at the north-east corner, by which the water flows to the
gardens of Siloam through a conduit excavated in the rock, opposite to
the south end of Ophel. An examination of the interior of the pool
disclosed to me the ancient passage by which the water ran down into the
lower pool. The latter I have already stated to be, in my opinion, the
Pool of Solomon, mentioned by Josephus[639] in his description of the
first wall of the city. Here, according to the Pilgrim of Bordeaux and
Antoninus of Piacenza, the Christians resorted to bathe at certain
times. It is now a cultivated garden; for the earth brought down by the
rains from the higher ground has completely filled it up. The Arabs now
call it _Birket el-Hamra_. Coins are frequently found by the peasants
among the earth in the interior; which have been brought down and
deposited there by the conduits flowing from the city.
At the south-east corner of Solomon's Pool are some ruins, consisting of
shafts and broken capitals of columns, walls and dressed stones of
Jewish workmanship. In the middle stands a very old forked
mulberry-tree, said to mark the spot where the prophet Isaiah was sawn
asunder. According to a tradition received by both the Jews and the
Christians, Isaiah was put to death in the early part of Manasseh's
reign, and his body was buried under an oak near to the Well
Rogel[640]. I do not admit the identity of Siloam and Rogel, which Abbé
Mariti[641] tries to establish; but consider it improbable that the
mulberry should mark the place of the martyrdom, and the oak indicate
the tomb. The position of the latter I do not attempt to fix, as there
are many burial-places near Rogel, but none with the proper tree. The
Mohammedans hold the site of the martyrdom in great veneration, and go
there to pray. It also serves as a place of assembly for the villagers
of Siloam, when they want to discuss any matter of interest.
From this point we see at one glance the gardens of Siloam, which I have
already identified[642] with the King's gardens of former times[643].
The inhabitants are indebted to the little stream flowing from the upper
pool for the rich crops of vegetables produced by the plots of land,
once the favourite haunts of Solomon's wives. Then they must have been
more abundantly irrigated than they now are; and very probably the King
constructed the lower pool for this purpose. His humble successors still
reap large profits from the ground, though with a diminished supply of
water; all of which they bestow on the plants, reserving none for their
own persons.
Following the course of the valley, we leave the mouth of the Valley of
Hinnom, on the right, and before long arrive at the Well of Joab or Job,
called by the Arabs _Bir Eyub_, and still known by the name of the Well
of Nehemiah, or of the Sacred Fire[644]. No one knows what connexion
this well has with Joab or Job; but a tradition relates that when
Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, the Priests concealed the sacred fire
here in order to save it from profanation; and that, on their return
from the Captivity, it miraculously blazed forth, at the prayer of
Nehemiah, from the mud which had been found in the hiding-place[645].
When the truth of this story was proved to the satisfaction of the King
of Persia, he enclosed the place, and made it holy. Nehemiah "called
this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing, but many
men call it Nephi[646]." This I believe to be the ancient _En-Rogel_,
which was on the frontier of Judah and Benjamin[647]. Here David's
spies, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, stayed to watch the progress of Absalom's
rebellion[648]; and here again the partisans of Adonijah assembled,
under the pretext of a banquet[649]. Josephus, in his account of this
conspiracy, tells us that the fountain was in the King's garden. At a
distance _Bir Eyub_ appears like a ruined house; but, on approaching it,
we find a quadrangular basin and some ruins, with a frail structure over
the well, and a Mohammedan oratory. In summer it contains little water,
but during the winter-rains it is not only full, but even overflows into
the Kidron. If this do not happen, it is considered by the inhabitants
a bad omen for the coming season; but when it does, a fertile year is
expected, and the whole country rejoices. The water escapes from the
well by a conduit in its east wall, which disappears in the ground after
a distance of 60 feet. The description of its interior, of the supposed
phenomenon of intermittence, and of my investigation on this point, I
leave to the Chapter on the Waters; contenting myself at present with
stating, that I have examined the well to the bottom without finding any
trace of a spring. On the first appearance of the desired prognostic of
prosperity, the peasants of Siloam, who, as nearest to the spot,
consider themselves its owners, fill earthen vessels from the
overflowing stream, and bear them to the conventual bodies and persons
of distinction in the city, receiving in return the omnipotent
_Bakshish_. Then the townspeople flock together there; tents are
pitched, and little refreshment booths improvised; parties of pleasure
are made up; pipes and coffee circulate briskly, while Arab music and
dances enliven the festive scene. Infirm men and women are carried
thither, and dip the soles of their feet in the water; mothers bathe
their babes in it, to restore them to health; horsemen exhibit their own
skill in riding and the activity of their fine steeds, in the swollen
waters of the Kidron: and when the rains are abundant, the merriment is
kept up for 15 days. This is the only occasion on which the melancholy
inhabitants of Jerusalem give way to rejoicing; and even that is in the
midst of tombs and tokens of sorrow, in the supposed Valley of
Jehoshaphat, because they see the waters of the Kidron flowing, which
then, and then only, is in reality a torrent.
Here ends the Valley of Jehoshaphat, or, as it may be called, from the
Fountain of the Virgin to this well, the Valley of Siloam. Let us then
follow the path on the north of _Bir Eyub_, and ascend the Mount of
Offence[650]. This is only the southernmost part of the Mount of Olives,
separated from the main mass by the road from Jerusalem to Bethany. Its
summit is supposed to have been the scene of the idolatrous rites of the
concubines of Solomon, and of the King himself, and some of his
successors. Here are a few fragments of ruins, possibly the remains of
the heathen temples; but beyond these there is nothing worthy of notice,
except the fine view.
On the western slope of this hill, near the Kidron, is the wretched
village inhabited by the Mohammedan peasants of Siloam, called _Kefr
Silwan_, probably from the waters of that name in its vicinity. It is a
strange combination of cottages, built on a vertical rock, and of great
sepulchral caves, now used as dwelling-places or granaries. These
caverns formerly afforded shelter to monks and hermits. John of
Würtzburg[651] writes thus: "The same valley has more caverns on all
sides, in which holy men lead a solitary life." It has now a population
of about 300, none of whom can strictly be termed poor, as they are
employed in carrying into the city the water of _Bir Eyub_ for domestic
use, and that of the Fountain of the Virgin and of the Pool of Siloam
for buildings. Some cultivate their gardens and plots of land on the
eastern slopes of Sion, and many are hired as escorts for pilgrims to
the plains of Jericho, when they are not otherwise engaged as thieves or
robbers; professions in which the village has attained much celebrity.
They also profit by the generosity or timidity of the Jews, extorting
from them _bakshish_, when they come to bury a corpse, or visit the
grave of a relation. At the north end of the village is a monolithic
monument, whose architecture resembles the Egyptian[652]. It is a square
in plan, and is entirely detached from the rock. Within are two
chambers. M. de Saulcy considers it to be an Egyptian chapel,
constructed by Solomon to receive the remains of his wife, Pharaoh's
daughter. To this opinion I incline, as I cannot find any more
satisfactory explanation of it. S. Luke mentions a tower in Siloam[653];
but whether this was near the pool or the village, we do not know;
probably the latter, as it then would have served as a watch-tower and
keep, or even as an ornament, seeing there were some other buildings on
the Mount of Offence.
Leaving the village we will ascend the Mount of Olives, which we have
already described[654]. In order to examine its chief points of interest
more easily, we will return to the Garden of Gethsemane, whence two
roads mount the western slope. The northern presents nothing worthy of
remark, except that close to its outset is a rock, where the Virgin is
said to have appeared from heaven to S. Thomas, who was sitting there
lamenting that he had not been present at her assumption, and to have
presented him with her girdle. We will therefore select the southern
path, though it is more rugged and in worse repair than the other. As we
ascend, we pass an Arab house in the form of a tower; but no traditions
are attached to it. Beyond it, about half way up the mountain, is a mass
of buildings wholly Arab, which are pointed out as marking the spot
where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. I do not believe that the event
occurred anywhere in this neighbourhood, because the Evangelist[655]
tells us that our Lord was coming from Bethphage and Bethany; and
therefore, in all probability, He had ascended the road leading from
these places up the eastern slope of the mountain. Then, when first the
city rose before them, I believe that the disciples and the multitude
began to rejoice and praise God. It is said also that this happened when
He was 'at the descent of the Mount of Olives[656],' and the place now
shewn is a considerable distance below the summit. Some rely upon the
words, 'when He was come near He beheld the city, and wept over it,' to
authenticate this locality; but though these words may possibly shew
that the place of the weeping was in advance of the first-named spot,
still I cannot admit that this would have happened on the southern road
(which then, in all probability, did not exist, as it is rather a
goat-track than a foot-path), or that our Saviour would have departed
from the ordinary road. Surius relates that a church stood on this
place, under the name 'Dominus flevit,' which was built by the early
Christians, and destroyed by the Turks. I do not deny that a church may
have been there, but that does not prove the authenticity of the spot.
Godfrey of Bouillon is said to have pitched his tent there. Certainly,
if this be true, he did not select so convenient a situation for
examining the city as the summit to which I now conduct my reader.
The mountain has three summits in a line lying north and south. The
northernmost, which joins on to Mount Scopus, is known by the name of
Viri Galilæi; on it we find a large cistern and some ruins, apparently
the remains of a watchtower. The guides call them the ruins of a
convent, and not improbably one belonging to the Syrians stood here at
the time of the Crusades, as is shewn by the following passages: "Near
the Mount of Olives, on the left, is a monastery of the Syrians[657],"
and "there is a place suited for a camp, and buildings seem to have been
there. On the summit there is a cistern, and the whole place is
delightsome[658]." The name of Viri Galilæi is given by the inhabitants
of the country, who believe that the two men clothed in white stood
there and addressed the Apostles, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven[659]?" The legend is obviously inadmissible, as
the vision evidently occurred at the place of the Ascension[660]. The
more probable reason, according to Quaresmius[661], is, that a house
stood there bearing that name, which was so called because it was
frequented by the Galilæans when they visited the city on the occasion
of any festival.
The second and highest summit is the one traditionally pointed out as
the place of the Ascension[662]; in accordance with the words of the
Acts of the Apostles[663], "Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the
mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey."
Some consider the account in S. Luke's Gospel[664] opposed to this
belief, where it is said, "He led them out as far as Bethany." But as
the Mount of Olives is in the district of Bethany, the Evangelist may
very well have put the whole for the part; so that there is no reason
why we should not accept the site at present known as the scene of the
Ascension.
The third summit is the Mount of Offence, of which we have already
spoken. The name of Olivet is derived from the olive-trees, which are
still cultivated upon its slopes, though now in very small numbers.
Mariti[665] says, "it is still known by the name of the Celebrated and
Holy Mountain[666]." Quaresmius and Ludolph[667] remark that in some
ancient versions of the Acts of the Apostles, we find in ch. i. ver. 12,
the 'Mount of the Three Lights' instead of the 'Mount of Olives.' Both
of them explain the origin of this name to be that during the night
these three summits were illuminated on the west by the light of the
fire on the altar of the Lord, which was kept always burning, and in the
morning on the east by the beams of the rising sun, before they fell
upon Jerusalem. Reland asserts that from its three eminences it is
called the Mount of the Three Summits.
By a chain of fire-signals from this mountain the Israelites used to
communicate to their brethren in distant lands the appearance of the new
moon before the Passover. On one occasion the Samaritans, in order to
deceive the Jews, lighted similar fires at the wrong time, for which
reason the Jews were afterwards obliged to send messengers. The Talmud
relates the manner in which these fires were made. "How did they raise
the flames on high? They took long wands of cedar and reeds and pitchy
wood and tow, and bound them together with a thread. And one, after
ascending the mountain, lights this, and tosses the flame hither and
thither, and up and down, until he sees another doing the same on the
next mountain; and so on to the third. But from what point did they
first raise the fire on high? From the Mount of Olives to Sartaba; from
Sartaba to Gryphena; from Gryphena to Hauran; from Hauran to Beth
Baltin; and he who raised the flame on Beth Baltin did not retire from
it, but tossed his torch hither and thither, and up and down, until he
saw the whole Captivity blazing with fires[668]." "The Samaritans also
once raised the fires at the wrong time, and so deceived Israel."
(Gloss.)
Sozomen[669] relates that, on the seventh of May, A.D. 331, a remarkable
prodigy manifested the glory of God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. A
luminous cross, far brighter than any comet, was seen above the Valley
of Jehoshaphat, reaching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives. This
vision lasted for several hours, and was seen by all the people, who ran
to the church to celebrate the praises of Him who had thus testified to
the truth of the Christian faith.
Tancred, on the arrival of the Crusaders before Jerusalem, ascended this
mountain alone to reconnoitre the place, and was attacked by five
Mohammedans, whom he discomfited single-handed. Hither too the Crusaders
came in procession to pray for victory from the Lord of Hosts, before
they assaulted the walls.
In the reign of Baldwin II. the Mohammedan chiefs with their bands
assembled here with their troops in order to assault the city; but the
Christian warriors attacked and dispersed them, slaying a great number,
and the rest were destroyed by a band who sallied forth from Nablous.
During the reign of the Latin kings the mountain was covered with
churches, chapels, and cells for monks and hermits. Hence remains of
these are constantly found.
Let us now examine the summit bearing the name of the Ascension; and
relate the history of those monuments, of which some traces still
remain, or the sites of which are known. The mountain is crowned by a
small village, clustered round a mosque and minaret, and extending a
little eastward. Its cottages are miserable dens, but in their walls,
ordinary as they are, fragments are seen, generally mutilated, which
appear to have belonged to buildings of a higher architectural
character. In front of the village (called _Jebel Tor_), on the west,
the Greeks and the Armenians possess a plot of ground, in which they
have found, while working there, some pieces of ornamental work, such as
cornices, capitals, and the like; together with some large cisterns,
which are also common in other parts. On the Greek property towards the
north, an ancient wall was found in 1860, which from its masonry appears
to me to have formed part of a Roman intrenchment. I refer it to the
epoch of Titus, when the tenth legion was encamped here, and the
soldiers were ordered to fortify themselves[670]. On the western slope
is a small plateau, occupied by a Mohammedan cemetery, from which there
is a beautiful view; but in order to enjoy this thoroughly it is
necessary to ascend the minaret. This marks the spot from which the Lord
ascended into heaven. It is now covered by a small mosque, in which the
Mohammedans come to pray, shewing thus how greatly they also reverence
the place. Before examining it, we will notice the surprising panorama
visible from the minaret. To the west the Holy City is spread out before
us[671]. We look down the Valley of Jehoshaphat from its head on the
north, to where it joins the Tyropoeon and the Valley of Hinnom; we
can distinguish the hills of Jerusalem itself, and so understand its
ancient topography. What thoughts arise as the eye roams from the
plateau of the _Haram es-Sherîf_ to the Castle of David, from Golgotha
to Sion, from Bezetha to Gareb! The scenes of the Old and New Testament,
the histories of so many different nations, the punishment of the elect
people, are brought home to mind and heart; while we feel moved to
repeat the words of Jeremiah, "How doth the city sit solitary, that was
full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among
the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become
tributary[672]!" "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me,
wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce
anger[673]." To the north is mount Scopus, the village of _Neby Samwîl_
(Prophet Samuel), and the mountains of the ancient land of Ephraim,
combined with those of Samaria. Towards the east, the eye, after
traversing the desert hills and mountains of Judah down to the plains of
Jericho and the deep basin of the Dead Sea, is arrested by the range of
the Arabian mountains; the hills of the land of Gilead appear on the
north, lower down those of Ammon, and still further to the south, Nebo
rising above the other summits of Moab. Seen through the pure light
their sides are tinged with colour too beautiful for description, and
testing to the utmost the painter's skill. To the south rise the gloomy
herbless slopes of the distant heights of Bethlehem. To the south-east
is the Hill of Evil Counsel, the plain of Rephaim, and the Convent of S.
Elias, across a nearly desert tract of country. The whole panorama is a
picture of desolation.
Let us now visit one by one the spots connected with incidents in sacred
history. First is the place occupied by the small mosque, called by the
Mohammedans the Mosque of the Ascension[674]. Eusebius[675] relates that
"the mother of Constantine, in order to do honour to the memory of our
Lord's ascension, erected some magnificent edifices on the Mount of
Olives. First she raised on the summit of the mountain a Sanctuary of
the Church of God." Hence we see that the first basilica on this site
was built by S. Helena; but of that no traces now remain, nor has any
description of it come down to us. S. Jerome alone gives us to
understand that it was circular in plan. "For the church, in the middle
of which are the foot-marks, was built on a circular plan and most
beautiful design[676]." He also, as well as many other fathers of the
Church, relates that the upper part of the dome could not be closed,
because our Lord rose from it, and that the marks of His footsteps on
the ground could never be covered up with marble[677]. This basilica was
no doubt destroyed, A.D. 614, during the invasion of Chosroes II., but
was rebuilt during the first half of the seventh century by the
Patriarch Modestus[678], and the original plan was retained.
Arculf[679], who saw it in the same century, has left us a detailed
notice of it. "On that Mount Olivet no place appears loftier than that
from which the Saviour is said to have ascended into heaven, where
stands a great circular church with three cloisters round it, with
chambers above them. The interior chamber of this circular church is
without a roof, and lies open to heaven under the air; in the eastern
part of which is an altar protected by a narrow roof. Now the inner
house has no chamber placed above it, in order that from the spot, where
last He placed His sacred feet, before He was borne in a cloud to
heaven, the way may be always open, and stretch away into heaven before
the eyes of the worshippers.... Moreover, there is a continuing
testimony that the dust was trodden by God, in that the traces of His
steps may be seen ... and the earth retains the mark as though stamped
with the impressions of feet. In the same place is a great brazen
cylinder opening outward (_ærea grandis per circuitum rota desuper
explanata_), the height of it being up to a man's head; in the middle
of which is a rather large hole, through which the prints of the Lord's
feet may be plainly seen marked in the dust. In that cylinder also on
the west side a kind of door is always open, and through it those who
enter can easily approach the sacred dust, and, by stretching out their
hands through the aperture of the covering, can take particles of the
sacred dust. On the west side of the upper part of the aforesaid rotunda
are eight windows with glass lights; and the same number of lamps is
suspended by cords within over against them; each being hung neither
above nor below, but as it were part and parcel of the window, directly
behind which it is seen. The brightness of these lamps shining through
the glass is so great, that not only is the western side of Olivet
adjoining the church illuminated, but also the greater part of the city
of Jerusalem from the bottom of the Valley of Jehoshaphat is lighted up
in the same manner." Willibald's description confirms, in every respect,
that of Arculf.
We do not know precisely what became of the building at the time of
Hakem's persecution, A.D. 1010, but it seems probable that the Khalif
destroyed a considerable part of it; because, when Sæwulf visited the
place, A.D. 1103, he saw a small tower supported by columns, and
surrounded by a court paved with marble. The altar was inside, placed on
the rock; and there was another altar to the east in the choir a little
distance from the columns, where the Patriarch celebrated mass on
Ascension-Day. In the first half of the twelfth century the Crusaders
rebuilt the church on this site, and added a convent occupied by Canons
of the Augustinian order[680]. Their habit was white[681]. I only give
the Plan of the present building, as there are not sufficient remains to
enable me to reconstruct that of the Crusaders, and I but partially
accept the conclusions which M. de Vogüé has drawn from the testimony of
Quaresmius[682]: "The ancient church was a regular octagon in plan: all
the bases of the corner pillars still remain; it is easy therefore to
determine its perimeter. The octagon forming the base of the plan is
inscribed in a circle 111-1/2 feet in diameter. The building has not
been laid out with much accuracy, as the length of the sides of the
octagon (measured on the outside) vary between 39-1/4 and 42-1/2
feet[683]. This fault proceeds from a want of exactness in the
execution; since it was evidently the intention of the architects to
construct a regular building, to recall by its polygonal form the
ancient rotunda whose ruins it replaced. There is a similar want of
regularity in the bases[684]; some are larger than others without any
apparent motive.... The bases of the columns sustaining the inner
rotunda have entirely disappeared; but they existed in the time of
Quaresmius, who has placed them in his plan equidistant from the centre
and the inside wall ... a wall of rubble-work, no doubt pierced with
windows, connected the corner piers. Nothing remains of this except some
shapeless fragments of its substructure. The examination of these
fragments induces us to suppose that the original wall did not run in
straight lines, but was rather circular in form[685]. In this
uncertainty I prefer to follow the indication of Quaresmius[686], who
doubtless was able to see quite enough of the original building to
ascertain its general plan. He says distinctly that was octagonal. 'The
lower parts of the walls are left, as well as some bases of columns and
foundations, from which we can infer how magnificent it was. Externally
it was an octagon in form, and inside was an ambulatory, supported by
one row of columns.'" From an examination of the spot I am induced to
believe that Quaresmius could not have seen much more than now remains;
and therefore cannot say whether he imagined or really saw the octagon.
In the latter case I suppose that its ruins have perished since his
time; and therefore M. de Vogüé cannot have seen the fragments of the
'wall of rubble-work connecting the piers.' I do not deny that his
restoration of the church deserves careful consideration, and probably
conveys a true idea of the building: but I believe that it cannot be
restricted to the present dimensions, and that we can place no reliance
upon the bases of columns and walls now remaining, because they have
been arranged according to the caprice of the Mohammedans, as was most
convenient. This I will presently explain; however, the Plan itself will
shew it. The church erected by the Crusaders was destroyed by the
Saracens, A.D. 1187. "Others indeed devastated the most holy Mount of
Olives, where the Lord, as we read in the Gospels, was often wont to
pray ... on which a church is built, on the spot where our Lord Jesus
Christ was taken up into heaven on the fortieth day after His
resurrection. In the middle of this a structure of wonderful roundness
and beauty is erected, where the Lord placed His feet[687]."
The Mohammedans appear to have built the present mosque from the
materials of the ancient church: the dome is now closed[688]. Willibrand
of Oldenburg[689], who visited Olivet A.D. 1211, states that an infidel
Saracen had erected an oratory in honour of Mohammed over the ruins of
the Church of the Ascension. M. de Vogüé thinks that the Chronicler is
mistaken in saying that this was in honour of the Prophet, and not of
the Ascension, and that the date of the building is from 1200 to 1240.
No Christian community has ever had exclusive possession of the place. A
Mohammedan Santon is in charge, who for a present will open the doors to
any one wishing to visit it. Consequently, on Ascension-day the monks of
all the Christian sects resort thither, each party celebrating mass on
the spot marked on the Plan. The Greeks occupy the most distinguished
position, after the site occupied by the mosque; for there, according to
tradition, the Apostles stood as our Lord ascended.
Travellers have all spoken about the prints of our Saviour's feet
(especially Abbé Mariti and Monsignor Mislin); with regard to these, as
they are unsupported by the Bible and the decrees of the Church, I
venture to declare that they are only representations of footsteps
carved by some sculptor. The truth of miracles in the abstract I do not
impugn, but for this there is no evidence. The Mohammedans preserve in
the mosque _el-Aksa_ one of the impressions, which also came from
Olivet. I defy the keenest observer to say which is the mark of the
right foot and which of the left. I do not believe in the instantaneous
fusion of the rock; it is only an Oriental invention; and we find
frequent instances of a similar kind among the different religious
bodies in the East; such as the other foot-prints of the Saviour, those
of the Virgin at Bethlehem, those of the Angel Gabriel, the impression
of the body of the Prophet Elias, the turban of Mohammed and his
foot-print, and a thousand similar stories. Therefore I say, with
Mariti, 'Let him believe that wishes to believe;' and am sure that I
offend not against God and religion in rejecting such old wives' tales.
Let us now glance at some other points of interest. At the south-west
corner of the buildings surrounding the Church of the Ascension is the
Grotto or Tomb of S. Pelagia; over which a church used to stand. She was
a native of Alexandria, who went to Antioch in search of pleasure; and
as she was graceful, fair, and frail, was soon noted among the gallants
of that place, who called her 'the Pearl.' However, one day she listened
to a sermon preached by Nonnus, Patriarch of Antioch, which so affected
her, that, abandoning her former life, she went to inhabit the grotto on
Mount Olivet, which still bears her name; and so completely disguised
herself, that she was known to the hermits who lived in the other caves
in the neighbourhood by the name of the monk Pelagius. Her sex was not
discovered till she was laid out, before being buried beneath the spot
where she had lived. The Jews call this place the Tomb of the Prophetess
Huldah; for what reason they do not themselves know. The Plan[690]
exhibits the interior, half of which is vaulted with masonry, the rest
excavated in the rock. Tradition asserts that our Lord frequently
retired to this grotto to instruct His disciples; accordingly a church,
built by S. Helena in honour of this event, occupied this spot before
that dedicated to S. Pelagia. So we are informed by Eusebius[691]. "And
she also built a church lower down at that very cave, where (as the true
and holy utterances of God testify) the Disciples and Apostles were
initiated in all sacred mysteries." The Pilgrim of Bordeaux writes, A.D.
333, "Thence you ascend Mount Olivet, where the Lord taught His Apostles
before His Passion. There a basilica has been built by order of
Constantine[692]." Why does the Pilgrim pass unnoticed the Church of
the Ascension, so plainly indicated by Eusebius? Possibly the church of
the grotto, a kind of dependency of the place of the Ascension, may have
been the only part of the works completed at the time.
Leaving the Grotto of S. Pelagia, and going towards the south-west, we
find a cistern near to an olive-tree, which is shewn as the place where
our Saviour taught the Apostles the Lord's Prayer. Formerly there was a
church here, as the following passage tells us: "In which place (i.e.
Olivet) the Lord was wont to instruct His disciples and all who flocked
to Him out of the city. And there He is said to have taught His
disciples the Lord's Prayer[693]." Not a trace of the church is now
left; and I cannot accept the tradition, as it is contrary to S.
Matthew's Gospel[694], which places the scene of this event in Galilee;
S. Luke[695], indeed, says our Lord repeated the prayer 'in a certain
place,' this may have been in Galilee or at Bethany, but not, I think,
at Jerusalem.
A short distance from the above, to the east, is a cavern, wherein the
Apostles are believed to have composed the Creed. Here formerly stood a
church, dedicated to the twelve Apostles; as is shewn by the ruins still
remaining, and those which are dug up there from time to time. The Rev.
G. Williams[696], in 1842, saw twelve niches in the walls, six on each
side: these I never found; for the barbarous peasants of Olivet have
completely destroyed them, in order to use the stones in building their
cottages, after first breaking them in pieces so as to remove them more
easily. The tradition about the Creed is of no value. Adrichomius[697],
indeed, says, "the most probable opinion is, that the Apostles met
together in the Coenaculum in Sion to compose the Creed."
On the summit, not far from the place where the Lord's Prayer is said to
have been pronounced, the spot is pointed out where our Lord stood when
He predicted the Last Judgment[698]. This tradition is, like the others,
worthless.
Descending towards the south in the direction of the Mount of Offence,
we arrive, a few yards from a path leading to Bethany, at a field, in
which is the so-called Tomb of the Prophets[699]. We enter this cave by
a small aperture approached down a broken flight of steps. The Plan and
Sections render it unnecessary for me to describe its internal
arrangements. I will only mention that in certain parts, especially in
the piers, we find masonry, which has been added in order to strengthen
the piers of rock which had crumbled away, and so become incapable of
supporting the vaulted roof. The place is called by the Arabs _Kubur
el-Umbia_. Hither the Hebrew pilgrims come to lament and pray,
believing, according to a tradition commonly received by them, that
they are the burying-places of the Prophets. We will therefore see
whether the Bible confirms this belief.
Though they are called the Tombs of the Prophets, the names of those who
have been buried there are not known; for the greater number and more
distinguished Prophets were not interred near Jerusalem. The
difficulties attending on this tradition are well put by M. Nau[700].
"They point out the place where, as they say, the Prophets are buried.
But what Prophets? Isaiah is buried elsewhere, under Mount Sion;
Jeremiah at Alexandria, whither his remains were removed by Alexander
the Great from Tahpanhes in Egypt; Baruch, his secretary, went to
Babylon to console his countrymen in their captivity, and lies there.
Ezekiel, after being cruelly martyred by being dashed against rocks over
which he was dragged by the Jews, or (as others say) by horses, to which
he had been fastened, was buried in the sepulchre of Shem and Arphaxad.
Daniel ended his days at Babylon, either by a natural death (according
to the common opinion), or (according to an ancient manuscript of the
Emperor Basil, preserved in the Vatican) by decapitation, together with
his three holy companions, at the hand of a certain Attalus. His remains
were removed from Babylon to Alexandria, and thence to Venice. Hosea was
buried at Behemot in the tribe of Issachar, Joel at Bethor, Amos at
Tekoah, Obadiah and Elisha at Sebaste, Jonah at Geth, Micah and Habakkuk
near Eleutheropolis, Nahum at Begabar. Thus the burial-places of the
greater number of the prophets are elsewhere: but still we may suppose
that some of the others may have been interred in these tombs; for
example, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi, and many others of the Messengers
of God, mentioned in Holy Scripture, who have not left any writings, as
Gad, Nathan, Ahijah the Shilonite, and others. It is enough for some of
these to be buried here, in order to give the place a claim to its name.
It is also possible that the Jews may have collected the remains of
their more distinguished Prophets, and placed them in these tombs on the
Mount of Olives." No more need be said to shew how slight are the
grounds for the traditional name. It is indeed possible that the words
of our Lord may refer to these tombs: "Woe unto you, Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the Prophets, and
garnish the sepulchres of the righteous[701]." "Woe unto you! for ye
build the sepulchres of the Prophets, and your fathers killed
them[702]." Certainly I do not consider these tombs to be as ancient as
many others in the Valley of Kidron and Hinnom and on the north of the
city, which we shall presently examine.
Quitting the Mount of Olives, let us take the path running eastward,
which will lead us to the ancient village of Bethphage, so well known in
connexion with the Redeemer's entry into Jerusalem. It formerly belonged
to the Levites employed in the Temple. Origen, in his treatise on S.
Matthew[703], explains the word to mean House of the Jaws. S.
Jerome[704] speaks of it as follows: "When He had come to Bethphage, to
the House of the Jaws, which is a village belonging to the Priests, and
a type of (Christian) confession, situated on the Mount of Olives."
Again, in the account of S. Paula's journey[705], he says, "After she
had entered the Tomb of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, she saw the hospice
and Bethphage, the 'Village of the Jaws,' which were the priests'
portion." Others interpret the word 'House of Figs,' and the Easterns
assert that it means 'House of the Rock in the Valley.' The position of
the place is certainly in favour of this last signification, as just
there the valley is divided into two branches by a rocky hill.
At the present day there are no traces of the church, which is said to
have stood there, or even of the village itself; nothing is seen but
bare rock, broken here and there by patches of badly tilled ground.
Quaresmius[706] gives an account of the long procession which used in
his time to be made on Palm Sunday, "When the Guardian of the Holy Land,
with his attendant monks, had reached the spot, he preached to the
people: then a deacon chanted the Gospel for the day. At the words,
'Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them,' two monks fell on their
knees in front of the reader, who continued, 'Go into the village over
against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with
her; loose them and bring them unto me.' Then the two departed and
brought an ass, on which the Guardian mounted, while the bystanders
spread their garments and olive-branches in the way, and so the
procession started for Jerusalem, chanting as they went, 'The sons of
the Hebrews brought branches of olive,' and proceeded to the city." Even
in the time of Quaresmius nothing remained of either the church or the
village. I could wish that some of the ceremonies still performed in the
Holy Sepulchre, had, like this, fallen into disuse.
After descending from Bethphage for about half a mile by a very steep
and stony path, we come to the village of Bethany. It may perhaps be
asserted, that this way going from the Mount of Olives through Bethphage
and Bethany was not in existence in former times, and is rather a
cattle-track than a road, but it is mentioned by S. Epiphanius[707]:
"Then he (Marcion) does not give any account of His journey from Jericho
until He arrives at Bethany and Bethphage. But there was an ancient road
which led from Jerusalem by Mount Olivet, which those who traverse these
regions are acquainted with." Therefore it is evident that this road was
more ancient than that which went from Jerusalem to Bethany by the Mount
of Offence. The former is the one which we suppose our Lord to have
traversed on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and on other
occasions. Bethany was a Jewish fortress on the eastern slope of Olivet:
it was the home of Lazarus and his sisters[708], and is frequently
mentioned in the Gospels[709], being the favourite resort of Jesus and
His disciples. The position of the village is incontestably fixed by
history, tradition, and the locality itself.
We are told by S. John[710] that Bethany was about 15 stadia, or nearly
2 Roman miles, from Jerusalem, and the present village is that distance.
We may fairly suppose that the house of Lazarus must have been of
considerable size from the allusions to it in the Gospels[711], and
consequently it and the village could hardly have been destroyed without
leaving some ruins to mark the spot; and therefore the tradition would
be preserved until the fourth century, when monuments were erected by
the Christians on the sites connected with the life of Christ. It is
then only necessary to examine into the accuracy of the tradition during
the first three centuries; but here the same arguments that we used in
the case of the Sepulchre of Christ may be applied to Bethany, and
especially to the Tomb of Lazarus. The present condition of the place
may also persuade those who distrust tradition, for there are still very
many ruins there, and consequently must have been more in the first ages
of Christianity. If it be urged that they are the effects of the ravages
of the Saracens on the work of the Crusaders, I admit the objection to
be partly true, but reply that the eye can readily distinguish these
from the more ancient Jewish remains. In a word, there is no other place
on the eastern slope of Olivet, which so perfectly fulfils all the
requisite conditions, as the present village of Bethany: and even its
Arab name _El-Azirieh_ still retains that of Lazarus. The Mohammedans
themselves so fully believe that this is the scene of the raising of
Lazarus, that they come as pilgrims from distant countries to supplicate
health for themselves and their sick children, in faith that if they
touch the rock of the tomb their prayers will be granted by God. In 1859
some labourers discovered, at the distance of a few yards from the
village, to the east, near the road going to the Jordan, a wall which
had all the characteristics of ancient Jewish work of the age of the
Herods. Its shape and position seem to indicate that it had formed part
of an enclosure; the continuation of which was observed a little to the
south, and also to the north-west of the Arab houses. Near it a great
quantity of materials of the Herodian epoch were discovered, scattered
about in the ground, with several deep cisterns entirely excavated and
vaulted in the rock, full of fragments of ancient masonry. These also
occur in other parts of the village. After carefully examining the
boundary wall, wherever it could be found, I have arrived at the
conclusion that the traditional House and Tomb of Lazarus are outside
it. Thus the objection often brought against them, that they are inside
the village, in opposition to the Jewish law, does not apply. For a long
time past the peasants of Bethany have been accustomed to find dressed
stones in their fields, which they have either broken up, in order to
carry them away easily into the city, or have burnt for lime. If, then,
we do not suppose the ancient village to have been there, I do not see
how we can explain the presence of these remains. The eastern part of
the present village occupies a portion of the old site, and the western
was built when memorials were erected by the Christians over the Holy
Places. Bethany is now a wretched spot, consisting of about forty
cottages, built on ruins and heaps of rubbish. A short distance from the
entrance to the village, on the west, is a splendid ruin, the remains of
a building of considerable size, which is shewn as the House of Lazarus.
To the east of this, among the houses, is the mosque[712], and near it
the Tomb of Lazarus. The houses of Martha, Mary, and Simon the Leper,
are also shewn by the natives; but as these exhibit no signs of
antiquity, and the first two are obviously improbable, I pass them by
without further notice, to consider the Tomb of Lazarus. This, like most
of the Jewish sepulchres, consists of two underground chambers, namely,
a vestibule and a tomb properly so called. The latter is entirely
excavated in the rock, while the former is of masonry, together with the
walls of the staircase leading down to it, which dates (according to
Mariti[713]) from the beginning of the seventeenth century; that is,
from 1612 to 1615, when Father Angelo of Messina was Guardian of the
holy mountain of Sion, and built this approach to the tomb. Mariti adds,
that it was made because the ancient one was in the adjoining mosque,
formerly a Christian church. With this I cannot agree, because, after
examining the interior of the mosque, I have been unable to find any
trace of a communication with the inside of the tomb; and in the
interior of the latter there are no signs of a walled-up door, to give
access to this supposed passage. The locality has undergone so many
alterations, that it is now impossible to fix the relative positions of
the church and the tomb; but the former must have been different in plan
and in dimensions from the small mosque, which, as I believe, retains
few, if any, remains of the ancient Christian church. The tradition
indicating this spot as the scene of the miracle is as early as that of
Bethany itself. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux, A.D. 333, writes, "There is a
crypt there, where Lazarus, whom the Lord raised, was laid." He does not
allude to any building erected there by S. Helena, therefore I doubt the
truth of the following statement of Nicephorus Callistus[714]: "Thence
having gone on to Bethany, she erected a noble temple to Lazarus the
friend of Christ. That place is two miles from Jerusalem." S.
Jerome[715] (who died A.D. 420) speaks of this tomb and of a church
there, but does not say that it was built by the Empress Helena[716].
At a later period the tomb and church were seen by Antoninus of Piacenza
and Arculf; the latter of whom "visited at Bethany a certain small field
surrounded by a great olive-grove, on which stands a large monastery,
and a large church built over the cave, from which our Lord raised up
Lazarus after he had lain dead four days[717]." Bernard, the Wise[718],
writes thus: "Thence we proceeded to Bethany on the descent of Mount
Olivet, where is a monastery whose church marks the Tomb of Lazarus."
This place is also mentioned by Sæwulf, so that tradition and local
evidence bring it down to the epoch of the Latin kingdom. The tomb must
have been altered by the Crusaders, whose work we recognize in the
vestibule leading into the sepulchre; but we have no record of the
general appearance of the exterior of the church after their
restoration. We see, therefore, that an unbroken tradition has been
attached to this tomb from the beginning of the Christian era to the
present day.
Let us now visit the ruins of the so-called House of Lazarus, which are
a short distance to the west of the tomb. All that we can distinguish
here with certainty is the ruin of a square tower, the masonry of which
is of the time of the Crusades. The presence of a quantity of small
white tesseræ encouraged me to excavate inside its walls, when I found
in its foundations stones with rude rustic-work; and in removing the
rubbish, saw some other stones in which were holes, apparently made to
receive lead or iron clamps, to bind them together. Hence I consider
that the Crusaders' building partly rests upon ancient Jewish
foundations; and that it is not by any means improbable that this is the
actual site of the House of Lazarus. The walls and portion of the tower
now remaining are the ruins of a hospice, which was rebuilt by Queen
Milisendis[719] in the first half of the twelfth century; the original
building (dating from the sixth century and visited by Antoninus of
Piacenza) having been destroyed by the Saracens. Milisendis obtained for
this purpose the church of Bethany, and all the land belonging to it,
from the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, giving them in exchange the town
of Tekoa, near Bethlehem. The deed of exchange, dated on the nones of
February 1138, is preserved in the Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre[720],
and also the bull of Celestine II., A.D. 1143, confirming it[721]. The
queen considering that the convent, being in a lonely situation and a
considerable distance from the city, would be in danger of attack in
case of war, built there with squared and dressed stones a very strong
tower, containing the necessary offices, as a refuge for the nuns, until
succours arrived from Jerusalem[722]. This it is whose ruins we now see.
She also amply endowed the convent, assigning to it the revenues of
Jericho and its dependencies, with many other gifts, recorded by William
of Tyre in the passage just cited. The same author goes on to inform us
that when the work was finished, Milisendis established there a
community of Benedictine nuns, presided over by an abbess, "an aged and
venerable matron, of approved piety," after whose death, "returning to
her (original) purpose, she placed her own sister, with the consent of
the Lord Patriarch and assent of the sisterhood, at the head of the
nunnery;" giving at the same time yet more gifts, such as chalices,
books, and other ornaments used for ecclesiastical purposes; nor did she
cease all her life according to the desire of her heart, and for the
sake of her sister, whom she specially loved, to shew kindness to the
place. The name of the first abbess was Matilda[723]. Juveta is
mentioned as abbess of the nunnery of S. Lazarus at Bethany, in a
contract for the exchange of some rents between her and the nuns of the
Hospital of S. Lazarus at Jerusalem. It bears the date A.D. 1157, in the
reign of Baldwin III. After the witnesses' signatures we find written,
"All these things were confirmed in the presence of Queen Milisendis."
To the document a seal is attached mentioned by Paoli[724]. In the
middle of it is the figure of a lady, partially effaced, holding against
her breast a book bearing a cross. The legend is JUDITTA ABBATISSH. On
the reverse is our Saviour recalling Lazarus to life, with the legend
RESUCTATIO LAZARI. On the invasion of Saladin the nuns retired to S.
Jean d'Acre, and the convent was destroyed, since which period it has
remained in ruins.
Thus, having completed our examination of Bethany, let us return by the
road passing on the south of the Mount of Olives. This was the ancient
military way from Jerusalem to Jericho and the left bank of the Jordan,
and is still the usual route to the same places. Traces of the old
paving are yet to be seen at certain points. Near the Mount of Offence
the local guide stops the visitor to shew him the fig-tree which
withered away at our Lord's command[725]; and, if he is well up to his
work, will not forget to point out the tree on which Judas hanged
himself. But let us enter the Valley of Hinnom.
This was the boundary-line between Judah on the south and Benjamin on
the north[726]. The Arabic name is _Wady er-Rabab_, the Hebrew,
_Ge-Hinnom_ or _Ben-Hinnom_ (the valley of the son of Hinnom). The
bloody rites of Moloch[727] and Baal gave it its evil fame, which were
celebrated more especially in the place called Tophet[728]; this was,
according to Jerome, the lower (eastern) part of Hinnom. S. Jerome[729]
asserts that Christ was the first to use this word in the sense 'hell;'
an application which the abominable idolatrous rites that had been
enacted there rendered most appropriate. The Prophet Jeremiah frequently
mentions Tophet, but one passage is very remarkable from the manner in
which its fulfilment is evident at the present day. "Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that it shall be no more called Tophet, nor the
valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall
bury in Tophet till there be no place[730]." Now, whichever way we turn,
our eyes rest on tombs, many broken as the nation that once profaned
this spot: so that no one can tread these rocks heedless and unmoved.
To the south of the Valley of Hinnom is the hill, called by the
Christians the Hill of Evil Counsel, because of a legend, that in a
village on its western side, all trace of which has now disappeared, was
a house belonging to Caiaphas; where the Priests and Pharisees assembled
to compass the capture and death of Christ. Pompeius encamped upon its
summit after he had taken Jerusalem[731]. The Arabs call it _Jebel
el-Kubur_ (Mount of the Tombs); a most appropriate name, as it is in
reality one great necropolis; now, however, inhabited by many peasants
of Siloam, who have housed themselves and their crops in some of the
sepulchral chambers, and converted others into cisterns. We will visit
all the more interesting objects which we meet as we ascend from the
Well of Job. At the bottom of a narrow trench, sloping steeply
downwards, is a frontispiece[732], decorated with a triangular pediment,
with a trefoil as finial, above a small doorway. On each side of this is
a pilaster; these are still visible, though partly covered with soil.
The interior[733] has this peculiarity, that the arches forming the
roofs of the sepulchral niches are not very nearly semicircular, but
extremely depressed; and a trough-shaped cavity or sarcophagus takes the
place of the shelf for the corpse; an arrangement which does not occur
in the tombs on the north of the city, or in the Kidron Valley. While I
was engaged in making my Plan, I found a great number of bones in the
interior; and in the chamber furthest to the east four perfect
skeletons, which I discovered must have been placed there a few months
before. I consider these tombs, as well as the others so common in the
vicinity, to be more recent than those which are found elsewhere in the
neighbourhood of the city; certainly they did not exist in the time of
the Jewish kings, when Tophet was considered an accursed place. I think
that they were excavated during the Asmonæan period, as the prejudice
against the site might by that time have diminished. The simple but
careful ornamentation of these tombs, the whiteness of the surface, and
the absence of certain marks on the stone, characteristic of the
instruments of the earlier period, all lead me to the same conclusion.
A few yards to the west of the last tomb is another remarkable for its
elaborate façade[734]. This is of the Doric order. The frieze is divided
by triglyphs, having eight metopes, each charged with a patera of a
different pattern. Some traces of fresco painting are still seen on the
soffit of the vestibule and in the inner chambers, which induce me to
think that it has been used as a chapel. According to tradition the
Apostles concealed themselves here also after our Saviour was taken
prisoner; and at a later period S. Onuphrius lived and died here in
retirement. For this cause it was converted into a chapel dedicated to
this Saint, and it is still visited by the Greeks once a year to offer
up prayers. Schultz considers it to be the monument of Ananus the
High-priest; a point in the wall of circumvallation constructed by
Titus[735]. As its decoration is probably of the Herodian age, I agree
with him.
On the west of this we find, after passing Aceldama, a tomb[736], which
gives us a good idea of what the Sepulchre of Jesus was formerly like.
When Constantine embraced Christianity, this hill, as well as the
others, was occupied by anchorites, who lived in the tombs and caverns.
So we are told by Antoninus of Piacenza[737]. "Within the very
sepulchres are the cells of the servants of God, wherein many virtues
are displayed." So again we find in the Geography of Edrisi: "Near this
are a number of houses excavated in the rock, inhabited by pious
hermits[738]."
Almost half way up the hill is a building which has retained the name
Aceldama (Price of Blood[739]). An uninterrupted tradition identifies
this with the Potter's field, bought as the burial-place of
strangers[740]. This place recalls to the mind one of the most sublime
prophecies of Jeremiah[741], of which it may have been the scene; when
he broke the potter's earthen vessel before the ancients of Israel,
crying, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people
and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made
whole again"--words which still are fulfilled by Jerusalem and the Jews.
In the field is a great subterranean chamber, excavated in the rock,
enclosed by a wall supporting a vaulted roof, and pierced by holes,
through which the corpses were let down. In the lower part of the west
side is an aperture formed in the rock, perhaps to admit servants to
gather together the ashes after the corpses were consumed; but of these
no traces can now be found. In the interior on the south side is a great
pier made out of the rock, and strengthened with masonry, which divides
the chamber into two on that side. Nicephorus Callistus attributes this
monument to S. Helena[742]. After examining the walls I have come to the
conclusion that they are of two periods, the first that of S. Helena,
to which I refer the inside wall, especially in the lower parts; and the
second that of the Crusades, which is the date of the part above ground
and the vaulting. At that time the Hospitalers interred here those who
died in the Hospital, as we learn from the following passage: "On the
left hand the valley had a charnel-house called Chaudemar. Therein they
cast the pilgrims who died in the Hospital at Jerusalem. This piece of
land, where the charnel-house lay, was bought with the money for which
Judas sold the dear Jesus Christ, as saith the Evangelist[743]." A
church also stood on this spot, as is shewn by a document entitled,
"Archives of the Hospitalers in the year 1143," in which we find, "I
William, by the Grace of God, Patriarch of Holy Jerusalem ... proclaim
that I have granted for ever to the Hospital which is in Jerusalem, a
certain church, situated in the field called _Achel-demach_, where the
bodies of strangers are buried; together with all the land, divided by
the ancient Syrians in our presence." No trace now remains of this
church, but it was probably built over the vault, and was only a
consecrated room to be used as a mortuary-chapel. Popular superstition
attributes to the soil of Aceldama the property of consuming the corpses
buried there in twenty-four hours; for which reason it was carried away
to be used in Christian burial-places. S. Helena transported 270
ship-loads to Rome. The Pisan Crusaders on their return from Syria
brought back a great quantity of it, which was deposited on their Campo
Santo, A.D. 1218. I was anxious to test the truth of the belief, and so
buried at a depth of four feet the body, not indeed of a human being,
but of a lamb. After eight days I disinterred it, and unfortunately for
my sense of smell, found that although I had carefully selected a piece
of natural ground free from rubbish, the experiment was unsuccessful; I
am therefore driven to conclude that the soil has lost its former
virtue. I also filled a box with the soil, and placed therein birds,
small quadrupeds, and reptiles; but in all cases the flesh was consumed
slowly. I also planted flowers in some of it, at my own house, and found
that they flourished perfectly.
Many persons have laid much stress on the fact that a great quantity of
broken earthenware vases has been found about Aceldama, which they have
considered to be of great age, and proofs of its former use; but in what
part of the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and indeed of all the towns and
villages of Palestine are not similar remains found? Hewers of stone,
labourers, shepherds and many others, pass whole days away from their
houses, especially in places where there are tombs, and always bring
with them vessels of water, many of which get broken from time to time;
a circumstance which accounts for these fragments being found especially
in the neighbourhood of the more populous cities.
From Aceldama we can ascend to the top of the hill to visit the ruins of
_Deir-Kaddis-Modistus_. This appears to have been an ancient convent, at
the time when the anchorites inhabited the caverns. Now we see a
Mohammedan tomb, and two Arab cottages, erected by the Greek
Archimandrite, Nicoforus, who has purchased a large estate there; and in
a few years the mountain-side, after so many centuries of sterility,
will be again fertile. When these were being built, I often visited the
place, and noticed that, as the rubbish was cleared away, some remains
of ancient Jewish and Roman walls were discovered; the occurrence of
which, renders it not at all improbable that a fortress occupied the
position in the time of the Maccabees.
We descend the Hill of Evil Counsel to the Bethlehem road, and follow
this northward till we reach the valley of Gihon on the north-west. On
our left is a new mulberry plantation, in the middle of which stand a
small tower and the beginning of a house, all the work of Nicoforus, who
intends to establish here a spinning-mill for silk. This spot is _Kasr
el-Asfur_ or _el-Ghazal_ (House of the young sparrow, or of the
gazelle)[744]. Here we find many cisterns entirely excavated in the
rock, and a quantity of hewn rock, still bearing marks characteristic of
the ancient tools. Dressed stones and fragments of walls of the Jewish
period are not unfrequently found here by the labourers, when digging
deep to bring the ground under cultivation; but unfortunately the
Archimandrite is not as fond of archæology as of farming; and these
remains are blown up with gunpowder to gain two or three inches more
soil for the roots of a tree, so that the traces of ancient works, of
the highest importance in determining the former topography of the
neighbourhood of the city, are thus obliterated.
A little to the north of _Kasr el-Asfur_ is a large plot of land
enclosed by a new Arab wall, on which stands a long building, certainly
not remarkable for its good architecture and internal arrangement. It is
a hospice for Jews, founded in 1858 by Sir Moses Montefiore of London,
with the assistance of others professing the same creed. It has been
erected to supply lodgings for the poor, where they may enjoy a purer
air than they do in their own quarter of the city. Behind the principal
building, to the west, Sir Moses Montefiore erected a wind-mill, which
would be of the highest value to the whole country if only its
advantages were understood; but the Arabs still prefer using their own
miserable hand or horse-mills, which spoil their flour, to the trouble
of carrying the grain this short distance from the city. In time, no
doubt, they will perceive the obligation they are under to this
philanthropic Israelite.
In the lower part of the valley, to the east of the above-named
establishment, is a very large pool excavated in the rock, except on
the north and south side, where its waters are retained by walls. It is
the largest in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and bears the name
_Birket es-Sultan_ (Prince's Pool). It is so called because the popular
belief is that it was originally constructed by David or Solomon, and
afterwards repaired by various sultans. An Arabic inscription on the
frontispiece of a fountain (now dry) to the south, called _Aïn
el-Melik_, informs us that it was restored by the Mamaluke Sultan
el-Melik en-Naser-Mohammed, between the years 693 and 741 of the Hejra
(from 1294 to 1340 A.D.). It was also repaired by Sultan Solyman I. in
the sixteenth century. Owing to a mistake made by Bonifacius[745] it has
been wrongly supposed to be the Pool of Bersabeë (Bathsheba), where the
wife of Uriah the Hittite was bathing, when she was seen by David. This
is however obviously contrary to the words in the Bible[746], that
"David walked upon the roof of the King's house, and from the roof he
saw a woman washing herself, &c." Besides, it is in the last degree
improbable that a woman of good reputation would bathe in a pool by the
side of a public road. It is more likely that it bears the name of
Bethsabeë or Bersabeë, because it is at the beginning of the road
leading to the city of Bersabeë[747]. I have no doubt that this is the
'lower pool' mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah[748]; but I shall discuss
this question in the Chapter on the Waters, and give an account of the
aqueduct, which runs along its western side, and then after turning
eastward goes to Sion. In the middle ages it was repaired by one
Germanus, as the following passage shews: "When they had descended the
mount," it is told in our account of the thirteenth century, "they found
a pool in the valley, called Germanus' Pool, because Germanus
constructed it to catch the water that descended from the hills when it
rained; there the horses of the city used to drink[749]." It is true
that the above quotation asserts that Germanus made the pool, but I
understand this only to mean repaired; because it is far too great a
work to have been undertaken in the time of the Crusades, simply to form
a watering-place for horses, when other ponds in the neighbourhood of
the city would have served for this purpose. It is also mentioned in the
Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre in the year 1177. The pool is now dry,
and even after rain the water does not remain in it, although it could
be restored for a small sum. During the harvest the farmers dry and
thresh out their crops in it.
Hence we return to the city by ascending the rough road leading up to
that part of the wall enclosing Mount Sion, which bears the name of
_Abraj Ghazzah_ (towers of Gaza), and after passing the south-west
corner of this, we arrive on the plateau of the hill, which is occupied
by a cemetery, divided among the different Christian communities in
Jerusalem. At the south-east corner of this stands a group of buildings,
known by the names of the Tomb of David and the Coenaculum. A small
dome, surmounted by a crescent, marks the position of the former[750].
That this is the site of the tomb of the Royal Psalmist and his
successors, I trust to shew by the aid of the Bible, of history, of
tradition, and of local evidence at the present time. We find the
following passages in the Bible: "David took the stronghold of Sion, the
same is the city of David.... So David dwelt in the fort, and called it
the city of David[751]. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried
in the city of David[752]." Again, after the death of the Psalmist,
several of his successors are mentioned as being buried "with their
fathers in the city of David[753]." But this is not all; in the Book of
Nehemiah[754] we find "the gate of the fountain repaired Shallum ... and
the wall of the pool of Siloah by the King's garden, and unto the stairs
that go down from the city of David. After him repaired Nehemiah ...
unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool
that was made, and unto the house of the mighty." From this it is clear
that the wall, in coming from the direction of the King's garden and the
pool of Siloam, mounted the eastern slope of Sion as far as the Tomb of
David, and that the 'pool that was made' is _Birket es-Sultan_, and
possibly the 'house of the mighty' may be the citadel. Hence the Tomb of
David must have been well known to the Jews of later ages. Again,
Josephus[755] states that Solomon buried great treasures in his father's
tomb, and that Hyrcanus the High-priest broke open the tomb and took
therefrom three thousand talents. This happened about 129 B.C. In
another place[756] we find, "As for Herod, he had spent vast sums about
the cities, both without and within his own kingdom, and as he had
before heard that Hyrcanus, who had been king before him, had opened
David's sepulchre, and had taken out of it three thousand talents of
silver, and that there was a much greater number left behind, and indeed
enough to suffice all his wants, he had a great while an intention to
make the attempt; and at this time he opened the sepulchre by night and
went into it, and endeavoured that it should not be at all known in the
city, but took only his most faithful friends with him. As for money he
found none, as Hyrcanus had done, but that furniture of gold and those
precious stones that were laid up there, all which he took away.
However, he had a great desire to make a more diligent search, and to go
further in, even as far as the very bodies of David and Solomon; where
two of his guards were slain by a flame that burst out upon those that
went in, as the report was. So he was terribly affrighted, and went
out, and built a propitiatory monument of that fright he had been in,
and this of white stone, at the mouth of the sepulchre, and at a great
expense also." This took place about the year 12 B.C. Had the tomb been
outside the walls, it is less likely that it would have escaped
destruction in the various sieges of Jerusalem; and the account just
cited produces the impression that it was within the city. S.
Peter[757], addressing the Jews, says, "Let me freely speak unto you of
the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre
is with us unto this day." This brings us down to the year 34 A.D. Dio
Cassius[758] states that part of the Tomb of David fell down of itself
in the time of Hadrian, which was considered by the Jews to be an evil
omen. S. Jerome[759] also informs us that it was visited by the
Christians, when he says to S. Paula and S. Eustochium her daughter,
"When shall we be allowed to enter the Sepulchre of the Redeemer, and to
pray in the Tomb of David?" He does not indeed expressly say that it was
within the city, but we may infer it from his mentioning it together
with the Sepulchre of Christ, and not alluding to it when he describes
the visits to the Sanctuaries in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. This
evidence brings us down to the fifth century. The Jewish tradition also
on this point is of real weight, because it has never placed the tomb
otherwise than on Sion, outside the present city-walls, though without
fixing its exact position. Benjamin of Tudela[760], who wrote A.D. 1173,
relates that about fifteen years before his arrival at Jerusalem one of
the walls of the oratory on Mount Sion fell down, and that while it was
being repaired two of the workmen went on with their labour while the
rest were absent, and broke away a stone that formed the mouth of a
cavern; into this they agreed to enter in search of treasure, "and they
proceeded until they reached a large hall, supported by pillars of
marble incrusted with gold and silver, before which stood a table with a
golden sceptre and crown. This was the Sepulchre of David, King of
Israel.... They further saw chests locked up, the contents of which
nobody knew, and were on the point of entering the hall when a blast of
wind like a storm issued forth from the mouth of the cavern, so strong
that it threw them down almost lifeless on the ground. There they lay
until evening, when another wind rushed forth, from which they heard a
voice like that of a man calling aloud, Get up and go forth from this
place." Now I do not attempt to deny that this story may be false or
greatly exaggerated, but at any rate it proves that the Tomb of David
was clearly pointed out by tradition at that time as being on Sion. A
Florentine lady, Sophia degli Arcangeli, erected a hospice containing
200 beds near the Coenaculum, in the year 1354, to entertain pilgrims
to the Holy City, and then began to excavate on Sion a subterranean
chamber to bury the Latins who died during their visit. When the work
was commenced in the Latin cemetery, near to the boundary of that
belonging to the Armenians, the ground gave way, and a great underground
cavern appeared. For this reason the attempt was abandoned lest it
should lead to disputes with the neighbours. Now this fact does not give
us any indication of the place of the Tomb of David, but it proves the
existence of a cavern, such as is now seen, with its opening on the west
side of Sion. This then especially occupied my attention, as I thought
it would afford the means of determining the Tomb of David, which all
the Jews now in Jerusalem unanimously assert to be on Sion. They do not
indeed generally assign any exact position to it, not I believe from
ignorance, but from religious scruple; some however less anxiously
cautious, say that it is on the site usually pointed out, namely at
_Neby Daûd_, which is the Arab name for the eastern part of the building
attached to the Coenaculum. Quaresmius[761], who was Guardian of the
Holy Land in 1630, and visited the tomb with the interpreter of the
Latin convent, assures us that nothing remains under the present place.
I allude to this to shew that the tradition of the tomb being near the
Coenaculum was also current among the Franciscan monks.
Before bringing forward my own investigations, and the conclusions
derived from them, I quote the words of M. Mislin[762]: "I visited the
Tomb of David, April 1, 1855. It was three o'clock in the afternoon;
Kiamil Pasha and the chief personages awaited us in a small court, the
entrance to which is on the left-hand side of the great doorway. We at
once descended by a staircase of only six or eight steps into a low
vaulted chamber, which, so far as I can judge, is situated exactly under
the Church of the Institution of the Eucharist, of which it is only the
crypt. No doubt it was one of the three churches, placed one on the
other, mentioned by Fabri[763]. 'It had consecrated places on three
different levels, namely a crypt underground, a church above ground, and
over that another decorated tabernacle.' After passing through the
vestibule we arrived at the part corresponding with the single nave of
the church above. Here however the nave is divided into two by a row of
massive piers of rock in the middle, supporting the vaulted roof. The
latter half, or rather part of this crypt, for it is smaller than the
other, is separated by a transverse railing, and is itself divided by
another railing at right angles to the former, so as to form two spaces
at the southern end of the chamber. The entrance is by that on the right
hand, and the tomb occupies almost the whole of that on the left. When
we had entered the former chamber, which I will call the _Mihrab_,
because in it is the niche for prayers, ... the place in which we were
was very dark, and the neighbouring chamber was worse; so that all that
we could see on the other side of the railing separating us from it, was
a carpet, which was not enough to satisfy our curiosity. Kiamil Pasha
remarked to the Sheikh that we were come to see the tomb; he then opened
the door with a very good grace. The Pasha kneeled down and pressed the
fringe of the carpet covering the tomb to his mouth and forehead for a
moment, and then allowed us to examine it at our pleasure. Before us was
a sarcophagus about seven feet high, and twelve long. It was covered
with seven very rich carpets. The upper was blue silk with large deeper
coloured stripes; it was worked over with texts from the Koran. In the
middle of the sarcophagus there is also a square piece of stuff richly
embroidered, with a gold fringe; on it also are texts from the Koran,
worked in gold thread. It was the gift of the Sultan Abdul-Medjid. The
second carpet is bright blue with flowers worked in silver thread. The
others are well worn and less rich than these. From the roof a canopy of
silk is suspended, striped white and blue. The Sheikh who accompanied us
raised a corner of the carpet, so that I was able to touch the
sarcophagus; but owing to the many folds of the cloth, I had great
difficulty in forming an opinion of its shape and material. Observing
that I was not yet satisfied, he then took courage and raised the whole
of the carpet from the part where there was the best light. By this
means I saw the entire front of the sarcophagus, which appeared to me to
be made of unpolished grey marble. In the middle was a medallion of
darker colour, and I asked its meaning. The Sheikh informed me that it
marked the position of the Prophet's navel. I examined the walls; they
are covered with earthenware tiles with a blue pattern on a white
ground. Bronze lamps are placed here and there around the tomb. Near the
door, on the left hand on going out, is a chain suspended from the wall,
with oblong links. The Sheikh told me it was a model of one made by
David himself.... The Mohammedans act wisely in keeping this tomb
concealed, in order to invest it with some importance." The last is an
unfortunate remark; the Mohammedans, and especially the Sheikhs who are
in charge of the place, know very well what they are about, as I will
presently shew.
I visited the chamber described by M. Mislin in February 1859; having
obtained admission from the same Santon in return for certain services I
had rendered him, also by bribes and presents at various times, by the
recommendation of Surraya Pasha, and by having won the good will of the
Mohammedan families who occupy the houses about _Neby Daûd_; most of
whom let out horses and beasts of burden for hire, and were under
obligations to me for recommending them to travellers. For all these
reasons, and after much expenditure of money and patience, I gained
entrance into the Sepulchre of David, visited his pretended tomb, and
made the observations I am about to describe. The description of M.
Mislin is very accurate, but I am able to make the following additions
to it: (1) Under the earthenware tiles in the chamber of the
sarcophagus, I discovered, by means of an examination made from the
outside, the walls of an ancient Jewish building, combined, in the parts
above the floor, with masonry of a later date, which has been introduced
during repairs. This is to be found especially on the east and north
sides. (2) The sarcophagus is not of unpolished grey marble, but of
whitish Palestine breccia, called marble by the ancients, from its
resemblance in working and polish. The greyish colour is due to its age,
and perhaps also to the bad light or to the shade cast by the upraised
carpets on the small part of it that was examined. (3) The medallion
does not mark the position of the Prophet's navel, as the Sheikh said,
but is a simple decoration attached to the sarcophagus; it is repeated
on each of the other sides. Neither is it of darker marble, but as it is
continually kissed by devotees its colour has been altered. (4) The form
of the sarcophagus is a rectangular parallelepiped, formed of different
blocks of breccia well fitted together without mortar. The lid is _à dos
d'âne_[764], of several pieces of stone; at least so it appears at each
end, but in the middle and on the top I have been unable to detect the
divisions. All this shews that it is not a real sarcophagus, but only an
imitation or cenotaph erected on the spot to conceal something below.
(5) On lifting up the mats at the corners of the chamber and near the
tomb, I found that the pavement is laid upon the rock, which corresponds
in its nature with that exposed all about the upper part of Sion. I
carefully examined the north side and the base of the monument, in the
hope of discerning signs of an opening, but in vain. When I asked the
Sheikh for information on the point, he appeared surprised at my
question, and from that moment endeavoured to get me out of the place as
quickly as possible; and under the circumstances I had no choice but to
comply.
I did not, however, believe that I had visited the Tomb of David, but
was convinced that there was below or on the north side of the chamber
containing the sarcophagus, a communication with the true tomb, which
must be excavated in the solid rock; and, like all the other very
ancient sepulchres, consist of many chambers, in which were sarcophagi,
differing in their arrangement from those at the Tombs of the Kings and
Judges, on the north of Jerusalem[765]. I accordingly determined to
descend into the vault, which I have already mentioned as having an
opening on the western side of the hill[766]. After I had descended a
steep sloping plot of land, I found some steps forming the commencement
of a staircase cut in the rock; which, however, is now almost covered
with soil, ashes, and bones. Below was a huge vault, which I perceived
to run under a large portion of the cemetery above; and so understood
how it was that they came upon it in excavating a burial-place in 1354.
It is now almost full of bones, which are thrown in whenever they are
found in digging graves. As I unfortunately made the examination in the
rainy season, it was not very successful; the water had soaked through
and run down into the interior, so that I was impeded by mud composed of
wet soil, ashes, and bones; and I do not know whether I should have been
able to extricate myself from the fetid quagmire, if I had not had two
men with me, and taken my usual precaution, when visiting an unexplored
place, of fastening a rope round my body. Consequently I was obliged to
wait for a better opportunity. At the same time I examined the ground in
the neighbourhood of the opening, and not only found the rock all round
it at a slight depth, but also ascertained that it had once been larger,
and had been reduced in size by masonry, so that it could be closed with
a stone. The rock, when uncovered, shewed traces of the iron tools with
which it had been wrought, and also exhibited the small holes made to
admit clamps of iron or lead to fasten down the stones that were laid
upon it. These marks have brought me to the conclusion, that this must
have been the entrance into the Tomb of the Jewish Kings, and that here
Herod erected his monument in order to render the place secure. Hence
the sarcophagus, which is called David's Tomb, is only a representation
of it, after the usual custom of the Mohammedans, who indeed have
another repetition of it in wood on the upper floor; which is placed
there to content the believers who come to pray, and saves the Sheikh
the trouble of conducting them down into the lower chamber. It may not
be out of place to observe here, that I made a report to Surraya Pasha,
that the principal causes of the constant fevers in Jerusalem were the
shallowness of the graves on Sion, which were so dug to avoid coming
upon this vault by going too deep; and the presence of this
charnel-house. At the same time I proposed a plan by which, at a small
expense, the sepulchres of Aceldama might be restored, and the remains
of the corpses removed to them; a change which would have produced the
best possible effect on the sanitary state of the city. The Pasha
understood this, but unfortunately, owing to the number of previous
formalities which were requisite, the execution of the design was almost
impossible. I must confess that the public good was not my only motive
on this occasion, as the opportunity it would have afforded me for
making researches, and excavating inside the cavern, would probably have
furnished me with most valuable information to aid in identifying this
place with the Tombs of the Jewish Kings.
In the month of May in the same year I was able with much difficulty to
examine, to some extent, the above-named cavern: not indeed as
thoroughly as I could have wished, but as far as circumstances would
allow. I was obliged to remove a quantity of skulls, masses of bones,
and other materials, and this with the help of only one European
servant; as I was unable to find any other assistant, owing to the
disgusting nature of the labour. It was further impossible to get help
from the Arabs, who would not have aided me for any price that I could
have offered, and who would very likely have embroiled me with the
inhabitants of _Neby Daûd_. By little and little, on many days, I was
able to make a Plan of the place[767]; I do not claim for this very
strict accuracy as regards the measurements, but its shape and bearings
are to be trusted, up to the part where it narrows on the east. Although
I saw the beginning of the corridor on the east, I was unable to enter
it, as it was quite filled with rubbish, and I have only inferred its
junction with the chamber containing the sarcophagus which passes for
David's Tomb. I found over a large part of the cavern the marks of the
tools used in excavating it. At some places there appeared to be the
upper parts of doorways; these perhaps might be entrances into other
vaults; the mass of rubbish however made it impossible to determine
this. I also thought that the vaulting was supported by piers; but was
unable to satisfy myself on this point, as what I saw might have been
caused by a settlement of the ground above that had brought the roof
into contact with the rubbish accumulated inside, which was in such
quantities, that I could not without great labour have distinguished the
one from the other. As then I cannot conceive this great work undertaken
for any other than an important purpose, I believe that it is the
vestibule of the Tombs of the Jewish Kings; but of course to establish
this we must wait until the rubbish is cleared out of it. It is in the
fortress of Sion, the city wherein David dwelt, and no other place in
Jerusalem agrees so well with the _data_ of the Bible and Josephus, and
with tradition, as this position, which has in its favour every argument
derived from the configuration of the ground. I hope to be able to renew
my investigations here; but if unhappily I am prevented from carrying my
intention into effect, I recommend archæologists to devote themselves to
the subject; trusting that in that case they will find that I have
directed them to the real tombs of the Jewish Kings on Sion.
Let us now consider the 'Coenaculum;' the name of which is derived
from the belief that it is the place where our Saviour ate the last
Paschal supper with His Apostles. The Bible[768] tells us no more than
that it was a large upper-room, but the tradition is of very great
antiquity. It asserts that here the Apostles met after the Resurrection,
when the Saviour shewed them His wounds; that here He ate before them,
and breathed on them that they might receive the Holy Ghost[769]; that
here Thomas was convinced[770], and Matthias elected an Apostle[771];
that here the Holy Ghost descended on the day of Pentecost[772], and
the first converts were added to the Church by S. Peter[773]. A church
must have been erected on this spot at a very early period, for S.
Epiphanius[774] says, with reference to Hadrian's journey in Palestine:
"He found Jerusalem levelled with the ground, the Temple itself
destroyed and trodden under foot, save only a few houses, and a certain
small Christian church which had been built upon that spot on which the
disciples, after that the Saviour had ascended into heaven, assembled
together in the Coenaculum." We read in the Catechetical Lectures of
S. Cyril[775]: "The Holy Ghost, who spake in the Prophets, and who on
the day of Pentecost descended on the Apostles in the form of fiery
tongues, here in Jerusalem in the Upper Church of the Apostles." This
shews that the church was divided then, as it now is, into two floors.
It is not known who built it. Nicephorus Callistus[776], an author of
the fourteenth century, attributes it to S. Helena; but Eusebius does
not mention it, and the Bordeaux Pilgrim only says: "Continuing along
the same road up Mount Sion, you may see the place where was the house
of Caiaphas the priest; and to this time the column still remains where
they scourged Jesus." S. Jerome[777], in his Itinerary of Paula, writes
thus: "The column was shewn there, supporting the portico of a church,
stained with the Lord's blood, to which He is said to have been bound
and scourged. The place is pointed out where the Holy Ghost descended
upon one hundred and twenty believers." In the year 415, on Dec. 26th,
the remains of the Proto-martyr S. Stephen were transported to the
Apostles' Church, during the patriarchate of John[778]. Antoninus of
Piacenza, Arculf, Willibald, and Bernard the Wise, in the sixth,
seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries respectively, mention the basilica
on Sion[779]. Arculf describes its plan without details as a regular
parallelogram of considerable length. We do not know whether the church,
described by these authors, was the same as that spoken of by S. Cyril;
but it is very probable that, owing to the persecutions suffered by the
Christians, the fabric was destroyed and rebuilt more than once. At any
rate, by the end of the eleventh century it had entirely fallen to ruin,
as we find from the Gesta Francorum[780]. The Crusaders rebuilt it, and
though their church no longer exists, we possess an accurate description
of it by the authors of the twelfth century. I abbreviate this from the
work of M. de Vogüé[781], who has derived it from the anonymous writers
of the manuscripts of Vienna and of Paris, and from John of Würtzburg
and John Phocas. "The church was composed of two parts: the lower,
consisting of a nave and two aisles, with barrel-vaults, was
terminated, like most of the buildings of the period of the Crusades, by
three apses at the east. In the apse most to the north was an altar,
supposed to mark the place where the Virgin died.... That on the south
was supposed to indicate where Christ appeared to His disciples after
His Resurrection. In this lower church, sometimes called the crypt in
the middle ages, they say that Our Saviour washed the Apostles' feet.
The upper church had a groined roof, with a central dome. This was the
Coenaculum, properly so called, where tradition placed the scene of
the Last Supper in the nave, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost in the
principal apse. The two floors communicated one with another by means of
an inner staircase of 61 steps (this number, given by Phocas, is
evidently exaggerated), which opened from the ground-floor in the
southern apse. The interior of these two churches, in the time of the
Latin Kings, was covered with wall-paintings, representing the subjects
of the traditions attached to the spot." After giving a list of these,
M. de Vogüé goes on to say, that "on the left of the principal church
was a small one dedicated to S. Stephen, in remembrance of a very
ancient tradition, according to which the martyr's body was removed from
its first resting-place at Caphar Gamala to this place. A convent had
been built in the neighbourhood, occupied by a chapter of Augustinian
Canons, who had the care of the Sanctuaries under the direction of an
Abbot. The society bore the twofold name of S. Mary of Mount Sion and of
the Holy Ghost." M. de Vogüé then describes the seal of the convent, and
gives a list of the Abbots.
The buildings around the Coenaculum were not destroyed at the entrance
of Saladin, A.D. 1187. Willibrand of Oldenburg, A.D. 1219, found them
inhabited by Syrians, who paid tribute to the conquerors; but in the
thirteenth century they were in ruins. In 1336, in consequence of the
treaty (A.D. 1333) concerning the restoration of the Holy Places to the
Friars Minor, between the Sultan of Egypt on one side, and Robert King
of Sicily and his wife Sancia on the other, it was agreed to
re-establish the church and monastery on Sion. After a heavy expenditure
this was done, and the Franciscans took up their quarters there; as is
proved by a bull of Clement V., dated at Avignon, November 21, 1342.
Queen Sancia erected a convent enclosing the Coenaculum on Sion, and
richly endowed it for the support of twelve monks and some lay brothers.
An idea of it may be obtained from the present buildings, allowing for
some modifications. Besides the church and the monks' cells, it included
a large hospital, founded A.D. 1354, by a Florentine lady, Sophia degli
Arcangeli. This was placed under the care of the Fathers by Pope
Innocent in the following year[782]. They were unable to enjoy the
advantages bestowed upon them, owing to the persecution of the
Mohammedans, who not only plundered them by their heavy exactions, but
also put them to death. Indeed, in 1368 all of them were massacred; in
1391, four out of the nine who had succeeded these martyrs; in 1432,
one, John of Calabria; in 1537, all of them were seized, and part
imprisoned in the Tower of the Pisans, while the rest were sent to
Damascus[783]. I have already observed, that, at this time, the Latins
being anxious to preserve certain articles, valuable both from their
sacred nature and intrinsic worth, entrusted them to the Armenians, who
afterwards refused to restore them. The possession of the Sanctuaries on
Sion was confirmed to the Franciscans by several Sultans of Egypt and
Constantinople; this, however, did not prevent their being driven from
the place in 1561; under the twofold pretext, that Sion was fortified,
and so might at any time aid the Christians in making themselves masters
of Jerusalem, and also that it was unbecoming that infidels should
possess the Tomb of David. The monks thereupon retired into a small
house, until they purchased from the Georgians the Convent of the
Column, as I have already mentioned[784]. The Mohammedan Santons
occupied their place; and those who live there at the present time,
according to an order of the Pasha, Governor of the city, countersigned
by the Effendis of his Council, allow the Fathers, or certain pilgrim
priests, to celebrate mass in the building; they also, for a small sum,
permit pilgrims to see the Franciscan Church[785], with the upper part
of the Tomb of David. This, however, probably only occupies a portion of
the earlier church. Like its predecessors, it is divided into two
floors; the lower of which is formed by the substructure of the ancient
building, and consists of two chambers, one of which has a vaulted roof
supported by two piers, and is called the Hall of the Washing the Feet;
the other (and smaller) is also vaulted, and bears the name of the Tomb
of David. The upper story is given on my Plan. The chamber on the east
above the Tomb of David is not always opened to the Christians; this is
shewn as the place of the Descent of the Holy Ghost: the other, on the
west, is the Coenaculum, a Gothic building in the style of the
fourteenth century, erected by the Franciscans. It is divided down the
middle by two granite columns, and half-columns project from the side
walls to correspond with them. I conclude this subject by observing,
that in the buildings on the south and on the west large pieces of
masonry of the time of the Crusades still remain; and that the stables
on the west are the work of Ibrahim Pasha, who, with his attendants,
occupied the whole of the Coenaculum.
Outside the building of _Neby Daûd_, and a little to the north, is the
site of a house, where the Virgin Mary is said to have passed the last
years of her life. Some large stones, on one of which a cross is carved,
mark the spot, in which I have no great belief. Sanutus[786] thus
speaks of it: "Near this spot, a stone's throw to the south, is the
place where the blessed Virgin dwelt after her Son's Ascension into
heaven, and the cell wherein she departed this life." In the
neighbourhood was a chapel dedicated to S. John the Evangelist, which
was seen by Sanutus, who goes on to say, "There also is the Church of
the Blessed John the Evangelist, which was, as it is said, the first of
all the churches; in it this Apostle was wont to offer mass to that most
blessed Queen while he lived in this world."
We have now only to visit the walled enclosure to the south of the Sion
Gate. This is a small Armenian convent, which is said to occupy the site
of the house of Caiaphas: the tradition dates from the fourth century. I
have already said that the Pilgrim of Bordeaux mentions it, without
however stating that a church stood there. We find in the writings of
Nicephorus Callistus[787], that S. Helena built a church there, and
dedicated it to S. Peter; but this is not confirmed by any one besides.
None of the authors, contemporary with or posterior to S. Helena, allude
to it; and we cannot suppose that this Sanctuary would be omitted in the
Itinerary of S. Paula, which names all the others that were then in
existence. It was unknown at the time of the Crusades, as it is not
recorded by Edrisi, who wrote A.D. 1151, nor by Phocas, in his journey
in Palestine, A.D. 1185. Marinus Sanutus, in the fourteenth century, is
the first writer who mentions it. He calls it the Church of S. Saviour;
the name it still bears[788]. Hence I infer that the church and the
convent adjoining were erected at the end of the thirteenth century, or
at the beginning of the fourteenth. Although the tradition concerning
the House of Caiaphas goes back as far as the fourth century, I believe
it would be difficult to maintain its correctness, as we have no _data_
whatever from the Bible to assist us in fixing the position of the
High-priest's dwelling. The entrance is by a small door on the north,
near the north-west corner. The church is oblong in plan (50 feet long
by 25 wide), without any architectural features worthy of notice. The
pictures on the walls are ugly and grotesque. In the central altar at
the east end two large pieces of stone are exhibited, which are said to
have formed part of the mass that closed the door of the Sepulchre of
Christ. Their genuineness would be difficult to establish; but, be that
as it may, the Armenians ought to be ashamed of shewing them, as they
were entrusted to them by the Franciscans in 1570, at the time of the
war with Cyprus, and afterwards dishonourably appropriated. There is
neither history nor tradition to support the claims of these stones, and
the Latin Fathers suffer their loss with patience, since their thickness
would not correspond with the size mentioned by the Evangelist[789],
and the little that can be seen of them is enough to shew that they
cannot have belonged to a stone of the right shape. On the south of the
altar is a very small square-headed door leading into a narrow chamber,
in which two persons can scarcely stand. This is said to be the prison
where Jesus was kept during the remainder of the night after he was
brought to Caiaphas. The walls shew no signs of antiquity; the pavement
rests upon a mass of rubbish; the tradition is unfounded, and the place
perhaps was formerly only a closet. In the courts before the church they
point out the spot on which S. Peter stood when he denied his Master,
and where the cock crew! In the interior of the convent the Armenian
Patriarchs and Bishops are buried. I must not forget to observe that a
great number of stones are to be seen in the outer wall and on the
ground, which have been used in monuments; on them are some ancient
Armenian inscriptions. This is an easy way of employing tombstones, when
they lie too close on the ground of a cemetery.
Before entering the city we descend the eastern slope of Sion by a
foot-path leading to Siloam, and arrive at a small cave, surrounded by
some ruins, which are the remains of the Church of S. Peter at the
Cock-crow, destroyed since the thirteenth century. Tradition reports
that S. Peter retired to this spot to lament his sin after denying his
Redeemer. The church was standing in the ninth century; for Bernard the
Wise writes: "Towards the east is a church in honour of S. Peter, on the
spot where he denied his Lord[790]." John of Würtzburg informs us that
it belonged to the Greeks in the twelfth century. We read in La Citez de
Jherusalem[791]: "There was a church called S. Peter at the Cock-crow.
In this church was a deep ditch, wherein S. Peter hid himself when he
had denied Jesus Christ, and there he heard the cock crow, and bewailed
his sin." We read also in Edrisi[792]: "From the Sion Gate the road
descends into a ravine called the Valley of Hell, at the end of which is
a church in honour of S. Peter." A few yards to the east of this is a
small Jewish cemetery, now abandoned. Turning back northward from this,
we reach the road which, passing along under the city-wall, leads to the
Sion Gate.
On entering this we see by the side of the wall to the east some poor
dwellings, built on a level plot of ground, composed of stones and clay.
These are the abodes of the lepers of Jerusalem, where these unhappy
beings live until released by death from their misery. They are called
by the Arabs _Beiût el-Masakîm_ (Houses of the Unfortunate), and are
occupied by men, women, and children. Most of them are Mohammedans, but
there are some Christians among them. This leprosy is not white, like
that described in the Bible[793], but is the kind called Elephantiasis.
The skin of the afflicted persons assumes a violet or reddish-grey tint,
and tumours are formed in it, which turn into ulcers of the most
horrible appearance; little by little the extremities of the limbs drop
off, leaving only shapeless stumps behind; the roof of the palate
becomes inflamed and then ulcerates, so that the voice grows harsh, and
at last guttural; and the face and limbs are swollen. This terrible
calamity, which refuses to yield to the efforts of science, is not
contagious, but hereditary. The lepers are not, however, so poor as they
are usually supposed to be. We will not dwell further upon this
miserable sight, but will continue our observations in another chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[532] Plate XVII.
[533] Plate XLIX.
[534] Early Travels, Bohn's Ant. Lib. pp. 4, 19.
[535] Joel iii. 2.
[536] Joel iii. 12; Note I.
[537] 2 Kings xxiii. 6.
[538] Jer. xxvi. 23.
[539] Adric. Theat. Terræ Sanctæ. De Vall. Jehosh.
[540] Acts vii. 58.
[541] Dr Robinson, Biblioth. Sac. III. p. 639. Williams' Holy City, II.
p. 432 (2nd Ed.). Les Églises, &c. pp. 332, 333.
[542] Note II.
[543] 2 Sam. xv. 23.
[544] 1 Kings xv. 13.
[545] 2 Chron. xxix. 16; xxx. 14.
[546] S. John xviii. 1.
[547] Some of these are now in the collection of the Rev. Churchill
Babington, B.D. Fellow of S. John's College, Cambridge, a distinguished
numismatist.
[548] Plate L.
[549] Plate LI.
[550] Niceph. Hist. Eccl. VIII. 30; Note III.
[551] Orat. II. De Assumpt. Quoted by Quaresmius, E. T. S. Lib. IV. Pereg.
7, c. 2, Vol. II. pp. 241, 242, ed. 1639.
[552] Theophanes, Chron. ann. 443.
[553] Note IV.
[554] See Euthymius, Lib. III. ch. 40.
[555] E. T. S. Lib. IV. Pereg. 7, c. 2, Vol. II. p. 242.
[556] Ant. Piac. XVII.
[557] Seb. Pauli, Codex Diplomaticus, S. Mil. ord. Jerusal. Said Ibn
Batrik, II. 212; Note V.
[558] See Theophanes, Chron. ann. 683.
[559] Early Travels, &c. Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 19.
[560] Ibid. p. 28.
[561] Note VI.
[562] Les Églises, &c. p. 308.
[563] Ibid. p. 307.
[564] Note VI.
[565] Les Églises, &c. p. 307; Note VII.
[566] Alb. Aquens. Lib. VII. c. 21; Lib. IX. c. 52. Gesta Dei, &c. Vol.
I. pp. 299, 344.
[567] C. X. Pez. Thes. Anec. Nov. Tom. I. p. 523.
[568] De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 309.
[569] Cod. Dipl. Vol. I. p. 10.
[570] Citez de Jherusalem.
[571] Note VIII.
[572] Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. pars 14, c. 9, p. 256
(ed. 1611).
[573] Note IX.
[574] Note X.
[575] Plates L., LI.
[576] Note XI.
[577] Lib. XVIII. c. 32, Gesta Dei, &c. Tom. II. p. 953 (ed. 1611).
[578] See Plate LI. (Plan).
[579] Note XII.
[580] Page 148.
[581] Plate LI.
[582] S. Matt. xxvi. 39; S. Luke xxii. 44.
[583] S. Matt. xxvi. 36; S. Mark xiv. 32; S. John xviii. 1.
[584] Liber de Situ et Nom. Loc. Heb. (Gethsemane).
[585] Early Travels, &c. Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 4.
[586] Leo Allat. Sym., p. 57.
[587] Quoted by M. de Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 314.
[588] Eluc. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 5, c. 9, Tom. II. p. 160.
[589] Voyage nouveau de la T. S. 1679, I. III. c. 3.
[590] Plate LII.
[591] S. Luke xxi. 37; xxii. 29.
[592] Jewish War, VI. 1, § 1.
[593] Note XIII.
[594] S. Matt. xxvi. 38, 40; S. Luke xxii. 45.
[595] See his description of the city, Note XI, Ch. II.
[596] Loc. Terræ Sanctæ Descriptio, Ch. XLIII.
[597] See Plates LV., LX., which shew the Plan and Elevation.
[598] 1 Kings xxii. 50.
[599] Plate LVIII.
[600] Guide D'Orient, p. 805.
[601] Holy City, Vol. II. pp. 451, 452 (2nd Ed.).
[602] See the elevation and details to Plates LX., LXI.
[603] Mariti, p. 152.
[604] Le Pieux Pélerin, p. 404.
[605] 2 Sam. xviii. 17.
[606] Ant. VII. 10, § 2.
[607] 2 Sam. xviii. 6.
[608] 2 Sam. xviii. 18.
[609] 2 Kings xxv. 4.
[610] Ant. VII. 10, § 3.
[611] E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 5, c. 13, Tom. II. p. 169.
[612] Plate LX.
[613] 1 Cor. xv. 7; S. Jerome, de vir. ill. c. 2, from the Gospel of the
Nazarenes; Quaresmius, E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 7, c. 10.
[614] Ap. Euseb. H. E. II. 23, § 12.
[615] Plates LX., LXI.
[616] 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21.
[617] S. Matt. xxiii. 35.
[618] 2 Kings xxi. 18, 26.
[619] Narrative of a Journey round the Red Sea, &c. Vol. II. pp. 223-244
(edited by Count E. de Warren).
[620] Biblical Researches, Vol. I. p. 521 (First Ed.).
[621] Chap. III. p. 94.
[622] Isai. viii. 6.
[623] Nehem. iii. 15.
[624] S. John ix. 7.
[625] Jewish War, II. 16, § 2; V. 4, §§ 1, 2; V. 9, § 4.
[626] S. John vii. 37, 38.
[627] Succah, v.
[628] Jennings, Jewish Antiquities, Book 3, c. 6.
[629] Comment in Is. Lib. III. c. 8.
[630] Hist. Eccl. Book VIII. c. 30.
[631] Itiner. Chap. XX.
[632] De Perenni Cultu T. S. Lib. II.
[633] Hist. Hieros. VI. 6. G. D. p. 276.
[634] Fabri, I. 420.
[635] Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Hierusalem.
[636] See the chapter on the Waters.
[637] Histor. de Hierosolymitano itinere. Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script.
Vol. IV.
[638] S. John ix. 7.
[639] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2. See also p. 31.
[640] See Origen, Comment. in Matt. Tom. X. c. 18, and Ep. ad Africanum,
c. 9, also Homil. in Isa. I. c. 5 (ed. 1740); also Tertull. de
Patientia, c. 14; and Jerome Comment. in Isaiam, Lib. XVI. c. 57 (ad
fin.).
[641] Histoire de l'État présent de Jer. p. 206.
[642] Ch. II. p. 26.
[643] 2 Kings xxv. 4; Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7.
[644] Plate XLVIII.
[645] 2 Maccab. i. 19, 22.
[646] 2 Maccab. i. 33-36. For Nephi the Greek text has Nephthaei.
[647] Josh. xv. 7, 8; xviii. 16.
[648] 2 Sam. xvii. 17.
[649] 1 Kings i. 9.
[650] See Chapter II. p. 21.
[651] Descrip. T. S. Pez. Thes. Anec. Nov. Tom. I. pars 3, p. 509.
[652] Plate LXI.
[653] S. Luke xiii. 4.
[654] Ch. II. p. 21; Plate LII.
[655] S. Luke xix. 37-41.
[656] S. Luke xix. 37.
[657] Fetell. de Situ Jherusalem, 236.
[658] Fabri, I. 387.
[659] Acts i. 11.
[660] Acts i. 9-11.
[661] E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 9, c. 11, Tom. II. p. 320.
[662] Note XIV.
[663] Acts i. 12.
[664] S. Luke xxiv. 50, 51.
[665] Histoire de l'État présent de Jer. p. 157.
[666] Dan. xi. 45.
[667] De Vita Christi, Pars II. c. lxxxii.
[668] Rosh Hashanah, c. II. hal. 2, 3.
[669] Hist. Eccl. Lib. IV. c. 5. Mentioned also by Socrates, Hist. Eccl.
Lib. II. c. 28, as seen at Antioch.
[670] Jewish War, V. 2, §§ 3, 4.
[671] Plate I.
[672] Lament. i. 1.
[673] Lament. i. 12.
[674] Plate LIII.
[675] Vita Const. III. 43.
[676] Liber nom. loc. ex Actis 'Mons Oliveti.'
[677] Jerome, Ibid. Cf. Epit. Paulæ. Euseb. Vita Const. III. 40.
Paulinus, De Cruce Christi.
[678] Baron. Ann. Eccl. 616.
[679] Adamn. de Loc. Sanct. Lib. I. c. 17. Quoted by Quaresm. E. T. S.
Lib. IV. pereg. 9, c. 6, Vol. II. p. 310. Abridged in Early Travels,
Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 5, cf. p. 19.
[680] James de Vitry, c. LVIII. Gesta Dei &c. Vol. II. p. 1078.
[681] Citez de Jherusalem; Les Églises &c. p. 444.
[682] Les Églises &c. p. 316.
[683] The building is certainly not accurate: the range of variation of
the sides is rather more than M. de Vogüé represents it to be.
[684] Very great want, they are all different.
[685] None of the ancient wall remains; all that is there is common Arab
work, therefore I attach no weight to this argument.
[686] Eluc. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 9, c. 8, Tom. II. p. 313.
[687] Radulph. Coggesh. Chron. T. S. apud Martene et Durand. Tom. V. pp.
566, 567.
[688] For details, see Plate LIII.
[689] Itiner. in Symmik. Leo Allatius (p. 150, ed. 1653).
[690] Plate LX.
[691] Vita Const. Lib. III. c. 43.
[692] Cf. Citez de Jherusalem, De Vogüé, p. 444.
[693] Gesta Francorum expugnantium Hierosol. 25.
[694] S. Matt. v. 1; vi. 9.
[695] S. Luke xi. 1.
[696] The Holy City, Vol. II. p. 446 (2nd Ed.).
[697] Quoted by Quaresmius, Lib. II. pereg. 9, c. 1, Tom. II. p. 302.
[698] S. Mark xiii. 3.
[699] Plate LIV.
[700] Voyage nouveau de la Terre Sainte, III. c. 4.
[701] Matt. xxiii. 29.
[702] Luke xi. 47.
[703] Comment in c. xxi. p. 435, ed. 1685.
[704] Comment in c. xxi. Evang. Matt. Lib. III.
[705] Ep. CVIII. _Ad Eustochium Virginem_ (Vol. I. p. 837, Ed. Migue).
[706] E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 10, c. 11, Tom. II. pp. 333, 334; S. Matth.
xxi. 1, 2.
[707] Epiph. adv. Hæret. Lib. I. Tom. III. Refut. 53 (p. 340, ed. 1622).
[708] S. John xi. 1-40.
[709] S. Matt. xxvi. 6-9; S. John xii. 3.
[710] S. John xi. 18.
[711] S. John xi. 19; xii. 1-3.
[712] Plate LIV.
[713] Mariti, c. XV. § 8.
[714] Hist. Eccl. Lib. VIII. c. 30.
[715] Jerome, Epitaph. Paulæ, Ep. CVIII. (_Ad Eustochium Virginem_).
[716] Jerome, Onomastic. ad vocem Bethan., Ep. CVIII. (_Ad Eustochium
Virginem_).
[717] Acta Sanct. ord. Bened. sæc. iii. p. 2. Early Travels, p. 6.
Bohn's Ant. Lib.
[718] Itinerarium in Loc. S. (Acta Sanct. ord. Bened. sæc. iii. p. 2).
See also E. T. p. 28.
[719] See Ch. V. page 146.
[720] Cartul., p. 61.
[721] Cartul., p. 27.
[722] William of Tyre, Lib. XV. c. 26 (G. D. p. 887).
[723] Cartul. H. S., p. 61 (A.D. 1144).
[724] No. 20, Cod. Dipl. Tom. I.
[725] S. Matt. xxi. 18, 19.
[726] Josh. xv. 8; xviii. 16.
[727] Note XV.
[728] Isai. xxx. 33.
[729] Jerome, Comment. in S. Matth. c. x. v. 28.
[730] Jer. vii. 32; cf. xix. 6, 11.
[731] Jewish War, V. 12, § 2.
[732] Plate LX. (Fig. 6).
[733] Plate XLVII.
[734] Plate LX. fig. 8. Plate XLVII.
[735] Jewish War, V. 12, § 2.
[736] Plate LV. fig. 5.
[737] Anton. Piac. XXV.
[738] Universal Geography of Edrisi, Climate, III. § 5, Tom. I. p. 345,
Paris, A.D. 1836.
[739] Acts i. 19.
[740] S. Matth. xxvii. 7, 8.
[741] Jer. xix. 11.
[742] Hist. Eccl. Lib. VIII. c. 30.
[743] La Citez de Jherusalem, De Vogüé, p. 442.
[744] Ch. II. p. 41.
[745] De Perenni Cultu Terræ Sanctæ, Lib. II. Quoted by Quaresm. E. T. S.
Lib. VI. pereg. 1, c. 3, Vol. II. p. 596.
[746] 2 Sam. xi. 2.
[747] Beersheba, E. V.; Gen. xxvi. 33; +Bêrsabee+ in LXX; Josh. xv. 28,
and afterwards.
[748] Isai. xxii. 9.
[749] La Citez de Jherusalem, De Vogüé, p. 442.
[750] Plate XLV.
[751] 2 Sam. v. 7, 9.
[752] 1 Kings ii. 10.
[753] Note XIV.
[754] Nehem. iii. 15, 16.
[755] Ant. XIII. 8, § 4.
[756] Ant. XVI. 7, § 1.
[757] Acts ii. 29.
[758] Dio Cassius in Hadriani Vita.
[759] Jerome, Epist. ad Marcellam.
[760] The Travels of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela. 'Early Travels in
Palestine,' Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 85.
[761] Pineda, de Rebus Salomonis, Lib. VIII. c. 3.
[762] Les Saints Lieux, Tom. II. c. xxvi. p. 361, Paris, 1858. He should
have mentioned that it was in the company of the Duke of Brabant,
otherwise neither would the Pasha have troubled himself about the
matter, nor the Santon have allowed him to enter the court.
[763] F. Fabri, Eigentliche Beschreybung der Hin und Widerfarth zu dem
heil. Land gen Jerusalem, Tom. I. p. 225, 1556.
[764] Plate XLVI.
[765] Plates LVI., LIX.
[766] Plate XLVI.
[767] Plate XLVI.
[768] S. Mark xiv. 15; S. Luke xxii. 12.
[769] S. Luke xxiv. 36, 39-43, 45; S. John xx. 19-22.
[770] S. John xx. 26, 27.
[771] Acts i. 26.
[772] Acts ii. 1-4.
[773] Acts ii. 14-41.
[774] De Mensuris et Ponderibus, c. 14; Quaresm. E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg.
4, c. 4, Tom. II. p. 122.
[775] Catech. Lect. XVI. 'The Library of the Fathers,' Vol. II. p. 205.
[776] Lib. VIII. c. 30.
[777] Epitaphium Paulæ.
[778] Le Quien, Oriens Christ. Vol. III. p. 162, col. 2.
[779] Note XVII.
[780] Gesta Francorum Expugn. Hieros. c. XXVI. G. D. p. 573.
[781] Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, p. 324.
[782] The bulls are given by Quaresmius, Elucidatio T. S. Lib. II., c.
18, Vol. I. pp. 404, 405.
[783] So it is stated in the Chronicles preserved in the Convent of S.
Saviour at Jerusalem.
[784] Page 160.
[785] Plate XLVI.
[786] Liber Secretorum fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. pars 14, c. 8, p. 255
(ed. 1611).
[787] Hist. Eccl. Lib. VIII. c. 30.
[788] Liber Secretorum fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. pars 14, c. 8, p. 254.
[789] S. Mark xvi. 3, 4.
[790] Early Travels, p. 28. The author is at variance with the ordinary
tradition on this point. The denial must have taken place at the house
of Caiaphas.
[791] Quoted in De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 442.
[792] Geographie Univ. par. v. clim. 3, p. 444.
[793] Lev. xiii.
CHAPTER VII.
EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE CITY ON THE NORTH AND
WEST--THE MONUMENT OF HELENA OF ADIABENE, AND THE CHURCH DEDICATED
TO S. STEPHEN--ROYAL CAVERNS--GROTTO OF JEREMIAH--HOUSE OF THE
VINE--TOMBS OF THE KINGS--SHEIKH JERRAH--ANCIENT SYNAGOGUE--TOMB OF
SIMON THE JUST--TOMBS AT THE HEAD OF THE KIDRON VALLEY--KIDRON
POOL--VARIOUS TOMBS ON THE NORTH-WEST--TOMBS OF THE JUDGES--SHEIKH
AYMAR--RUSSIAN BUILDINGS--VALLEY OF GIHON--BIRKET
MAMILLAH--MONUMENT OF HEROD, AND RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF S.
BABYLAS--GREEK CONVENT OF THE HOLY CROSS--PROPERTY OF THE
ARCHIMANDRITE NICOFERUS.
Let us return to the picturesque Damascus Gate[794], and begin our
examination from this point. In the first chapter[795] I mentioned that
there was a Cufic inscription under the archway on the west side; this
contains the Mohammedan confession of faith, namely, "There is no God
but God, and Mohammed is his Prophet." Outside the gate, on either hand,
is a mound, formed by the continual accumulation of rubbish and soil
which have been brought and cast down here for many centuries; the last
addition being on the building of the Austrian hospice in 1857. These
render it impossible to see the full extent of the ditch, which was made
in the reign of Agrippa to defend the city-walls[796]. Following the
road northward, some chiselled rocks are seen on the left hand, which I
have already[797] stated to be, in my opinion, the remains of the
monument of Helena of Adiabene. We must now consider the claims of this
place to be the scene of S. Stephen's martyrdom; since we saw[798] that
the present site, near S. Mary's church, was inadmissible. The
Bible[799] tells us no more than that the Saint was "cast out of the
city;" and as S. Paul witnessed the martyr's death, he may not
improbably have pointed out the place to the Christians. In the fourth
century this was said by tradition to be on the north of the city, as
we gather from a letter of the Priest Lucian, preserved by
Quaresmius[800]: "He was stoned outside the north gate, which leads to
Kedar." In the fifth century a magnificent church was erected here by
the Empress Eudoxia, in honour of S. Stephen. This must have been built
between the years A.D. 450 and A.D. 461, as she resided at Jerusalem
during that period, having retired there on the death of her husband,
Theodosius II., and died in 461; that is, in the fourth year of the
reign of Leo I., Emperor of the East[801]. She was buried in this
church[802]. From Evagrius[803] we also learn that "she built a church
in memory of S. Stephen, Proto-deacon and Proto-martyr, of remarkable
magnificence and beauty, which is not a stadium distant from Jerusalem."
This place is about a stadium from the Damascus Gate. Nicephorus
Callistus[804] also informs us that the church was the above distance
from the city, and was of great size and beauty. This church is also
celebrated for the synod which assembled there, A.D. 518, at the
instigation of S. Saba, to maintain the decisions of the Council of
Chalcedon, at which a great number of monks was present; and we learn
incidentally from the author of S. Saba's life[805], that the church was
"able to hold a very large multitude." Antoninus of Piacenza, in the
sixth century, calls the present Damascus gate the Gate of S. Stephen,
and expressly states that through it was the way to Cæsarea and
Diospolis, so that there can be no doubt of his meaning. This name was
retained until the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt by Solyman I., A.D.
1536, when it was changed, for what reason history does not tell us; but
we may conjecture that the church had by this time disappeared, and the
tradition was misinterpreted by the Christians. The church built by
Eudoxia can scarcely have escaped destruction during the persecutions of
Chosroes II. in 614, and Hakem in 1010; but it was probably rebuilt on a
smaller scale, for we learn from Robert the Monk[806], an author of the
time of the first Crusade, who describes the details of the siege, that
"the Counts of Normandy and Flanders encamped on the north of the city,
near the church of S. Stephen the Proto-martyr, on the spot where he was
stoned by the Jews." Again, Sæwulf[807] informs us that "the stoning of
S. Stephen took place about two or three arbalist-shots without the
wall, to the north, where a very handsome church was built, which was
entirely destroyed by the Pagans." Again, we find the following allusion
in Albert of Aix[808]: "But Robert, Prince of the Normans, and the
British Count, pitched their tents near the walls, where is the oratory
of the Proto-martyr Stephen." Hence it is evident that up to the
eleventh century, the traditional site of the Saint's martyrdom was
always on the north of the city; and that the ruined church of Eudoxia
was replaced by an oratory, which was also destroyed by the Mohammedans
on the approach of the first Crusaders. The church was rebuilt in the
earlier part of the twelfth century under the Latin kingdom, for it is
marked on the Plan of the Brussels manuscript with this title,
'Monasterium S. Stephani[809],' and is by the side of the north gate,
there called 'Porta S. Stephani Septentrionalis.' It was served by the
monks of a convent, which, however, is not mentioned in any history; but
its seal has been published by Sebastian Pauli. Before its doors ran the
Royal road[810], along which all the pilgrims from beyond the sea
travelled to Jerusalem. On the other side of the road, on the left hand
going to the city, "was a great house in front of this church, which was
called the _asnerie_; there they were wont to keep the asses and beasts
of burden of the house of the Hospital, whence its name _asnerie_. The
Christians of Jerusalem destroyed this church of S. Stephen before they
were besieged, because it was near the walls. The _asnerie_ however was
not demolished, as it was used by the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem in
time of truce[811]." Indeed, on the east of the road leading to
Jerusalem, opposite to the rocks marking the site of the church of
Eudoxia, are some cisterns; and traces of walls are found when the
labourers are digging in the fields, the sole remains of the buildings
that once stood here. The Church of S. Stephen was, as we have said,
destroyed by the Crusaders, A.D. 1187, to prevent its covering the
advance of Saladin's troops towards the walls. Willibrand of
Oldenburg[812] saw its ruins in 1211, and must have occupied the
_asnerie_, for he speaks of "a certain house situated near the walls. At
this place S. Stephen was martyred, in whose honour our faithful, as
still appears, founded a church and archiepiscopate, where now the
Sultan's asses are kept ... with the materials of the church a dunghill
has been formed." The ruins of this church and _asnerie_ have
disappeared in the course of time; the tradition itself has been
transplanted to another locality, as we have seen, and would now pass
for correct, were it not for the historic documents which have preserved
for us the probable position of S. Stephen's martyrdom.
Between the Church of S. Stephen and the north-west corner of the city,
near the bastions of the walls, was the men's lazaretto, with a church
dedicated to S. Lazarus. By the side of it was the small gate of S.
Ladro, where the Royal road from the north came to an end by joining
that which went from S. Stephen's Gate[813].
Going back from the place of S. Stephen's martyrdom towards the Damascus
Gate, we find on the left a road leading eastward; and on the right of
this is an aperture, under the city-walls, which stand on a high rock;
and close to the aperture a deep excavation. These are the Royal
Caverns, and opposite to them, on the north, is the so-called Grotto of
Jeremiah[814]. I have already mentioned[815], in speaking of the third
line of walls, that I consider these two spots, now separated, to have
been formerly united; and now, in giving a more minute account of them,
I trust to shew that I am right in my opinion, and that the first-named
place has been properly identified with the Royal Caverns of Josephus.
It is not unfrequently stated in Jerusalem, that Dr Barclay discovered
these great caves, which I call the Royal Caverns: and perhaps he was
the first European in this century to describe them, but they were not
unknown to the inhabitants of the country. They are called by the Arabs
_Megharet el-Kotton_ (the Cotton Grotto), and were known to
Mejir-ed-Din, who thus writes of them: "Opposite to and to the south of
the _Zahara_" (a Mohammedan cemetery situated above the Grotto of
Jeremiah), "and below the northern gate of the city, is a great oblong
excavation, called the Cotton Grotto, and some say that it even extends
below the _Sakharah_." The notion, indeed, was common in the country,
that from these caverns it was possible to penetrate into the _Haram
es-Sherîf_: so that the adherents of the government would not allow any
one to enter them. The Bedouins, however, and the Arabs of the country,
took possession of them during the insurrection, and threatened to blow
them up if their demands were not satisfied. I claim the merit of having
rendered the passage practicable, and contributed to prove that there is
no communication between them and the _Haram_. I have also made a
correct plan of them, and conducted many persons thither, acting as
their guide; among others, His Excellency Surraya Pasha, M. de Barrère,
Consul of France and M. Gérardy Saintine, who in his book 'Trois ans en
Judée' has entirely availed himself of my discoveries, which I shewed
him, without acknowledging his obligation to me for them, and for the
two Plans of ancient and modern Jerusalem annexed to his book, which
were furnished by me.
Nothing can be more surprising than these caverns, which seem to have
been excavated by the generations of old, as a challenge to posterity.
Immense halls, with their roofs supported by piers of natural rock,
exhibit in their sides openings leading into long dark galleries,
terminating in other chambers of large dimensions. On the left hand is a
disordered heap of accumulated fragments of rock, a pile of enormous
limestone blocks, lying in confusion one on the other; the spaces
between which have been filled up by the soil falling down from above,
so that on one side it rises like a rugged hill, on another presents a
gentle slope; but any one who incautiously attempts to traverse it has
reason to repent of his undertaking. At the south end of the first
excavation is a kind of fountain, surrounded by stalactites of the
strangest shape, which have arranged themselves so as to form a sort of
lengthened dome. The water, which falls in drops from above into the
little basin, is not good to drink. It is brackish, and from my
investigations I have come to the conclusion that it is not supplied by
a spring, but filters through from the cisterns excavated in the rock
above: in fact, in the rainy season there is an abundant supply, but in
summer it is dried up. It becomes brackish in passing through the rock,
which contains many saline and ferruginous particles. Going eastward
from this fountain, we pass along a cliff on the right hand, while on
the left high white walls of rock shew the cavities from which the large
stones have been extracted. At last we arrive at the deepest part, where
is a chamber about 260 feet long, where we can examine in detail the
manner in which the ancients quarried the monolithic columns, the great
building stones, and large paving slabs. I think that the monolith in
the vaults of _el-Aksa_, in the inner chamber of the Gate of Huldah, was
taken from these caves; for here we find a place where a column of stone
still hangs down from the roof, like a great stalactite. On comparing
with this the measurements of the monolith, they were found to
correspond in width and height; and the conjecture is still further
confirmed by the colour and character of the stone. The process by which
the blocks were extracted can be examined in the side walls. The masses
were separated from the rock by vertical grooves nearly four inches
wide, the inner boundary of which is a quadrant of a circle. These I
believe to have been cut with a circular disk, worked with a handle,
which moved it backwards and forwards through a half-revolution. At the
present time the Arab masons use an instrument of the same kind in
making a groove in a wall. When the groove was made of a sufficient
depth to give a stone of the required thickness, they detached it with a
pick, or raised the hinder face which adhered to the rock; this explains
the great width of the vertical groove: consequently in the process of
quarrying the stone was cut smooth on three faces. I have frequently
measured the cavities from which blocks have been removed, and also the
stones themselves which have been left partially attached to the rock,
or which are lying on the ground, and found them correspond perfectly
with many large blocks built into the east side of the _Haram_ wall,
more especially in its lower parts. Moreover, the mineral character of
the stones is the same; so that I am fully persuaded that these caverns
were made by Solomon, when he built the Temple, and were afterward
enlarged by Herod for the same purpose, and by Agrippa for the new or
third lines of walls, which he was obliged to leave unfinished. The
stones quarried here well deserve the term applied to them by
Josephus[816], that they were 'exceeding white.' Before leaving these
caverns I should warn the traveller that he ought not to visit them
alone, relying simply on his own powers and his map for finding his way
out again, but should take a guide, or at least a companion, and leave
another trusty friend at the entrance. Of late years the place has
become a haunt of ill-disposed persons, who retire here, not to lie in
wait for travellers, but to celebrate their orgies; and therefore the
stranger may, if alone, be pelted, without knowing where his assailant
is. Besides, the road is not very safe in parts, and not easy to find by
the light of a single candle. In winter, during the rainy season, let no
one risk a journey in them; the falls of stone which happen at that time
are sometimes not only alarming, but even fatal. In 1857 a large rock
detached itself, and fell with a loud crash, while I was measuring at
the eastern end of the cavern. I felt far from comfortable until I found
that the way back was still open, and I speedily availed myself of it,
carrying out, with the help of my European servant, an Arab youth, whom
the noise had frightened out of his senses. The pure air outside is
refreshing, for the small opening which forms the entrance is
insufficient for proper ventilation, and the close dense atmosphere
within often causes faintness. This opening is only the upper part of
the ancient one; formerly the caverns were entered through a large gap,
which is now built up, and in a great measure buried in the soil. From
this place the blocks of stone were transported into the city through
the ancient North Gate, as I have already mentioned[817].
Let us now visit the Grotto of Jeremiah, where, according to tradition,
the Prophet composed the Book of Lamentations. At the first glance we
recognize it as the continuation of the caverns we have just quitted;
and noticing the horizontal strata of limestone, from which the great
blocks in the city-wall have been extracted, can readily conceive that
those huge masses, mentioned by Josephus[818], may have been quarried
here, although we cannot now find any traces of them. To enter this
grotto we must obtain permission of a dervish, the keeper of the place;
who, however, never refuses, as he not only hopes to receive a present,
which he applies to adorn his retreat, but also is a man of a kind and
courteous nature.
On passing the entrance we find, on the right hand, a large rectangular
chamber, the walls of which at first sight appear to be entirely Arab
masonry; but a careful examination detects large blocks of Roman
workmanship, especially in the lower parts, and a piece of wall of the
date of S. Helena. I am confirmed in my opinion on this point by the
words of Nicephorus Callistus[819], who informs us that this Empress
built a church near the grotto; therefore it is not improbable that
these may be the remains of that edifice. To the east of the above
chamber is a little irregular court, on the north of which is a very
deep cistern excavated in the rock; and on the south is a cavern of
great size, which has been converted into a cistern. This is perhaps the
origin of the tradition that here was the dungeon in which the prophet
was placed[820]. The tradition is inadmissible, whatever system be
adopted for the line of the third wall; for in any case this place would
be outside the second wall, and therefore a palace and a prison[821]
would not occupy this position. Beneath the vaulting formed by the rock
is the tomb of a Mohammedan santon, and a court enclosed by a low wall,
in which the followers of the Prophet come to pray; where also the
good-natured dervish has sometimes allowed the parties of distinguished
travellers to lunch after a long excursion round the city-walls. The
interior of the grotto in every part affords unquestionable signs of its
having been a stone-quarry; for the cavities left by the blocks are
still visible, and the holes on which the workmen have been engaged. I
think therefore that this place was separated from the Royal
Caverns[822] in quarrying stone, and may, strictly speaking, be called a
part of them. Dr Schultz[823] has endeavoured to identify the grotto
with the monument of Alexander Jannæus, because of the statement in
Josephus[824], "that John and his party defended the tower Antonia, and
the northern cloister of the Temple, and fought the Romans before the
monuments of King Alexander." As these posts were held by John, after
Titus had taken the outer line of walls, this position is of course
inadmissible according to my theory; but putting that out of the
question, it seems to me very improbable that Alexander, whom we know to
have been honoured with a magnificent funeral[825], would have been
buried in a place like this; and after the most careful examination of
the interior, I have not been able to discover the slightest trace of
sepulchral chambers; nothing beyond the chiselled faces of the limestone
rock and heaps of rubbish.
Quitting the grotto we mount above it to the Mohammedan cemetery, called
by the Arabs _Turbet ez-Zahara_, whence a view of the city is obtained;
which, though limited, will, I think, shew the correctness of the
position I assign to Bezetha.
Proceeding hence towards the north-east corner of the city, we find the
Pilgrims' Pool, _Birket el-Hijah_, close to the Gate of Herod on the
east, as I have already remarked[826]. This reservoir was unquestionably
at first constructed to receive the waters of the narrow valley above,
which I call the North Valley; whence they were conducted by a
subterranean conduit across the city to the Pool of Bethesda. Its walls
are formed of ancient blocks, perhaps of the date of Herod, or even of
an earlier period; but have been greatly modified afterwards in the
construction of a vault (now in ruins) which covers the greater part of
it. The Christian tradition concerning this pool differs so much from
the Mohammedan, that I transcribe it, without however in any way
asserting its truth. It says that, when the Empress Helena arrived at
Jerusalem, she chose to enter it with all humility; and so without pomp,
clad in a mean dress and barefoot, she entered the Gate of Herod; and
that this circumstance gave the pool its name. From this point to the
north-east corner the city-wall rises but slightly above the general
level of the ground; consequently this is the weakest part of the
defences, although it is strengthened by a ditch. Here it was that
Godfrey of Bouillon scaled the wall and captured the city.
North of the pool is a plateau, on which stands an ancient Arab house,
overshadowed by an old pine-tree, and surrounded by an olive-grove. This
is called _Kerm es-Sheikh_ (the farm or vineyard of the chief). The
Mohammedan authorities of the highest rank who come to the Holy City,
either as its governors or as pilgrims, are accustomed to pass the night
here before their entry, and prepare themselves (as they say) by prayer
to visit Jerusalem. There is a curious Mohammedan tradition attached to
the place which may interest the reader; it is as follows: "When the
potent and valorous Nebuchadnezzar, Sultan of Babylon, came to Jerusalem
by the Divine command to punish the Jews who had abandoned the laws
given them by God, he despoiled the Temple of all its valuables;
reserving for himself the throne of Solomon, with its two golden lions
which spoke by the power of magic, and distributing the rest of the
booty to the other Kings who had joined him in the expedition. The King
of Roum had the coat of Adam and the rod of Moses; the King of Antioch
received the throne of Belkis and the miraculous peacock, whose tail,
all studded with gems, formed a rich back to the throne; the King of
Andalusia had the Prophet's golden table. A smaller coffer of common
stone, containing the Law (_Torat_), lay in the middle of all these rich
prizes, and no one heeded it; though it was the most precious of all
treasures. It was consequently abandoned, and disappeared in the
confusion that reigned during the sack of the city. Forty years
afterwards God determined to re-establish the children of Israel in
their old fatherland, and raised up the Prophet Euzer (Ezra); who,
destined by Heaven for a glorious mission, had spent his youth in
prayers and meditation, despising human knowledge in order to devote
himself to the contemplation of the Eternal. He had lived in one of the
grottoes that surround the Holy City[827]; but now came forth from his
retreat, and went among the children of Israel to shew them how they
ought to rebuild the Temple, and again worship God befittingly,
according to the ancient rites. But the people, having little faith in
the Prophet's mission, declared that they would not submit to the laws,
but would rather leave off rebuilding the Temple and emigrate to another
country, if the book were not produced in which Moses had written the
Law given to him by God on Mount Sinai. This book, as we have seen, had
disappeared, and all endeavours to discover it were vain. In this
difficulty Euzer with earnest prayers entreated God to interfere, and
hinder the people from persisting in their blindness. He was seated in a
vineyard, on the spot where the pine-tree now stands, regarding with
sorrow the ruins of the Temple, around which the tumultuous populace was
assembled. Suddenly a voice from heaven commanded him to write; and
though he had never before taken a pen in his hand, he obeyed at once:
From the hour of mid-day prayer to the same time on the morrow, without
eating or washing, he wrote down all that the heavenly voice dictated;
and stopped not for the darkness of night, for a supernatural light
illumined his spirit, and an Angel guided his hand. All the Jews beheld
with amazement this manifestation of the Divine Power; but when the
Prophet had finished his miraculous writing, the Priests, jealous of the
special favour shewn to him, asserted that the new book was an invention
of the devil, and did not in any respect resemble the former one. Euzer
again betook himself to prayer, and, yielding to a sudden inspiration,
directed his steps to the fountain of Siloam, followed by all the
people. When he arrived before it he raised his hands to heaven, and
offered up a prayer to the Almighty, while the multitude knelt around.
Suddenly a square stone rose above the surface of the water, and glided
along as if supported by an invisible hand; in which the Priests
recognized with terror the long-missing sacred coffer. Euzer received it
reverently, and opened it with his own hands: the _Torat_ of Moses
sprang out as though endowed with life; and the new copy, quitting the
Prophet's bosom, took its place. All doubt was now at an end;
nevertheless the holy man bade the Priests compare the two copies. They,
despite of their confusion, did so; and, after a long examination,
lifted up their voices and proclaimed that the two books did not differ
by so much as a word or an accent. After they had rendered this homage
to truth, they were struck with a life-long blindness, as a punishment
for their former crimes." Though the whole of this story is but an
Oriental fantasy, it is curious for its mention of the Law, and the
circumstances and persons it records.
On the north, a few yards from the _Kerm es-Sheikh_, is an old
Mohammedan cemetery, in which are some tombstones with ancient dates;
none, however, earlier than the time of Saladin.
Going on northward over cultivated land planted with olives, we arrive
at the Tombs of the Kings. I may observe, that during all this walk
nothing is seen but a reddish clayey soil with a rich vegetation, or
bare rocks without any marks of chiselling; nor are there traces of
walls nor any dressed stones; all which proves, in my opinion, that this
ground never formed part of the city; which must in that case, have had
its houses and walls built of shapeless fragments and clay, of which
there is no lack.
To visit the Tombs of the Kings[828], called by the Arabs _Kubur
el-Maluk_, we descend a slope, from west to east, which originally was a
staircase with wide steps hewn in the rock; but its form has been
completely hidden by the quantity of soil mixed with fragments of stone,
which have been accumulated by the rain, the wind, and the hand of man.
However, I ascertained that it once existed by an excavation at the top
of the slope on the west, where I discovered three steps. At the lower
end is an aperture of irregular shape, formed in the rock, through which
I entered into a cave, after much trouble in clearing away the rubbish
that blocked it up, and was able to determine, notwithstanding the
accumulation of earth within, that it had never contained sepulchral
chambers, but had been a cistern, large though not deep. Towards the
eastern end of the wall, on the left hand as we descend, is a
round-headed doorway hewn out of the rock, and ornamented with a small
incised fillet. It is buried up to the spring of the arch, so that it is
necessary to stoop in order to enter it. I began to make an excavation
to examine its full height, but the large stones which I found below the
surface would have rendered the completion of the undertaking so
expensive that I abandoned it. However, I uncovered the door to a height
of 8-1/2 feet including the arch. It leads into a rectangular court,
open to the air, and surrounded by vertical walls hewn in the rock, as
is the floor, which is buried under rubbish formed of the earth brought
down by the rains from the fields above, and broken stones thrown in by
the Arabs; who, barbarians as they are, exhibit the most provoking
indifference to the preservation of ancient monuments, and view with a
jealous eye everything that interests visitors, often mutilating what
they cannot entirely destroy.
In the west wall of this court a vestibule is excavated with remarkable
skill, the roof of which was formerly supported by two columns, also
hewn out of the rock: these have now disappeared, owing to the effects
of individual Vandalism, and the injuries of the earthquake in 1837. M.
de Saulcy[829] has given the following excellent description of this
monument: "Above the porch, on the face of the rock itself, runs a long
frieze, carved with exquisite taste and delicacy. The centre of the
frieze is occupied by a bunch of grapes, an emblem of the promised land,
and the habitual type of the Asmonæan coinage. To the right and left of
this bunch are placed symmetrically a triple palm, carved with the
greatest elegance, a crown and triglyphs, alternating with pateræ, or
round shields, three times repeated[830]. Below this runs a rich garland
of foliage and fruit, falling down at right angles on each side of the
opening of the porch. The left-hand portion of this garland has been
much more injured by time than that on the right. Above the line of the
triglyphs a fine cornice begins, formed of elegant mouldings,
unfortunately much damaged, and rising up to the top of the rock, that
is to say, nearly to the level of the surrounding country." The
left-hand portion of this cornice is almost destroyed, not only by the
Arabs, but also by the Americans; among whom a certain Mr Jones has
especially distinguished himself by breaking off all the ornaments that
could be carried away. Beyrout and Jaffa have been the chief centres of
his destructive industry, so that he has destroyed the few monuments of
Phoenicia and of Palestine that remained in their original positions.
Hammer in hand, and dead to every sense of artistic beauty, he chops off
fragments from the inscriptions of Sesostris, from the columns of
Baalbek, and from the monuments of Jerusalem. The Tombs of the Kings
have suffered more at his hands than from all the hostile invasions that
have devastated Palestine.
On descending into the vestibule, we see in its south wall a small low
door, which can only be passed by creeping on the ground. Here, though
the result of my observations[831] will be found to differ from those of
M. de Saulcy, I take this opportunity of expressing my respect for him,
as one of the first persons to investigate with technical precision the
monuments of Palestine. We come, then, to the entrance of the sepulchral
chambers, by descending six steps hewn in the rock, which start from a
circular hollow about two feet deeper than the general level of the
floor of the vestibule, in which, no doubt, the funeral ceremonies were
completed. I removed all the stones from this place in order to be able
to give an exact account of it. On the left-hand side of the door in a
kind of narrow gutter, which joins the steps again by a course of three
sides of an oblong, is a large stone of an ellipsoidal form, the outline
near the extremities of the shorter axis being flat instead of curved.
On the right hand is a hollow in the wall, into which one of the apses
of this stone was inserted. This arrangement enables us to form an
accurate idea of the manner in which the Tomb of Christ was closed. The
stone now rests with one of its apses on the ground, so that its longer
axis is perpendicular to the level of the floor. The upper segment of
the stone corresponds with the cavity in the rock on the right hand; and
the square, formed by the flattened edges of the stone and two lines
joining their extremities, is larger than the doorway by rather more
than an inch each way. It is therefore evident that it was not necessary
to roll this stone, but simply to lower it from left to right, so as to
turn the axes through a right angle and bring the shorter axis
perpendicular to the ground; when the apse fitted into the
above-mentioned cavity, and the stone, resting upon the lowest step,
effectually closed the doorway. The means employed to raise and lower
this stone was no doubt a chain, passing over two pulleys, with
vertical axes, which a person drew towards himself to raise the stone
from its place. The two right-angled elbows in the above-mentioned
channel were to apply the force to the chain more conveniently. The
channel in which the stone lies was covered by a long slab, and we can
still see the points on which this rested.
This is not the only way in which the aperture was closed, for, after
passing this, we see the jambs which must have supported another stone
door, moving on two pivots, the holes for which still remain above and
below. When it was hung it must have yielded to the slightest push from
without. Through this we enter a square antechamber, in which are three
doors, one in the middle of the western wall, and the other two in the
southern, one near each corner. Entering the western door, we come to a
room with three smaller chambers opening out of the middle of each wall,
each of which contains three sepulchral niches[832], consisting of a
stone bier or slab under an arch; these three chambers are flanked on
each side by casemate vaults, each having a channel cut in the rock in
the middle of the floor; to each of which, with one exception, a small
recess is attached to receive articles which had been valued by the
deceased. Out of the central room a narrow sloping gallery in the north
wall leads into a lower chamber, with a sepulchral niche in the west
wall, and two steps against the north, the lower of which is larger than
the upper. On one of these lay the sarcophagus[833], which M. de Saulcy
has deposited in the Museum of the Louvre at Paris; a similar one,
broken in pieces, was found near. He considers the former to be the
sarcophagus of David; but with this opinion I am unable to agree. Here
there are places for three corpses. Returning into the antechamber we
enter the door on the south-east, and find ourselves in a room with the
openings of three casemate vaults in the south wall, and three in the
east; two of these are provided with channels, and one with the recess
in its wall; the other four are narrower than the rest; which have been
completely finished off by their excavators, as is proved by their
correspondence one with another in length, breadth, and height, by the
regularity of their angles, and by the jambs supporting the doors which
closed them. M. de Saulcy thinks that the latter were never finished,
perhaps because they are not so wide as the others, and have no channel
in the floor; but, in my opinion, this was only made to catch the
moisture that dripped from the corpse during putrefaction, and by
draining it off to allow the body to become dry more rapidly. Therefore
I consider that in the narrower vaults bodies which had been previously
dried up were placed. Let us now return again into the antechamber and
visit the room on the west of that just described. In the south wall of
this are three finished casemate vaults, and the same number in the
west, five of which have the channel, while the sixth belongs to the
narrower class already mentioned. Two of the five have also the attached
recess. In the north wall is a small door leading by a narrow descending
passage into a small chamber containing three sepulchral niches. Thus
there are altogether thirty-three biers, including among these the two
steps on which the sarcophagi were found. Round each of the three rooms
communicating with the vaults runs a small foot-path, raised above the
general level of the floor, so that a kind of basin is formed at the
bottom of the chamber. Into this I suppose the moisture escaping from
the bodies during putrefaction flowed; perhaps there were holes in the
sides to admit water, or allow of the escape of fluids; but this I could
not ascertain, as the floor was covered with rubbish. Each chamber was
closed by a stone door, which worked on pivots fixed in two holes. At
the present time the doors lie on the ground broken to pieces, and
though every one must admire their workmanship, no one has attempted to
preserve them from total ruin by conveying them away to some European
museum. Many authors have endeavoured to explain how they were
made[834]; but I think they were brought from some other place, when
completed, and then set up. I am led to this conclusion by observing
that they are of a different kind of stone to that seen in the walls of
the chambers; that is, of a more compact limestone without veins. All
the workmanship in the excavation is admirable, and the angles are
formed with the greatest accuracy. Chisels, hooks, and the revolving
cutters, appear to have been the instruments used. There have been many
controversies about the origin and use of these tombs: some consider
them to have been the monument of Helena of Adiabene; but in that case
it would be difficult to explain for what purpose the thirty-three
receptacles were made, as Josephus says that she and her son alone were
buried there. M. de Saulcy endeavours to prove them to be the Tombs of
the Kings; but I have already shewn[835] that this is contrary to the
Bible, Josephus, and tradition. From the Books of Maccabees and
Josephus, we are enabled to determine the Tombs of many Asmonæan
princes. With regard to the family of Herod, we know that Herod the
Ascalonite was buried in Herodium; his sons, Alexander, Aristobulus, and
others, in Alexandrium near to Shiloh; Agrippa in the valley of Gihon;
Antipas died in Gaul; consequently none of these can lie here. We know
that when Aristobulus was poisoned by the partizans of Pompeius, his
body was preserved in honey, and sent to Jerusalem by Antonius[836]. He
may therefore be one of those who were buried in these tombs, in which
other members of the royal family, especially women and children, may
have been interred. The monument being of the Doric order does not allow
us to assign it to an earlier period. The Jews visit these tombs with
reverence, and the Arabs exact from them a payment on entrance, to which
they patiently submit. They do not, however, consider these to be the
burial-places of their first Kings, but of the last; so that here
tradition agrees with the architectural evidence furnished by the
monument.
About a hundred yards from the Tombs of the Kings, to the south-west, in
a field planted with olives, is a sepulchre, excavated vertically in the
rock[837]. It is almost the only example of its kind in the open country
in Palestine, and is the more remarkable because the Tombs of the
Patriarchs in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, that of Rachel near
Bethlehem Ephrata, and of Samuel at Ramah (_Neby-Samwîl_) are of the
same kind. Round the edge of the oblong grave runs a step, into which a
stone is fitted so as to close the hole firmly, and on this was placed a
sarcophagus. This I have ascertained by a careful examination of those
at Ephrata and Ramah.
Hence we return to the road running to the north, and, after passing the
Tombs of the Kings, find on the left an Arab building called _Sheikh
Jerrah_; a place in much veneration among the Mohammedans, especially
those of the country; since it contains the tomb of a santon, who, as
they believe, has the power of granting them prosperous expeditions,
abundant harvests, and good luck, especially with their fowls and eggs;
of which articles a small tribute is paid to a live dervish, who acts as
go-between for them in their petitions to the dead santon.
Keeping along the road to the right leading to the open country on the
north-east, we come to a spot on the southern bank of the Kidron Valley,
where there are signs of excavations, if not of tombs. One of these is
remarkable for its large dimensions; it is entirely excavated with the
chisel, and shews some trace of a gallery hewn out of the solid rock in
its upper part. This is _Jadagat el-Ahel_, which I have already
mentioned[838]. All the Jews assert that during the persecutions their
race underwent, in the times of Hadrian and of the Byzantine emperors,
this place was used as a synagogue by those, who, despising the perils
of the journey, came from far that they might behold their ancient
capital, if only from a distance. I have already mentioned the
explanation of the name; but another tradition is current among the more
ignorant and prejudiced Jews, which is given by Saintine[839]: "When
Titus was besieging Jerusalem, and had completely blockaded the town
with his legions, in the month _Bûl_ (November) provisions began to fail
the inhabitants. Then universal misery prevailed in the city, and the
famine slew more than the Romans. In this extremity, even the women and
children were killed to nourish the combatants; but these sufferings,
terrible as they were, did not appease the wrath of Heaven, and the city
was taken and sacked with every atrocity of war. At this time there
lived at Jerusalem a very wealthy Jew, who had been educated at Rome,
and for this reason was allowed to retain his riches. But what good were
they now to him? His wife and boys had been sacrificed to the horrible
cravings of hunger. This fearful scene was ever present to his mind, and
banished repose. He could only find one solace: he determined to give a
portion of his property to his wretched fellow-citizens; and further, he
made a vow to distribute corn, meat, and wine, among them at this place,
every year at the feast of Purim; so that they might be able to share in
the general joy, and celebrate the festival in a proper manner. So sped
the years; the evils of the war were beginning to be less felt, when the
new generation, seduced by a false Messiah named Cosiba, again
endeavoured to shake off the Roman yoke. The aged man still remembered
too well the miseries of the former siege; he implored his brethren to
abandon their fatal determination, relating to them what he had seen and
suffered; but his efforts were fruitless. At length it was revealed to
him from heaven that soon the city would again be destroyed by the
armies of Hadrian. For the last time he tried to induce the rebels to
submit, but in vain; then, preferring to die rather than witness the
misfortunes of his country, he prayed to God to remove him from the
earth; the roof of the cavern fell in, and buried him in its ruins under
the heap which still lies before its mouth. Still however, every year,
at the feast of Purim, the dead man takes a piece of money from his
hidden treasures, and places it on the rock in order to continue the
'alms of food' to the poor." Before 1857 there was an isolated mass of
rock in the middle of this monument, to which the Rabbins and a great
number of people came on their feast of Pentecost to pray and read the
Pentateuch, but it has now disappeared, because, in building the
Austrian hospice, this place was used as a stone quarry, and greatly
mutilated. It is to be hoped that what remains will not be destroyed by
a repetition of this vandalism, when another work of charity is executed
for a European nation.
On ascending the Kidron Valley we find, on its northern bank, a place,
commonly called the Tomb of Simon the Just. A few years ago a
Mohammedan, seeing that it was frequented by the Jews, affixed a door to
it, expecting that he would be able to extract money from those who
wished to visit it. He has not been disappointed in his hopes, and reaps
large gains. Whether the name is rightly given, I do not know; but it is
not contrary to any tradition. The interior is not remarkable; only
there is a small cistern, well constructed, on the side of the casemate
vault. The Jews visit this spot for prayer at all seasons, but
especially when rain is needed for the country, after it has been
parched during nine months by a blazing sun.
Further up the valley, after crossing the road to Samaria, we find,
still on the northern side, an ancient tomb[840], the exterior of which
is completely mutilated. In the front court is a fragment of the western
end of a wall, hewn out of the solid rock; all the rest of it has been
destroyed. In the piece which remains we find a conduit and small basin;
these clearly prove that water must have been supplied from some higher
ground on the north; but I have not been able to discover whence it
came. Against the north wall is a heap of soil, nearly covering up an
aperture; through the part still open, though overgrown with creepers,
it is possible to crawl into the interior[841]. Here we find a
rectangular vestibule which evidently has been converted into a cistern,
as its walls have been covered with strong cement, and a hole made in
the roof, through which soil and broken stones are brought down from the
hill-side above, in the rainy season. A small door in the middle of the
north wall leads into an antechamber in good preservation, in the east
wall of which is the passage into a chamber with eight biers, one of
them being a sepulchral niche, and the rest casemate vaults, without
channels, but sloping slightly downwards towards the floor of the
chamber, round which runs a kind of footpath, above the general level of
the floor, as in the Tombs of the Kings. At the end of one of these
vaults is the small recess. As the dimensions and finish of these
correspond with those of the small vaults in the above-named tombs, they
would be considered unfinished by M. de Saulcy. Returning into the
antechamber, we find in its western wall a small door leading into a
single casemate vault, which is much larger than any other of its kind
in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. This monument does not bear any
special name, but must have belonged to a wealthy family, because,
although it is not so large as the other great tombs, its execution is
not inferior to theirs.
Descending from this point to the bed of the Kidron Valley, we find a
nearly square pool. Though this is now almost filled with earth, yet in
the rainy season the waters flow into it from the slopes above, and form
a sort of little lake, which is then the source, so to say, of the
Kidron. I have investigated carefully the ground above, endeavouring to
discover some proof of the existence of a spring, but in vain. By
excavating I found that the depth of the Pool was fifteen feet.
From this position we ascend in a north-westerly direction, and then
turn southward towards an ash-coloured mound. All along our course we
observe numbers of ruined and broken tombs, and can readily comprehend
the account given by Josephus[842] of the levelling executed by Titus'
army, between Scopus and the city. The small mound mentioned above has
been examined by Liebig, who considers it to be composed of the ashes of
bones and animal remains. This might be true of the specimen submitted
to him, but I am of opinion that it chiefly consists of ashes from the
soap-works of Jerusalem, mingled with soil and broken stones, with bones
of dogs and other carrion, that have been cast out there. I have arrived
at this conclusion, after making large excavations in the heap, and
availing myself of its materials to mix with lime in making a strong
cement, which I used in building and repairing terrace-roofs, and in
conduits and cisterns. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the proprietors
of the soap-works themselves, have assured me that the greater part of
this deposit was formed during the time of Ibrahim Pasha, by whose
orders the refuse of their manufactories was conveyed outside the city.
By following the road, which leads in a north-westerly direction to
Gibeon, we find on the left-hand side, at a distance of about two
hundred yards from the above mound, a tomb which differs in form from
all those already described. It has an antechamber, and from it three
doors lead into three small chambers, in which there are no biers. At
the first glance I was inclined to consider it as an incomplete
work, but from the perfect execution of its interior and its
frontispiece[843], I came to a different conclusion after I had had many
opportunities of examining both finished and unfinished sepulchres.
Keeping along the road, we see before reaching the Tombs of the Judges,
numbers of tombs dispersed about the ground on our right hand, some
partly destroyed, some converted into cisterns, and others still
uninjured. All this land was a large field of the dead, where the
ancient Jews excavated sepulchres suitable to their wealth and station.
One among them is remarkable as giving us a correct idea of that in
which our Lord was laid; for it consists of an antechamber, and a burial
chamber, in which is a single niche to receive a corpse, on the right
hand of the entrance[844]. A few yards further on, we come, after
turning to the right, to the Tombs of the Judges[845], called by the
Arabs _Kubur el-Godka_. There does not appear to be any reason for the
name. Eight of the fifteen Judges who ruled the people between the death
of Joshua and the accession of Saul were certainly buried elsewhere: and
it is far more likely that the rest would sleep with their fathers among
their own tribes, after the usual custom of the Israelites. It seems to
me much more probable that certain members of the Sanhedrim were buried
here, according to the traditional belief of the Jews now in Jerusalem,
who visit this spot from no other motive than curiosity. The exterior of
the vestibule is decorated with a frontispiece resembling that in the
Tomb of Jehoshaphat, consisting of a cornice and pediment, the tympanum
of which is richly carved with palm-leaves and foliage, with three
acroteria, perhaps intended for funeral emblems (torches), one on the
summit (effaced), and the other two at each end. Under the cornice is a
row of small modillons. Beneath the cornice, and on each side of the
opening, runs an ornamental group of mouldings. A low narrow door
similarly decorated is placed in the middle of the vestibule, and gives
admission to the sepulchral chambers, six in number, and containing
altogether sixty-three biers. Sixty of these are narrow casemate vaults,
of the class which M. de Saulcy considers as incomplete receptacles, and
three are sepulchral niches. The execution displayed in these tombs is
not inferior to that at the Tombs of the Kings, nor do they yield to
them in elegance or arrangement, especially in the interior. At the
south-west corner of the first chamber is a narrow staircase, which I
found blocked up with enormous stones, fitted together in order to close
the entrance. After removing them with no small trouble I understood the
reason why they were so placed. In the entrance below lay a corpse, not
yet reduced to a skeleton; the head and right hand of which had been
severed from the body; signs of a cruel vengeance, of which I discovered
other instances in my researches in the country. This unfinished
sepulchral chamber fully supplies us with the means of studying the
construction of these receptacles of the dead. In it are the beginnings
of nine casemate vaults, and the instruments used have evidently been
the chisel and the revolving cutter which I have already described[846].
The limestone from which the whole of the monument is hewn resembles in
quality that at the Tombs of the Kings; but it is of a yellowish colour
veined with red, and takes a polish like marble. It is easily quarried
at first, but becomes hard when exposed to the atmosphere.
Returning from the Tombs of the Judges, by the field-path southward, we
reach the road to the village of Lifta, which we follow westward, in
order to visit the little Mohammedan mosque, wherein repose the ashes of
a santon called Sheikh Aymar, who fell in battle against the Christians.
The place is not worth a visit for the sake of its architecture, but
there is a curious legend connected with it. Over the entrance-gate is a
large architrave of finely polished red granite. The story is, that an
Arab devoted to the saint found this block in some distant country, and
was enabled to bear it on his back to ornament the tomb of his patron,
although from its natural weight eight men at least would have been
required to move it. They say also that Ibrahim Pasha, struck with the
beauty of the stone, tried to take it away, but the invisible hand of
the saint kept it fixed in the wall; so that the Pasha himself became
his devotee. Returning towards the city, we can visit the buildings
which Russia has erected at great cost in a short time, for the use of
the mission of its Church at Jerusalem, and to receive pilgrims who
visit the Holy Places. I have already spoken of them[847], and the
description of the Plan[848] will explain their arrangements. Though
Russia began her work the last, she will in a short time surpass all the
other religious communities. It was also upon this spot, and as far as
up to the convent of S. Saviour, that Sennacherib encamped his troops.
Titus at a later period fixed his head-quarters here, when he was
preparing to attack the third line of walls; here also he reviewed his
army, in the hope that the sight of his power and resources might
terrify the Jews into submission. As the troops would extend from the
north-west angle of the present wall towards the east, the citizens
would be able to see them very well[849]. The Crusaders also occupied
the ground belonging to Russia, and all their positions may be seen at a
glance from here. Godfrey of Bouillon attacked the north-east corner of
the wall; Robert Duke of Normandy the part by the Grotto of Jeremiah;
Robert Count of Flanders, that opposite to the rock where I place the
tomb of Helena of Adiabene; Tancred from this position stormed the
castle of Goliath (_Kâsr Jalûd_), the tower Psephinus in my opinion;
Raymond Count of Toulouse pitched his camp on the west, where the small
Greek convent of S. George now stands, and directed part of his troops,
commanded by the Count of S. Gilles, against Sion: these, after many
valiant deeds, gained the south wall, above the present Christian
cemetery.
We now descend into the Valley of Gihon, to visit the Pool of Mamillah
and the surrounding Mohammedan cemetery; but before reaching it we
observe a large and level boulevard leading to the city. I proposed to
Surraya Pasha to make this in order to give a promenade to the
inhabitants; and though the plan was not carried out as I desired, still
I think that I have done a service to the citizens in giving them one
good road for walking, instead of stony paths or rugged tracks on the
hill-sides. Entering the cemetery, from the western end of this
promenade, we come to the Pool of Mamillah, which I identify with the
'Upper Pool[850].' From this started the deep canal by which Hezekiah
brought the waters of Gihon within the western part of the city, when he
closed up the fountains on the approach of Sennacherib's army. The
subterranean conduit still exists, though it is now exposed and
devastated in places, and is used to convey the rain-water from the
Upper Pool to that of Amygdalon within the city; for which reason the
latter is still called the Pool of Hezekiah. Josephus[851] gives to the
Upper Pool the name of 'The Serpent's Pool,' and the Arabs call it
_Birket Mamillah_. The derivation of the name I have already
explained[852]. S. Jerome[853] calls it the 'Fuller's Pool;' perhaps
founding the name on the passages in the Bible[854], which shew that the
Fuller's field was in its neighbourhood. In the middle ages it was
called 'The Patriarch's Pool.' The passage in which it is mentioned is
as follows[855]: "Outside the David Gate was a pool towards the setting
sun, called the Patriarch's Pool, where the waters of the surrounding
country were collected for watering the horses. Near this pool was a
charnel-house, called the Lion's Charnel-house. Now I will tell you why
it is called the Lion's Charnel-house. One day, as they say, there was a
battle between the Christians and the Saracens, betwixt this
charnel-house and Jerusalem, in which many Christians were slain, and
the Saracens were intending next day to defile the bodies. So it
happened that a lion came by night, and carried them all into this
ditch, as they said. Above this charnel-house was a church, where people
sang services every day." Perhaps this church was dedicated to S.
Babylas, of which now only a mass of ruins remains, also covering
sepulchral caves. Here I place the monument of Herod, mentioned in the
account of Titus' wall of circumvallation[856]. The Mohammedan cemetery
surrounding the pool dates from the age of Saladin; for here are found
some ancient sarcophagi, and epitaphs bearing the names of certain of
his generals. All this spot is highly esteemed by the Mohammedans, and
their chief men are usually buried here.
We will now take the road to the west, leading to S. John in the
Mountains (_Ain Karim_), and visit the Greek convent of S. Cross, called
by the Arabs _Deir el-Mar-sullabi_, which we reach in about twenty
minutes. Its name is derived from the tradition that the tree grew here
from which the Cross of Christ was made. Quaresmius[857] informs us that
the Empress Helena built a church here to mark the spot. Dositheus,
Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem towards the close of the seventeenth
century, who wrote the history of his predecessors in that office, is of
opinion that the monastery of S. Cross was built by Justinian I. at the
prayer of S. Saba, who had gone to Constantinople to refute some
calumnies which had been promulgated by the Samaritan, Arsenius, in
order to bring the people of Palestine into bad repute with the Emperor.
He supposes also that the Georgians, who occupied it for a long time,
were the builders. The Persian invaders under Chosroes II. utterly
destroyed the monastery, but spared a part of the church; murdering,
nevertheless, all the monks who had fled there for refuge, so that the
tesselated pavement, of great antiquity, still preserves the stains of
their blood. The Reverend Dionysius Cleopas, a most courteous and
learned man, the director of the school of S. Cross, pointed out these
stains to me, informing me of the tradition concerning them. Though I am
far from yielding a blind assent to it, I cannot but remember how long
the stain of blood remains upon marble or stone, if it has lain and
dried up there. In this case the blood of more than a hundred victims
must have been shed and left there. At the same time it must be
remarked that the stains, which extend below the surface of the tesseræ
in the pavement, are not red but of a blackish colour.
When the Greeks purchased the convent from the Georgians it was wholly
in ruins; now, however, it is one of the finest establishments in
Palestine. Though rather an irregular building, it stands in a great
measure on the ancient site. In it are the schools where poor youths of
the Greek faith are maintained without charge, together with a library,
and a fine apartment for the use of the Patriarch when he visits the
place. The church[858] deserves a visit. Four large piers, from which
spring pointed arches, divide it into a nave with two side aisles. It is
also adorned with a pointed dome. The walls are decorated with ancient
frescoes, and on these are Georgian inscriptions shewing that the church
and convent were restored two hundred years ago. In the apses are
curious pictures representing the whole history of the sacred tree; the
hole, in which it is said to have grown, is exhibited behind the great
altar. Michael Glycas reports in his annals[859] the tradition from
which the name of the church is derived. Though it is a thorough Arab
story, I relate it, as it explains the pictures. "When Abraham became
aware of the sin which Lot had committed when overcome by wine, he
ordered him to go to the banks of the river Nile in Egypt, and bring
thence three boughs of different trees, in the expectation that he would
be devoured on the journey by the wild beasts, and would thus expiate
his crime. Lot, guided by heaven, accomplished the dangerous task, and
returned unhurt with the three boughs, one of cypress, another of pine,
and the third of cedar. Abraham not being contented with this, ascended
this hill and planted the three boughs in the form of a triangle,
ordering Lot to fetch water for them every day from the Jordan, a
distance of twenty-four miles." (This is the distance of the river from
the convent.) "Lot obeyed this command also, and after three months the
boughs united and budded, but their roots were always separated one from
the other. Therefore Abraham prophesied that by means of their wood
sinful men were one day to be redeemed. In the days of Solomon the tree
had grown to a great size, and was cut down by that King to be used in
building the Temple. But by the decree of Heaven its trunk remained
forgotten till the Saviour's Passion, when the Jews used it to make the
Cross. The hill, on which Abraham is said to have planted the three
boughs, is to the south-west of the convent, and is still called by the
Arabs 'The place of the boughs.'" Heraclius is said to have stayed in
this convent on his return from his expedition against the Persians to
recover the Holy Cross.
On our return to Jerusalem from the monastery by the road to the east of
that by which we came, we see the quarries from which perhaps were
extracted the columns of red breccia which adorn the mosque _el-Aksa_,
and many churches in Palestine. On reaching the summit of the hill we
regain our former road, and enter Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate. During
our return we notice with admiration the efforts made by the
Archimandrite Nicoforus for the improvement of the country, and the
energy and intelligence displayed in all his agricultural undertakings,
especially in planting trees. It is to be hoped that his attempts will
be crowned with success, and that the Arabs will avail themselves of the
opportunity, and join in a work so calculated to advance the prosperity
of the country.
FOOTNOTES:
[794] Plate VII.
[795] Page 6.
[796] Page 35.
[797] Page 37.
[798] Pages 168, 169.
[799] Acts vii. 58.
[800] Elucidatio Terræ Sanctæ, Lib. IV. pereg. 8, c. 2, Tom. II. p. 295,
col. 2. See also, c. 3, p. 297, col. 1, ed. 1639.
[801] Nicephorus, Hist. Eccl. Lib. XIV. c. 50.
[802] Evagrius, Hist. Eccl. Lib. I. c. 22.
[803] Ibid.
[804] Hist. Eccl. Lib. XIV. c. 50.
[805] Vita Sabæ, c. lxxxii.
[806] Historia Hierosol. Lib. IX. (Gesta Dei, &c. Tom. I. p. 74, ed.
1611).
[807] Early Travels in Palestine. 'Bohn's Ant. Lib.' p. 43.
[808] Hist. Hierosol. Lib. V. c. 46 (G. D. &c. Tom. I. p. 274); cf. Lib.
VI. c. 9, and William of Tyre, Lib. VIII. c. 12.
[809] De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 333.
[810] Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre, p. 306.
[811] La Citez de Jherusalem, quoted by De Vogüé, p. 333.
[812] Leo Allatius, Sym. p. 146.
[813] La Citez de Jherusalem, quoted by De Vogüé, p. 441; Cartulary, p.
306.
[814] Plates VIII., IX.
[815] Page 38.
[816] Jewish War, V. 5, § 6.
[817] Page 38.
[818] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[819] Hist. Eccl. Lib. VIII. c. 30.
[820] Jer. xxxviii. 6.
[821] Jer. xxxviii. 6, 28.
[822] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2.
[823] Jerusalem, p. 36.
[824] Jewish War, V. 7, § 3.
[825] Ant. XIII. 16, § 1.
[826] Page 14.
[827] This grotto is still called _el-Oezerie_, and is known to the
Arabs as the Tomb of Lazarus.
[828] Plates LV., LVI.
[829] Narrative of a Journey round the Dead Sea, &c. (edited by Count E.
de Warren, Vol. II. pp. 137, 138).
[830] Plate LX.
[831] My remarks may appear to resemble closely those made by M. Gérardy
Saintine, Trois Ans en Judée, p. 224. As he has used information given
to him by me, without any acknowledgment, I feel entitled to resume my
own.
[832] The term 'sepulchral niche' is used to denote an arched recess
excavated in the wall of a tomb; the body was laid on the slab beneath
the arch, so that it resembled one of the monuments with recumbent
figures, not very uncommon in the walls of churches. The term 'casemate
vault' is used (in default of a better) to denote a narrow, deep, and
rather low excavation, into which the body was thrust head foremost.
Brick vaults are sometimes built on this pattern in the present day.
[833] Plate LVIII.
[834] Mariti, p. 216 seq.
[835] Page 210.
[836] Jewish War, I. 9, § 1.
[837] See Plate LVIII. for Plan and Section.
[838] Page 38; Plate LVII.
[839] Trois Ans en Judée, p. 214.
[840] Plate LIX.
[841] I advise the visitor to take with him an Arab to beat the ground,
in order to make the reptiles conceal themselves, and frighten away the
jackals which frequent it, before he enters the place.
[842] Jewish War, V. 3, § 2.
[843] See Plan, Plate LIX. Frontispiece, Plate LVIII.
[844] Plate LIX.
[845] Plates LVIII., LIX.
[846] Page 226.
[847] Page 13.
[848] Plate II.
[849] Jewish War, V. 7, § 3; V. 9, § 1.
[850] 2 Kings xviii. 17; 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4, 30; Isaiah vii. 3.
[851] Jewish War, V. 3, § 2.
[852] Page 24.
[853] De Locis Hebr. litt. T. (Tapheth).
[854] 2 Kings xviii. 17; Isaiah vii. 3.
[855] La Citez de Jherusalem, De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 442.
[856] Page 40.
[857] E. T. S. Lib. VI. pereg. 4, c. 7, Tom. II. p. 712, col. 2, ed. 1639.
[858] Plate LXIII.
[859] Pars II. p. 254, ed. Bonn, e cod. Claromont.
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE WATERS, FIT OR UNFIT FOR DRINKING, IN JERUSALEM AND ITS
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
In the seven preceding chapters I have several times mentioned the
waters, drinkable and undrinkable, and the sewers, when we have come
across them in the course of our investigations; but I have not always
entered into details, reserving them for this chapter. Therefore I now
proceed to treat the subject at length, with the view of shewing, as
clearly as is possible, the means which the former inhabitants of
Jerusalem possessed of obtaining an abundant supply of water, and
removing the sewage of the city; and I shall also notice the
carelessness exhibited by the Arabs with regard to every part of the
works of their predecessors in the country, and how they rather employ
themselves in accelerating than in arresting their destruction.
I am persuaded that there are some springs in Jerusalem and in its
neighbourhood; but these have never been sufficient to supply the wants
of the population without assistance; consequently the earlier Jewish
Kings executed important hydraulic works to introduce an abundant supply
into the city, and to preserve it there in reservoirs, to be used both
for the wants of life and for purposes of purification; and, above all,
for the requirements of the Temple-services, which were very
considerable. I have no doubt that the most extensive works were
commenced in David's reign, and carried still further in that of his son
Solomon. These are yet in existence, and might even now be in operation,
had they not fallen into the hands of an ignorant and almost barbarous
race, who are perpetually endeavouring to destroy them, without ever
thinking that they are thus aggravating the deficiency of water, and
placing the town in danger of being entirely deprived of it, if at any
time the rainfall is insufficient. The local government has several
times considered the mischief that may thus be caused, and has taken
steps accordingly to prevent it; but, weak as it is, has never been able
to make its orders respected. From this reproach, however, I except the
provident rule of Surraya Pasha, which is now over.
According to my opinion, it was Solomon that ordered and executed the
important work of bringing the water from Etham into Jerusalem by means
of a conduit; which is indeed generally attributed to him, though it is
called by a few that of Pontius Pilate. The primary design of this
undertaking was unquestionably that the Temple and its precincts might
not suffer from a lack of water. It is very remarkable that neither the
Bible nor Josephus make express mention of this; but it is probable
that all the pools, now existing at Etham, are referred to in
Ecclesiastes[860]; and Josephus[861] informs us that the summer-palace
of Solomon was at the town of Etham, in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem,
fifty stadia from Jerusalem. Perhaps he did not describe the
water-works, because he considered them well-known. However, it is
certain that history does not afford us any positive _data_ for
ascribing these constructions to Solomon; but the magnitude of the work,
and tradition, induce me to attribute them to him. As it was on these
pools of Etham that the city mainly depended for its supply, I will
describe them first of all.
Quitting the Jaffa Gate we take the direct road to Etham, passing the
Tomb of Rachel, and leaving Bethlehem on the left; it is a ride of two
hours and a half. Here is an old castle[862], called by the Arabs _Kalat
el-Burak_ (Castle of the Lightning), of which the outer walls, with
battlements, remain perfect; but the interior is all in ruins, and only
serves to harbour swarms of bees. History does not tell us when or by
whom it was built, but from its architecture and masonry it must
evidently be assigned to the twelfth or thirteenth century; the design
being, no doubt, to accommodate a small garrison in order to secure the
waters. It is not improbable that the Crusaders erected it to prevent
the hostile tribes from cutting off the water-supply from Jerusalem,
which would have been liable to this deprivation without such a
precaution. To the south are the three reservoirs, situated in the
middle of the Etham Valley, which slopes steeply down from west to east.
These are filled by the rain-water drained from the slopes of the
mountains on each side, and by an abundant supply from a spring on the
west of the castle, in a straight line along the direction of its north
side, at a distance of about 450 yards. I mention this, because its
rudely circular opening, like the mouth of a cistern, is hidden in a
field under a mass of stones thickly covered with creeping plants, and
so is sometimes not easily found without a guide. Possibly this spring
is mentioned in the Song of Solomon[863], in the words, "A garden
enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;"
hence it is now called 'fons signatus' by the Christians, and _Ras
el-Ain_ (Head of the Fountain), and also _Ain Saleh_ by the Arabs. Let
us examine its interior by descending an inconvenient shaft, like those
in cisterns; looking well where we set our feet, lest we come to the
bottom in a single step, a depth of about 12 feet only, but a rough
fall. On arriving below, we crawl a short distance, and then find
ourselves in a rectangular chamber 18 feet long from north to south, 10
wide, and 20 high. The lower parts of the walls are formed of the great
blocks characteristic of the era of Solomon; the upper contain some with
rustic work in low relief, which diminishes towards the top of the
vault, where the stones are dressed smooth and flat. Hence I consider
that the chamber has been restored at different periods; an opinion
confirmed by the barrel-vault formed of long oblong stones, skilfully
laid with mortar. In the middle of the west wall is an opening leading
into a narrow cave, at the western extremity of which a limpid, cool,
and abundant spring issues from a natural channel in the rock, which
cannot be followed up by reason of its narrowness and the breaks in its
level. Where the water runs along the floor, we observe the remains of
an ancient canal formed of hard cement, which still exhibits some
fragments of earthenware pipes about ten inches in diameter. In the
corners of this cave are two other crevices in the rock, from which
issue small springs that unite with the former in the middle of the
first chamber. In this there is a basin, originally intended to act as a
filter, which is now out of repair, and receives the water on its way to
the conduit running to the east. Owing to the injuries done by the hand
of man, and the accumulation of extraneous substances, a large part of
the stream escapes into the ground, and is lost. I have repeatedly
visited this place at the various seasons of the year, and have found
the fountain flowing most copiously in winter, but there is no
deficiency in summer; so that if the reservoirs and conduits were
properly kept up, Jerusalem would never be in want of spring-water, and
the health and comfort of its inhabitants would be improved by the
decrease of fevers, and the increase of cleanliness. The eastern conduit
is mainly excavated in the solid rock, especially near its mouth; but
the upper part, which is vaulted for the first 20 feet, is then covered
with large slabs, as far as the south-west corner of the castle. At
first it is 3 feet wide and 4 high, but it gradually becomes narrower
and lower as it approaches this corner, and can therefore only be
traversed for a distance of 86 feet, when the walls, hewn out of the
rock, are replaced by others of masonry, although rock continues to form
the bottom of the conduit. This aqueduct, running in a curve from the
spring to the castle, empties part of its contents into a round basin,
near the north-west corner of the first pool, whence it flows into the
pool; so that there is usually water in this even in the height of
summer, when the other two are generally dry. Before proceeding to
describe the course of the water, both from the round basin and in
other directions, I call attention to the three large reservoirs, which
are mainly excavated in the rock, the eastern side alone of each being
formed of solid masonry, built in steps externally to resist the
pressure of the water. In these walls, and especially in their lower
parts, very ancient Jewish work is seen, which may be assigned to the
reign of Solomon; not the slightest trace of mortar is visible, and
where the wall has been wantonly injured, pieces of iron appear with the
holes in the stones for clamps. The walls are now faced with Arab cement
(the last was put on in 1857 and 1860); but in places fragments of an
ancient compost still remain, so compact and hard that it has withstood
the injuries of twenty-nine centuries. The Plan shews the arrangement
and dimensions of these reservoirs, and the Section their inclination
and respective depths, so that I need not enter into particulars on
these points, but only remark that the eastern end of each is connected
with a subterranean chamber, wherein we can observe the various channels
which have been used, according to circumstances, to augment the outflow
of the stream from the upper to the lower reservoir. In these the
original vaulting still remains, circular in form and constructed of
blocks, built together without mortar; that belonging to the last pool
on the east is the largest, from which the conduit starts which goes to
the _castellum_[864], and thence to Jerusalem. We will now return to the
first-mentioned conduit. I have already said that the aqueduct from the
'Sealed Fountain' discharges a portion of its waters into the round
basin; another portion flows along a covered canal, visible on the
surface, which runs along by the side of the three pools, supplying a
fountain near the north-east corner of the first of them, and then
emptying itself into the _castellum_ just mentioned. In case of too
great a quantity of water flowing into the round basin, and being forced
back by the first pool becoming full, the overplus is not lost, but
escapes through a third aperture into a subterranean chamber, on the
west of the basin, and almost united to it, where it joins the stream
coming from a very deep spring (not before mentioned), whence it is
conducted by a subterranean canal (whether this is artificial or natural
I have not been able to decide) to the _castellum_ on the east of the
lowest pool. This point I have proved by stopping up the supply of water
from the other quarters; an experiment which was witnessed by M. de
Barrère and M. E. Meshullam. Another spring also supplies the latter
_castellum_, the stream from which, rising at a distance of about 750
feet, comes down the valley, and runs parallel to the east end of the
lowest pool; this is called by the Arabs _Ain Atan_, and is the best
water in Palestine, but is not very abundant, from the way in which the
neighbourhood of the source has been cleared of trees. The above-named
fountains are not all of those which formerly supported the gardens of
Solomon and Jerusalem; two conduits from the south increased the
supply; one of which came from the neighbourhood of Hebron (to the south
of the village of _Halhul_), and flowed into the lowest pool: another,
from the mountains near Etham, emptied itself into the first pool. The
whole course of these conduits can be traced; but it is sad to see them
becoming more and more ruinous every year, when, with little trouble and
expense, they could be sufficiently repaired to be of immense benefit to
the places through which they run. In case the three pools became full,
and the great influx into the lower _castellum_ produced a flood, the
water escaped by a canal, following the course of the valley, and flowed
into two pools, at some distance apart, smaller than those above: there,
no doubt, it was kept to irrigate the gardens below, which may be
identified with the 'garden inclosed[865]' of Solomon. The important
remains of buildings and pools which M. Meshullam has discovered and
laid open, while bringing (most successfully) the ground under
cultivation, are proofs of this point. The shape of the lower pools and
the materials employed in them shew that they are of the same age as the
upper. It is impossible to suppose that these can be the work of any of
the conquerors of Palestine, for none of them would have undertaken a
work of such magnitude, especially as their mission has always been
rather to destroy than to build; neither can we attribute them to Herod,
on account of the silence of Josephus, who mentions all his chief works;
so that we naturally assign them to the epoch of Solomon. The ability of
the engineer who constructed these works is shewn even more in the
aqueduct than in the pools, as it falls and rises, winding through
valleys and hills on its way from the _castellum_, until, after a course
of about 40,000 feet, it empties itself into the great reservoir in the
Valley of Gihon, not far from, and on the north of, the _Birket
es-Sultan_ (the ancient Lower Pool), where its waters were allowed to
settle. Here the aqueduct was formerly divided into two branches,
whereof the one flowed into the pool below, and the other, after
crossing the valley, still rises up the side of Sion, and having skirted
the eastern slopes above the Tyropoeon valley, crosses it and enters
Moriah, as I have already described[866]. The whole course of this
aqueduct still remains, and we can observe that a large portion of it is
hewn in the rock, and covered up with large slabs, while in other parts
it is formed of earthenware pipes eight inches in diameter, which are
skilfully laid with strong cement between stones cut in a proper shape,
and protected above with solid masonry. The various Arab restorations,
at different periods, have considerably modified the form of the
aqueduct, but nevertheless enough remains to enable us to study its
construction. Josephus[867] mentions that Pilate spent the sacred
treasure upon an aqueduct, and some have understood from this that he
constructed the one of which we speak. I cannot however suppose that the
Governor of a province would have been able to carry out a work of such
magnitude; and had it been done, the memory of it would have been
preserved by tradition. Josephus, indeed, speaks of the length of the
work as 400 stadia, but this, I think, must be a mistake in the
manuscripts; 40 would be nearer to the proper amount. The Talmud[868]
states that the aqueduct bringing the water into Moriah emptied itself
into the 'sea of bronze,' and that the spring from which it was supplied
was 23 cubits higher than the pavement of the Temple. This is the actual
height of the 'fountain inclosed;' and this aqueduct does communicate,
as we have shewn, with the supposed site of the 'sea.' The aqueduct has
been restored at various times, since history informs us that Cathuba,
Sultan of Egypt, expended large sums in bringing the waters from the
vicinity of Hebron to the three pools at Etham; and in the thirteenth
century, Sultan Mohammed Ibn-Kelaoun repaired the ancient works of
Solomon to convey the water into Moriah, which had been diverted when
Saladin broke down the aqueduct, in order to cut off the supply from the
Crusaders[869]. The Mohammedan chronicles relate that Solyman the
Magnificent went to great expense in restoring it. At a later period,
under the government of Kiamil Pasha and Surraya Pasha, in 1856 and in
1860, the waters of Etham were brought into Jerusalem, on which occasion
I co-operated with the Turkish engineer, Assad Effendi; but these last
repairs have not been permanent, because the _fellahîn_ divert the water
for their private purposes, and those whose duty it is to guard the
aqueduct are bribed to blindness by a present of a lamb or some money.
Until the Governor adopts rigorous measures, the water will be used by
the herdsmen, and will not reach the city.
I will now briefly indicate the advantages that the waters of Etham must
have produced when they supplied Jerusalem. (1) They filled _Birket
es-Sultan_, or the lower pool, at the southern end of the Valley of
Gihon, then irrigated the gardens and fields in the Valley of Hinnom,
and afterwards flowed into the Kidron, augmenting its volume and aiding
in sweeping away the sewage from the Temple. I have found at certain
places in the Valley of Hinnom remains of ancient walls, which I
consider to have belonged to pools formed there to keep the water until
it was wanted for the neighbouring fields. (2) When the water arrived at
the western extremity of the bridge across the Tyropoeon, a branch
conduit, as I believe, carried a portion of it northward to supply the
different fountains, which still exist in the valley, and also to aid in
filling the Pool of Bethesda; which however was also supplied by the
conduit from the northern valley, and by others from the pool outside S.
Mary's Gate, which was filled from the ditch on the north-east outside
the city. Hence it appears that the lower city was well provided with
water. The works which I have hitherto described could still be restored
with the greatest ease, if the Government chose to expend £7200 in
repairing them in different places, and to organize an effective police
to guard the aqueduct from injury by any chance comer; a thing at
present impossible, owing to the venality of the officials of the
Government, and the barbarism of the Arabs. The former, however, is the
more insurmountable evil. In 1860 I proposed a plan to Surraya Pasha for
securing the water-supply from Etham, and shewed how the expenditure
might be repaid by a rate on Jerusalem and Bethlehem (which is on the
course of the conduit, and receives benefit from it); this rate would be
a positive gain to the inhabitants of the former place, as it would save
them from the capricious and exaggerated demands of those who bring
water into the city, when the cisterns have failed in a season of
drought. He at once perceived the advantages of my plan, but was unable
to carry it into effect, as he could not secure the necessary
co-operation. A short time since a European engineer proposed to bring
the water from Etham to Jerusalem by cast-iron pipes, which were to
start from the Tomb of Rachel, on the Bethlehem road, about four miles
from Jerusalem, and bring it up to the summit of the tower, which I call
Phasaëlus, in the Castle of David, from which the central valley was to
be supplied. I am convinced that this plan is impracticable in
Palestine, not only from the great expense, but also because the
Government could never consent to turn into water-works a place which
would be their chief stronghold in case of an insurrection of the
Bedouins or _fellahîn_; besides, the pipes themselves would be eagerly
sought after as booty. If it has not been, and is not possible to
restore that which now exists, how can anything new be done?
Circumstances will alter, and then we may hope that Palestine will
advance as Europe is doing; but the good time has not yet come, and
still seems to be far distant.
Etham was not the only place that supplied Jerusalem with water; for
some came from the west, from the Upper Pool of Gihon (the present
_Birket Mamillah_[870]). From the words of the Bible[871] we should
expect that a fountain was in its neighbourhood; but as the ground near
is now converted into a Mohammedan cemetery, it is impossible to make
any excavations, and I must therefore content myself with explaining
what can be seen above ground. The Pool _Mamillah_ has been excavated in
the rock; by whom history does not tell us, but it is certainly older
than the time of Hezekiah, for Isaiah met Ahaz 'at the end of the
conduit of the upper pool[872],' on the occasion of the prophecy,
'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.' This pool occupies a
favourable position for collecting the water that drains from the slopes
of the neighbouring hills in a rainy season. It formerly supplied not
only the Pool Amygdalon in the city (as it still does), but also the
lower pool in the valley or _Birket es-Sultan_. Finding the Pool
_Mamillah_ dry in the summer-season, I made a careful examination of it,
especially on the western side, to see if I could find any mouths of
conduits, but could not discover the slightest trace; so that if there
ever were any, they have entirely disappeared under the various
restorations that the place has undergone. At the present time its
waters are unfit to drink owing to the surrounding cemeteries; but this
would not render them less useful to the city, if the pool were put in
order so as to prevent the waters from being absorbed by the rubbish
which thickly covers the bottom, and from escaping through the crevices
in the sides, now unstopped with cement, and if the conduit were
properly repaired and protected. Were all these works in good condition,
the pool would be filled at the time of the rains, and would supply the
Pool Amygdalon[873]; and in that case the two would annually furnish the
water required by the bath in the Christian bazaar, and its proprietors
be able to make money by selling what they did not require to the
builders. It is surprising that the Arabs do not see the advantages that
they would gain, especially as the cost of the repairs would not be more
than £600.
In my opinion these two pools and their conduit answer to the
descriptions given us in various passages of the Bible. We read[874]
that when the officers of the king of Assyria arrived with a great host
from Lachish, "they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool,
which is in the highway of the fuller's field." Their army must have
encamped on the west, and extended as far as the present site of the
Latin Convent of S. Saviour, as the position was commanding and well
suited for marshalling troops before an attack, and the walls were
unprotected by any natural defences. Again, we find[875] that during the
conference between the general of Sennacherib and the chief men in
Jerusalem, they were within hearing of the men on the wall. So when
Sennacherib menaced Jerusalem, Hezekiah[876] "stopped the waters of the
fountains which were without the city; repaired Millo in the city of
David (the present Amygdalon), and stopped the upper watercourse of
Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of
David." This I understand to mean that Hezekiah wished to deprive the
enemy of water, and so enclosed Amygdalon with a wall on the west and
north, thus bringing it inside the city, and at the same time
constructed the existing conduit to divert the waters from the upper
pool and leave it dry. These works must have been executed in haste, and
I cannot conceive it possible that they could have been carried into
effect in any other part of the environs of Jerusalem, as it would have
been a colossal labour to bring a conduit to the western side of the
City of David in any other direction, for the hills must have been
pierced. It would also have been unnecessary, as the only purpose was
to conduct the water from the upper pool to that within the city.
Josephus[877] in speaking of the gate by which the water came into the
tower Hippicus, indicates the existence of another conduit. This I
suppose to have been a branch of that of Hezekiah. When the foundations
of the English church were dug, the remains of a conduit were
discovered, which seems to shew that this was the site of one of Herod's
palaces, probably that called the Cæsareum. It has been thought that
this conduit went as far as Moriah, but I believe that I have found its
mouth in the street of David, 'in the going down to Silla[878],' close
to the Greek convent of S. John on the south, and that it was a sewer.
At the end of the Valley of Siloam is another means of providing for the
wants of the city in the matter of water; that is the well _Bir Eyub_,
the ancient En-rogel, the boundary between the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin[879]. It is situated in a deep narrow cleft of the valley, with
precipitous mountains on every side; and formerly furnished water to
Jerusalem, as it still continues to do, the inhabitants of Siloam
driving a brisk trade during the summer droughts. I have already
mentioned this well[880], and now proceed to give a more detailed
account of it. In the month of October, 1858, _Bir Eyub_ was perfectly
dry, and I availed myself of this event, unfortunate for Jerusalem, to
descend into it. I reached the bottom, covered with fine sand, and there
was able to examine a small cavity in the rock on the west, mentioned by
Mejir ed-Din, from which the water flows in the rainy season. It was
then completely dry, but I think that a spring formerly issued from it.
I believe that the well (108 feet deep) is a cavity naturally worn by
the constant flow of the water, but that it has afterwards been dressed
with a chisel. It is now rectangular in plan, and gradually diminishes
from the top to the bottom; the side walls are formed of large blocks in
the lower part; as we ascend their size decreases; small holes occur
among these at intervals, through which the rock can be seen, and the
water runs into the well[881]. The stones recede, one behind the other,
as we ascend, and they are perfectly united without any apparent trace
of mortar, and must be bolted together with iron clamps or stone tenons
to have enabled them to stand firm during so many centuries, and yet to
seem likely to stand for many more. I have no doubt that the masonry is
of the highest antiquity. The well is supplied by the rains which,
sinking into the surrounding mountainous country, descend naturally to
this vault at the lowest level. I have convinced myself of this by
careful observation at the rainy seasons, and have ascertained that the
well did not begin to fill until the rain had fallen for several days,
and that the level of the water was not affected, unless the rain was
heavy and continuous. I also found that the well did not overflow into
the Kidron, unless this rain lasted for several days, and that it ceased
when the fine weather returned, and a dry wind sprang up. In 1861 the
rain was so heavy that the overflow lasted for fifteen days, but during
this time there was very little sunshine in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem. The above explanation will, I trust, be satisfactory to all,
except the Arabs, who account for the wonder in the following
manner[882]: "We all know that the _Haram es-Sherîf_ is constantly
guarded by sixty thousand angels. Now, by a decree of Heaven, while the
heavenly host watch in prayer around the sacred rock (_es-Sakharah_), an
equal number of evil spirits groan in the depths of the mountain,
condemned to support upon their accursed foreheads the weight of the
holy edifice, and of the vast plateau that encircles it. The weight is
terrible, but the following circumstance is marvellous. Every time that
a faithful Mohammedan, after due purification, places his foot upon the
ground of the _Haram_, the weight of his body increases the burden borne
by the demons seventy-fold. If the devotees are numerous, if they
frequently go to implore the divine mercy in that favoured spot, the
sufferings of the fiends are proportionately increased; they burst into
tears of grief and rage. The more ardent is the zeal of the believers,
the fuller is the reservoir, wherein, drop by drop, the tears of the
enemies of God are collected. Hence the abundance or the deficiency of
the water in _Bir Eyub_ measures the bounty of the Creator to His
creatures. It only depends then on our own prayers to have good
harvests, and when drought comes, we ought to accuse ourselves of a lack
of devotion." M. Saintine thinks that this account, when stripped of its
marvels, denotes that all the water-courses in the city flow into the
lower part of the _Haram es-Sherîf_, and thence are conducted by a
conduit into this well. This I cannot admit, because the waters running
down the western bank of the Tyropoeon follow the course of that
valley, and those which fall on the eastern are caught by the reservoirs
constructed for that purpose, and the small quantity that escapes,
falls, as I have already stated[883], into the Kidron Valley, opposite
to the Tomb of Absalom.
Let us now pass on to consider the Fountain of the Virgin, the only
useful spring in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, of which I have already
given an account[884], as well as of the upper pool of Siloam, which is
supplied by the Fountain; but I have not yet described the phenomenon of
its intermittence, the quality of its water, and the conduit connecting
the two places. S. Jerome, as I have already observed, and the
historians of the Crusades, noticed that the flow of the water was not
regular, so that the occurrence is by no means novel. Dr Robinson[885]
gives the following account of it: "As we were preparing to measure the
basin of the upper fountain and explore the passage leading from it, my
companion was standing on the lower step near the water, with one foot
on the step and the other on a loose stone lying in the basin. All at
once he perceived the water coming into his shoe; and supposing the
stone had rolled, he withdrew his foot to the step; which however was
also now covered with water. This instantly excited our curiosity; and
we now perceived the water rapidly bubbling up from under the lower
step. In less than five minutes it had risen in the basin nearly or
quite a foot; and we could hear it gurgling off through the interior
passage. In ten minutes more it had ceased to flow; and the water in the
basin was again reduced to its former level." I have repeatedly observed
the same thing, and for some time was unable to explain it, and
therefore questioned the villagers of Siloam, and so learnt, from the
more ignorant, the story of the dragon, and from the wiser, that the
spring had a flux and reflux like the sea; and they were prepared to
instruct me on its periodicity. How I at last discovered the true cause
I will relate in speaking of the _Hammam es-Shefa_. Meanwhile I only
mention, as an unquestionable fact, that the phenomenon undoubtedly
occurs both in the rainy and dry seasons, but that the supply is greater
in the former than in the latter.
The water from the fountain flows into the upper pool of Siloam by means
of a subterranean conduit, which follows a winding course in the rock,
instead of going directly from north to south. In some places it is not
more than 2-1/4 feet high; in others 4 or even 5 feet; and in some parts
it is still higher, especially towards the Pool of Siloam. Its width in
general is about three feet, but near the southern mouth it increases up
to four. It has been hewn out of the rock in a very rude manner, so that
I am disposed to attribute it to the age of Solomon; especially as it
has been made to convey the water of the Fountain to a place where it
was more accessible to the inhabitants of the city, and could be
collected in the large reservoirs from which the gardens below, the
King's Gardens, were irrigated. In the 17th century a monk, by name
Julius, explored the whole of the dark damp passage. After him the Abbé
Desmazures, then an Englishman named Hyde, and Drs Robinson and Smith,
and also Tobler. I have traversed it several times, the last occasion
being in the month of February 1861; but I cannot advise any one to
follow my example, as the constant ruin continually increases the
difficulty of the undertaking, and there is always danger of the earth
falling in at any moment. This conduit explains why the intermittence is
observed in Siloam. The general belief in the country is that the source
springs from the lower cavities in Mount Moriah (as the river of
Ezekiel's vision[886]). I am of the same opinion, but must reserve this
point also for my description of the _Hammam es-Shefa_. The water of the
Fountain is limpid and slightly brackish; it contains lime, magnesia,
and sulphuric acid: its specific gravity is 1.0035: its temperature is
usually from 61.25° to 65.75° Fahrenheit. It is only drunk by the
inhabitants of Jerusalem when the supplies in their cisterns fail;
however, the peasants of Siloam use it for all purposes. Still it is
always a boon to the citizens, as it irrigates the gardens of Siloam,
which are rendered wonderfully fruitful, besides supplying the tanners
and washerwomen, and cattle of all kinds.
I have already identified the Lower Pool of Siloam with the Pool of
Solomon, and stated that it now receives the sewage of the city; but it
must have been filled from the Upper Pool, and used to regulate the
supplies to the gardens, and increase the volume of the stream of the
Kidron.
In the neighbourhood of the city, on the north and north-west, remains
of conduits are found, by which perhaps water was brought into the city,
but I have not been able to discover whence the supply came; and there
are, besides, some reservoirs and cisterns, none of which date from a
remote period. The most important work, as regards its size, is the pool
at the head of the Kidron valley, which I believe to have been
constructed solely to collect and preserve the waters for the wants of
those who dwelt in the neighbourhood, and to prevent the streams,
flowing from the adjoining hill-sides, from being absorbed in the
ground. At one time I thought that a subterranean conduit took the water
from the pool into the city; but after the most careful examination of
the ground in the vicinity, I am able to declare that no such conduit
exists. The reasons which have led me to this conclusion will appear in
the following account of my investigations. The people of the country
had informed me that at night, when the city was perfectly quiet, the
noise of flowing water could be heard beneath the Damascus Gate by any
one who placed his ear on the ground. I made the experiment several
times, and found it to be the case. When I excavated the ancient North
Gate (in the foundations of the present Damascus Gate), as I have
already described in the second chapter[887], I descended into the
cisterns just on the north of the gate, and repeated the experiment at
the bottom of them, and here I perceived more distinctly the gurgling of
water, which was still more audible after Said Pasha, Commandant of the
garrison of Jerusalem, had emptied these two cisterns of the rubbish
that encumbered them. It must also be observed that the noise is heard
louder after rain than at other times. This, therefore, led me to
believe that there was a conduit which transported the water into the
city, and consequently I many times made careful investigations in the
tract of land between the Kidron Pool and the Damascus Gate; but these
all failed in producing the desired result; and after levelling the
ground, penetrating into cisterns, and removing ruins, I came to the
conclusion that its existence was impossible; for, if it had been
constructed, it must have run at a great depth underground, and been
wholly excavated in the rock. A work of this kind, especially for such a
distance, would have been too much for Jewish science; for all the other
conduits in Palestine which can be assigned to an early period, if not
covered with long slabs, as is common, are not much below the level of
the ground, so that there are apertures at intervals to give them light.
Nor is this the only reason against the existence of a conduit; for in
examining the sewer in the Tyropoeon valley inside the city, near the
Damascus Gate, I obtained permission from the Pasha, when it was
repaired, to deepen the excavation, and found no trace of a water-course
in the place where it would naturally have run; unless indeed we suppose
it to have been made at a greater depth in the rock itself, or to have
crossed Bezetha, and come to an end either in Moriah or close to it on
the north-west. Consequently I conclude that the gurgling heard at the
Damascus Gate proceeds from the sewers in its neighbourhood, which
descend from Gareb and Bezetha and unite in the Tyropoeon valley.
I terminate the examination of the waters outside the city by observing
that the Pilgrim's Pool[888], on the north (which I have already
noticed), is insufficiently supplied from the little valley above it,
and anciently discharged its waters into the Pool of Bethesda. I also
mention again the water dropping from the rock inside the Royal Caverns,
which some, who have only seen it in the rainy season and not in the
summer when it is dried up, consider to be a spring. I do not think that
these two sources contributed greatly in former time to augment the
supply of water to the city.
Before the 12th of June, 1860, no other spring was known in Jerusalem
than that which rises at the bottom of the well of the _Hammam
es-Shefa_. With regard to this there have been many enquiries as to
whence its waters come, by what way they enter Moriah, and whither they
go. At the time just mentioned, I discovered the spring on the property
of the Daughters of Sion, as I have already described[889]; but about
two years previously, in the month of July, I had been called in to
examine some water which appeared near Herod's Gate, when the
foundations were dug for a large building belonging to Mustafa Bey,
which now bears his name. Having premised this, I will state the
conclusions at which I have arrived from my investigations at the three
places just mentioned, and also give my explanation of the phenomenon of
the intermittence of the water in the Fountain of the Virgin.
In the foundation, on the south side of Mustafa Bey's house, at a depth
of 22 feet, a quantity of water had appeared during the night and filled
the hole. The master-mason and the owner, the sole architects, believed
that it had filtered through from some cistern in the neighbourhood,
and therefore set to work to bale it out. When this was done they were
very much surprised to see that a thin stream of water, coming from the
north-west, continued to fill the place; they therefore deepened the
excavation a little, and widened the opening, but they were unable to
account for the abundance of the water, which hindered their work. On
arriving at the spot I suggested excavating, but the fear of the
increased expenditure kept them from agreeing to this; so that, under
the circumstances, I had no other means of ascertaining anything, than
examining a number of cisterns which were in the neighbourhood; and
after tasting the water in them, and comparing it with that in the hole,
I found that the latter was of the same quality as that in the _Hammam
es-Shefa_ and the Fountain of the Virgin; and then I began to believe
that it came from a spring. The owner of the place consented to suspend
the works in this part for eight days, but I could not prevail on him to
permit me to make any excavation near the place on the north-west; and
during this time the water flowed through a canal which I had
constructed for it. After building two massive piers on each side of the
stream and turning a strong arch over it, the works proceeded; so that
the stream ran away to the south, without our having found a solution of
the problem; but I have no doubt that careful investigation would have
revealed the spring-head close by on the north-west.
The discovery of June 12th, and the identity in taste and colour between
the water then found and that of which I have spoken, caused me to
examine the part of the city between the two points; and though the Arab
houses in this district caused many difficulties, I succeeded in
ascertaining that in this direction there were cisterns, into which
water found its way, similar to that at the spring, and consequently not
fit for all the purposes of life. From this I concluded that the two
springs must be connected, and the upper supply the lower. But still
there was the question, what became of all the water which issued from
the spring at the Convent of the Daughters of Sion? At the first moment
I was disposed to think that it flowed into the subterranean gallery, in
the direction of the north-west corner of the _Haram es-Sherîf_; but my
observations have brought me to the conclusion that it goes into the
well of the _Hammam es-Shefa_, as I will now shew.
The stream flowed naturally to the south, therefore I carefully probed
all the western wall on the inside of the gallery to see if the water
passed along by it; but I found no signs, and so perceived that the
conduit from the spring had turned away in another direction. Though the
gallery was almost free from water in August, and quite dry in September
and October, the stream still flowed abundantly; so that had it run
along the gallery, it could not have escaped my observation. Still it
might have been objected, that possibly the stream was absorbed and its
course concealed by the earth at the bottom of the gallery, so I dammed
up the waters until a kind of pool was formed, and then set them free
on a sudden; but not a drop appeared in the gallery; so that I thought
that they must go into the _Hammam es-Shefa_. I consider the water in
this well to be the same as that which supplies the Fountain of the
Virgin, for the following reasons. The quality of the water is the same;
and though that in the well is rather turbid and that in the Fountain is
clear, I attribute this solely to the presence of rubbish in the well,
the waters of which are afterwards filtered during their course. The
water in the well has for a long time supplied a bath built over it, as
it still does. Traditions point it out as ancient, and the Talmud[890]
appears to confirm them, saying, that "the well was excavated by the
children of the captivity, and the priests drew water from it by means
of a pulley." We may therefore suppose that the Jews used to purify
themselves here, before entering the Temple, as the Mohammedans still do
on their festival days, before they go into the _Haram es-Sherîf_. This
bath is the cause of the intermittence of the stream in the Fountain of
the Virgin, for at certain periods of the day its keepers use the water
for the purposes of the establishment, and consequently not only prevent
it from rising high enough to reach the level of the conduit carrying it
off to the Kidron Valley, but also empty the well, so that it requires
some time to fill again. As this is done twice in every twenty-four
hours, the phenomenon of intermittence occurs just as often. This I have
proved by repeated observations and trials, and I recommend any one who
seeks for a more marvellous cause to follow my example. The quantity of
water in the well is hardly affected by the rains. The dirty water from
the bath is carried by a conduit into the sewer in the Tyropoeon
valley, and aids in transporting the filth therein outside the city.
Let us now devote a few lines to the pools inside the city, which I have
already mentioned. Near the Jaffa Gate, on the north, is a small pool,
which many have supposed to be the one in which Bathsheba was bathing
when she was seen by David[891]; but I believe the desire of assigning a
legend to every spot to be the sole authority for the tradition. I have
not been able to examine this reservoir, but the Greeks, to whom it
belongs, and who have filled it with earth to prevent its becoming a
receptacle of filth, have, with many other of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, assured me that it was very narrow, and that the workmanship
in it did not correspond with that of the Jewish era, but with that of
Saladin or Solyman; also that it had no connexion with the other ancient
water-works.
With regard to the Pool Amygdalon, so often mentioned, I have to remark
that many of the cisterns, excavated in the upper city, are filled from
it, among which I may especially denote that which commonly bears S.
Helena's name, near the north-east corner of the Church of the
Resurrection. On this point there cannot be any doubt, since before the
Coptic hospice was erected on the northern side of Amygdalon, a large
conduit was visible near its north-east corner, which had been observed
by several of the older masons. Besides this, the waters of the pool
were certainly directed into the different sewers in the upper city in
order to cleanse them; as we may still see in part, for the water which
has been used for the bath, is conveyed by a conduit into the sewer in
the street of David.
The Cistern of S. Helena has, as I believe, been sometimes called the
Cistern of Golgotha, and it has been said that anything light cast into
it appeared again in Siloam. I do not believe that this was the case,
but if the identification be correct, it might occur in the following
manner; that if the water in the cistern rose above a certain height it
might escape by a waste pipe, on the south-east of the cistern, into the
central sewer in the Tyropoeon, and thus, when there was a large
surplus of water, might easily descend to Siloam, bearing any floating
substance along with it. There are many other cisterns in the
neighbourhood of the Holy Sepulchre which I have examined, but these do
not help me to an explanation of the matter, as their waste pipes are
but small.
I return to the Pool of Bethesda[892], to direct attention to the
Herodian masonry, which was certainly either built or repaired at the
erection of the Antonia. The stones which rest on the levelled rock are
perfectly united together in the following way: on the outer surface of
one stone is a rectangular mortise, into which fits a corresponding
tenon, left projecting from a stone with all its faces regularly
squared, and of somewhat smaller size than the first mentioned. Thus,
when a row[893] was finished the outer stones were about two inches
apart, and so the whole wall resembled a chess-board, all the squares
being separated by channels running horizontally and vertically. These
intervals were filled with very strong masonry; and in order that the
water might not possibly find its way through the joinings of the inner
stones, after the surface was thus made level, the whole was covered
with a strong cement. The position of the pool shews that it was not
only formed for the service of the Temple, but also for its defence.
This work, which could so easily be made again fit for use, is, on the
contrary, rapidly falling to ruin, being utterly neglected, like all the
other works of antiquity.
There were some other pools inside the city--for example one, where the
barrack of the _Haram_[894] now stands; another, on the south of the
property of the Armenian Convent, which I myself have examined; but of
these every trace has now disappeared; and I only mention them to shew
how much better the city was supplied with water in former times by
means of proper contrivances.
I have already explained[895] how the inhabitants now provide themselves
with water, and will only add that, of the 992 cisterns in Jerusalem
and its vicinity, the greater number are ancient, and are excavated in
the rock. In them the water would keep excellently, if proper attention
were paid to them, so that the city would never fall short; but they too
are neglected; and consequently there is in many years a want of water,
a great quantity of which is either absorbed by the ground and lost, or
runs into the sewers, which are in even worse repair, and, or lastly,
floods the streets, to the inconvenience of passengers, and the injury
of the public health.
I conclude by remarking that, although Jerusalem is situated in a
position where limestone rocks abound, and where springs of drinkable
water are not to be found, (there being but one which could be used,
even in extremity,) the city has never suffered from thirst in all the
numerous sieges which it has undergone. The besiegers, however, have
almost always been reduced to great straits from this cause; for
example, the armies of Pompeius, of Antiochus Eupator, and of the
Crusaders. Josephus, indeed, says that the Roman troops under Titus did
not want water, but this is in a speech addressed to his
fellow-citizens, when he is exhorting them to submit in order to avoid a
more miserable fate; and he brings forward this unwonted circumstance as
a sign that heaven had abandoned them, just as had happened when the
city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. Still great distress, according to
Dio Cassius[896], did prevail among the Roman army. The inhabitants,
however, never felt any such want; their miseries always arose from
hunger; and William of Tyre[897] expressly states that when the army of
Godfrey of Bouillon entered Jerusalem they found plenty of water. From
the earliest period the supply appears to have been well maintained; and
it is to be hoped that some person or other will before long restore the
city to its former condition; and by repairing the ancient water-works
render it no longer dependent on the rains. Woe betide Jerusalem if
showers should fail during two years in succession!
FOOTNOTES:
[860] Eccl. ii. 4, 6.
[861] Ant. VIII. 7, § 3.
[862] Plate X.
[863] Cant. iv. 12.
[864] The reservoirs constructed at certain points along the course of
an aqueduct to regulate the supply of water.
[865] Cant. iv. 12.
[866] Page 100.
[867] Ant. XVIII. 3, § 2; Jewish War, II. 9, § 4.
[868] Joma, fol. 31. 1.
[869] Greg. Abulpharagii seu Barhebræi Chronicum Syriacum, ed. G. G.
Kirsch. Lips. 1789. 2 Vols. 4to.
[870] Plate LXII.
[871] 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.
[872] Isai. vii. 3.
[873] Plate XXXI.
[874] 2 Kings xviii. 17.
[875] 2 Kings xviii. 18, 26, 28.
[876] 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4, 5, 30.
[877] Jewish War, V. 7, § 3.
[878] 2 Kings xii. 20.
[879] Josh. xv. 7; Plate XLVIII.
[880] Page 188.
[881] Plate X.
[882] I avail myself of the words of M. Saintine (Trois ans en Judée, p.
132), as I was in his company when an old Sheikh told us the story.
[883] Page 92.
[884] Page 184.
[885] Biblical Researches, Vol. I. p. 506 (1st ed.).
[886] Ezek. xlvii.
[887] Page 36.
[888] Page 14.
[889] Page 63.
[890] Gloss. in Mishnajoth in Octav. in Midd. Perek. 5.
[891] 2 Sam. xi. 2-4.
[892] Plate XVI.
[893] See Plate X. fig. 6.
[894] Jewish War, V. 11, § 4.
[895] Page 14.
[896] Dio Cassius, LXIV. 4.
[897] Lib. VIII. c. 24, G. D. p. 761.
CHAPTER IX.
GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.
In the previous chapters I have put forward the results of my researches
upon the topography, antiquities, and principal edifices of Jerusalem. I
now proceed to give a general idea of those things which a person
intending to reside there, or even to visit it, would wish to know; and
I commence by giving some information which may be useful to the
traveller. Jaffa is the seaport at which most persons, who intend to
visit Jerusalem, land. The distance between the two places is about
28-1/2 miles. The mournful aspect of the former city generally drives
away visitors after they have made a short stay and hastily traversed a
few filthy streets; but those who wish to spend a longer time and
carefully examine the antiquities of the place, or repose after their
voyage, will find two tolerably comfortable hotels. Besides these, the
Latin convent of the Franciscans entertains gratuitously all who apply
without regard to their religious opinions. Nor do the Greeks and
Armenians refuse to receive strangers, though they are established
especially for the members of their own communities. An inn or the Latin
convent is most convenient for a European. Consular agents of different
nations reside in the town, and shew the greatest courtesy and attention
to travellers; and through their dragomans or _cavas_ (consular guards),
or through the servants of the convent, one can obtain horses without
fear of being cheated. A three hours' ride along an excellent road takes
the traveller to Ramleh, a town without any inns; but where he can pass
the night in either the Latin, Greek, or Armenian convents, and on the
morrow pursue his course with the same horse to Jerusalem, where he will
arrive after a journey of eight or nine hours. I do not mention the
price of the bridle, saddle, and other necessaries of the journey, as
these vary with time and circumstances.
In Jerusalem there are two inns kept by honest people; those, however,
who prefer availing themselves of the hospitality of the convents can do
so; but should of course make an offering before leaving, according to
their circumstances. This, however, is never demanded; nor will the
person who does not choose, or is unable to present it, be the less
kindly treated on that account. From the instant of his arrival the
traveller is pestered with interpreters and _ciceroni_. These it is
imprudent to engage without previous enquiries at their Consulate, or
from the Head of the religious community to which they belong; so too
with those who offer themselves to take charge of a caravan, or act as
escorts on journeys to the Jordan or Dead Sea, or other parts of
Palestine. The bargain should be struck with responsible chiefs alone,
at the Consulate, and all the conditions of the engagement should be
clearly stated in writing, so that no disputes may afterwards arise.
Persons who let out horses are not slow to offer themselves; but I
recommend the traveller to make good use of his judgment before hiring a
horse for a long period. After carefully examining it and its harness,
it is necessary to put down on paper all the terms of the agreement, in
the presence of two witnesses, to avoid having constant recourse to the
Consul's office. Generally, however, oral evidence is more esteemed in
the East than documentary, because the sense of words in a writing can
be easily altered.
In case the traveller wishes to change money, let him beware of the
petty money-changers in the bazaars, and go to the banks recommended by
his Consul, or by the Head of his religious community. In buying
anything from Arab dealers, unless accompanied by an honest guide, the
stranger is always liable to be cheated, and to pay double the proper
value, because it is usual for his conductor to receive a percentage on
what his master spends. Most of all, distrust the itinerant dealers who
call at private houses, or who are found in the lobbies of convents,
hospices, and inns, or in the court before the Church of the
Resurrection.
Any one who wishes to make a long stay at Jerusalem, and to hire a
house, should not treat with a _factotum_, but with some person in whom
he can place confidence. He will then get what he requires much more
cheaply. Before signing the contract he should ascertain the state of
the cisterns and their contents, the conduits, and the offices, unless
he wishes to find himself without water, or with leaky drains that will
make his house smell like a sewer. Let him also beware of foes, that lie
hid by day, but issue forth by night to murder sleep. Take care that all
defects observed in the scrutiny are at once repaired, for as soon as
the rent is paid, the proprietor will hold himself free to do nothing,
and will find a thousand pretexts to save himself from spending a
farthing, even though he be ordered to do it by the authorities. The
terrace-roofs are always in bad repair, so they must not be forgotten.
Let not a mistaken notion of economy induce the visitor to take an old
house; for in that case it is necessary to be always erecting barriers
against the rats and snakes, which the Arabs call the friends of the
house, and many other invaders. No one should hire a servant without a
character from a person of credit; and constant watchfulness is
necessary, especially when the domestics have the purchase of provisions
in their own hands: adulterated goods of all kinds are common enough in
Palestine, even to the refinement of black stones in sacks of coal, and
pebbles in soap. In a word, keep your eyes wide open, for the Arab is
omnivorous, and steals slowly, but steadily. Weights and measures are
not wanting in native shops, but such weights and measures! Every dealer
has a double set, and uses the just or the unjust according to
circumstances. The government officers appointed for this purpose do not
fail to visit the shops (politely giving notice of their intention
beforehand), and of course everything is then in order. Now and then a
victim is necessary, and the offence is denounced; but before the
offender is put in prison, it is made out to be a mistake on the part of
the police-officer, who is excused on the score of excess of zeal. These
things continually happen, and the evil is irreparable. With the
European dealers there is no danger of being cheated.
The butchers are great rogues, and cheat in every possible way. The
tariffs sanctioned by the Government are not observed, and whoever wants
good meat must pay the butcher's price. Only those who are in authority,
and can make their complaints heard, are supplied according to the
tariff. The rest of the people suffer, and can get no redress from the
badly-paid subordinates of the Government, who are bribed to be blind
and deaf; and not unfrequently the complainant, if unprotected by one of
the Consuls, is maltreated by the vendors and the vigilant guardians of
the peace.
The shops kept by Europeans are so well provided with the products of
that continent, that the stranger might easily forget that he was in
Palestine. Food and liquors of various kinds, clothes, and other
necessaries, come from England, Marseilles, and Trieste, and from many
parts of the East; so that any one of moderate means may supply his
wants sufficiently, but simply; and without these he can live on the
produce of the country at a cheap rate.
Vegetables are scarce and dear, but annual supplies, in a preserved
state, are sent from France. Beef and veal are seldom offered for sale,
and are not good. There is plenty of mutton, sheep and goat, and
sometimes of camel flesh; but the last two, with the inferior kinds of
the former, are only bought by the poor. The European also finds pork,
wild boar, hares and gazelles. Fowls, turkeys, ducks, and pigeons, are
plentiful in the market, which is sometimes supplied with partridges and
other game, and with fresh fish from Jaffa. Eggs and milk are plentiful;
cheese and butter are imported, only because the peasants do not know
how to make them, and will not take the trouble to learn. Oranges,
lemons, pomegranates, cucumbers, melons, figs, almonds, and grapes, are
very abundant; dates and bananas, the produce of the country, are less
plentiful. There are also peaches, apricots, plums, pears, and apples,
and many other fruits too numerous to mention. The wines of the country
are made at Hebron, Bethlehem, and S. John: these are very good, but
rather strong; and as they are insufficient for the wants of the place,
and those of France are very dear, Cyprus wine is much used. The bread
during the last few years has become pretty good, and that made by the
Jews is very fair, and would be still better if they had proper mills to
grind the wheat; those worked by horses and asses and by the hand all
belong to private owners. A single windmill, erected by Sir M.
Montefiore, has greatly improved the quality of the bread. The grain of
the country, when properly ground and prepared, makes excellent bread;
but many European families use flour imported from Trieste, which is
very good. The Arab bread, on which most of the people live, is
abominable, being badly made and full of grit. It is needless to observe
that the dealers pay no regard to the orders of the government, and sell
loaves either of light weight, or adulterated with cheaper materials.
When Surraya Pasha inspected the shops in person, on which occasion I
accompanied him, twelve offenders against the law were imprisoned; and
many others only escaped by having no more bread to sell; that is to
say, they had heard of the Pasha's coming, and had hidden their stock.
There is no lack of watchmakers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, tailors,
bootmakers, and cabinetmakers, who can supply not only the necessaries,
but even the luxuries of life. There are excellent building materials to
be obtained, and good quarrymen, stonecutters, and masons. Wood is
rather scarce in the country, but can be got from Egypt or Beyrout,
where the yards are overstocked by the supplies from Trieste and
Lebanon.
The French, Austrian, and Turkish posts facilitate intercourse with
Europe and the East. The steamers also of the French Messagerie
Impériale and of the Austrian Lloyd arrive at the port of Jaffa on
alternate weeks. The Turkish post is very badly managed; for the courier
is often robbed of his mail-bag, and when it arrives in safety, the
distribution of its contents is conducted so carelessly, that the first
comer may possess himself of any letter he pleases; so that nothing
valuable should be entrusted to it.
The commerce of the city is on a very small scale, nor are there many
merchants who speculate; and such as there are, except the Europeans and
some few of the inhabitants, are more to be feared than the Bedouins who
infest the open country. The value of money changes from one moment to
another, according to the bankers' caprice, without the Government
taking any notice of the matter. The legal rate of interest is 10, and
sometimes 12 per cent., but this is disregarded; the usurers, who are
numerous, demand 25 and even 30 per cent. Business in Jerusalem is
transacted slowly, not only owing to the nature of the inhabitants, but
also because Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, are the days of rest to the
Mohammedans, Jews, and Christians, respectively; not to speak of the
other numerous festivals which each community keeps holy during the
course of the year.
If a European wishes to remain in good health, he should wear flannel,
and avoid using linen, because the mornings and evenings are damp, and
the temperature is frequently liable to considerable changes. When he is
obliged to expose himself to the sun, he should cover his head with
white cloth, and thus he will escape unhurt. When on a journey, and
exposed to great heat, he should wear white clothing, and eat and drink
very sparingly, not taking much water while _en route_.
It is well to be aware that all the gates are shut at sunset, excepting
the Jaffa Gate, which remains open an hour longer; so that the traveller
who arrives too late may be obliged to sleep in the open air, unless he
have taken the precaution to furnish himself with an order from the
Commandant.
Whoever goes out into the streets by night must carry a lantern, not
only because it is so ordered by the authorities, and a person breaking
this rule is liable to be arrested by a patrol or by the police, but
also because it is otherwise impossible to avoid stumbling in some ill
repaired part of the road, or being attacked by the packs of dogs, who
guard and infest the streets of the city.
Having thus given some general information and advice, I proceed to make
a few remarks on the present state of the city. A walk through the
streets, when undertaken without a special purpose, is more oppressive
than refreshing. They are narrow and dark, frequently arched over, and
almost deserted. They are paved with stones, ill joined and uneven.
These are not easy to walk on, as their surfaces are smooth and
slippery, especially in the rainy season; and on horseback they are very
dangerous, as I experienced myself the first time that I saw them. As
the city slopes from west to east, the streets generally fall in the
same direction; so that the upper are less filthy than the lower, which
in the rainy season are horribly foul, since the dirt all lodges in
them, and no one takes the trouble to remove it. Surraya Pasha issued
strict orders to the street police, and frequently inspected them
himself; but it is very hard work to keep the Arabs from their beloved
mud. In the more frequented parts of the town the shops are generally
mean in appearance, and disgust rather than amuse the spectators. The
houses are built with small stones, some black with age, the rest light
grey. Most of them have no windows outside, and those which have
resemble prisons or monasteries, as the apertures are small and barred.
This produces a very dull and oppressive effect, until the eye becomes
accustomed to it. The entrance-doors are generally low and narrow, and I
recommend the stranger not to form his opinion of the internal
arrangements from what he sees on the threshold. The houses have
terrace-roofs, many of which are covered with slabs of stone well
united; but the generality are formed of small pieces mixed with cement,
beaten into a solid mass, which however does not possess much power of
resistance, as it cracks with the heat of the sun, and admits the water
in rainy weather; consequently many of the houses are damp, and their
inhabitants liable to fevers. These terrace-roofs are surrounded by a
wall five or six feet high, serving as a parapet. It is formed of small
earthenware tubes, making it look like the side of a dovecot; but by
this means the women, by whom the roofs are used as places for exercise
and amusement, can see, without being seen.
Heaps of ruins and filth are seen in the public places, and no one
frequents them for business; beggars crave an alms, lepers exhibit their
sores, vagrant curs snarl over their booty. Camels crouched down await
their burdens, and fill the air with a disgusting odour, caused by the
ointment with which they are smeared to cure skin-diseases. Disgust,
fear, hypocrisy, slavishness and distrust, are the common expressions in
the faces of the men, shewing the different races of which they are
composed; opposed one to another in religion and fortunes, victors and
vanquished, jealous and distrustful one of the other. The women are
generally covered with a white cloth, looking like ghosts, or if
uncovered, would look better veiled. If wearied with the dullness
within, we go outside the walls, we find a few olive-trees on the
north-west, a few young plantations on the west, and the rest barren and
desolate. Everywhere deep valleys or steep hills, stony and rocky roads,
impracticable for carriages, difficult for horses, and painful for
foot-travellers. Wherever we go the memorials of the dead are before our
eyes; for the cemeteries are the places of general resort. Escaping,
however, from the city, from its bad smells and loathsome and
importunate beggars, we can ascend the hills, and contemplate a
panorama, where every stone is a witness of God's revelation, and every
ruin a monument of His wrath. On these bare summits high and ennobling
thoughts fill the mind, bringing a calm that is found with difficulty in
bustling and crowded cities. He who is careless or unbelieving, he who
travels only from curiosity or to kill time, had better take my advice,
and avoid Jerusalem. There he will have no amusement beyond taking a
ride, or smoking and drinking bad coffee in an Arab _café_; watching the
languid passers by, or listening to Arab songs accompanied on tuneless
instruments. He, however, who has a family or business to care for, or
is occupied in studying the inexhaustible riches of the soil, will live
in Jerusalem as agreeably as in any other place.
There is but little pleasant social intercourse in Jerusalem, owing to
the jealousies among the rival sects; so that the conversation generally
runs upon the failings and faults of the members of the communities
which are not represented at the party; and scandalous stories and ill
natured remarks are retailed to the visitor, who is soon wearied and
disgusted.
Hence it will appear that Jerusalem offers but slight attractions to one
who is not contented with the memories of the past, and the love of
archæological research. These, however, supply an unceasing field of
enjoyment and constant occupation.
Jerusalem is not inhabited by a people; it is a great field wherein are
collected members from every nation, brought there by their religious
belief, and about to depart when their end is accomplished. No city
resembles less a fatherland, none is more like a place of exile. The
Turks, after impoverishing and governing the land after their own
fashion, give place to new magistrates, and return home with full
purses; the Arabs, who acquire there an idea of civilization, depart in
search of a place where they can lay out their property to advantage;
while those who remain barbarians, after gaining a moderate sum, retire
to the desert to end their days. The European missionaries and
travellers, after a long stay, desire at length to die in their native
land. The Western and Eastern pilgrims make but a brief sojourn, and
though many of them bewail leaving the Holy Places, certain it is they
never remain. The Jews replace one another constantly, coming to ask
leave to die in that fatherland, which in life they have been unable to
regain. The few families established at Jerusalem are not ancient. Each
speaks of the date of his arrival, but is uncertain of the length of his
stay. In the Holy City, therefore, the population is constantly
changing, renewed daily by the pilgrims, and oppressed by a
disheartening uncertainty caused by the despotism and incapacity of the
Government of the Sublime Porte. This of course tends to prevent the
formation of intimate friendships and the fusion of the different races.
The greater part of the land does not belong to its occupants, but is
the property of the mosques or of the churches, and is therefore called
_Wakf_. There is the _Wakf_ of the _Haram es-Sherîf_, the property of
the great mosque; the _Wakf el-Tekiyeh_, the property of the Hospital of
S. Helena (as it is commonly called); the _Wakf Franji_, the property of
the Latin convent; the _Wakf Rûmi_, the property of the Greek convent;
and in the same way they speak of the _Wakf_ of the Russians, Armenians,
Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics, English, Prussians, Copts,
Abyssinians, and Jews. Another part of the ground falls by law to these
public bodies in case of the extinction of the families who possess it,
or a failure of the male line. These are called _mulk maukuf_ i.e.
mortmain. Hence it comes that the smaller part only of the soil is
private property (_mulk_); so that, owing to these restrictions, a
single small estate belongs to several owners, and there are many
difficulties and much danger of being cheated in buying land.
I will now offer a few remarks upon the condition of the different
religious sects, premising that they entertain the bitterest feelings
one towards another, and are only restrained from greater excesses by
the fear that the Turks will profit by their quarrels, and listen to the
highest bidder. The Consuls of the different nations have hard work to
keep the peace, finding themselves of but little power in allaying
strifes; not for want of will and moral courage, but because their
authority only extends to small matters, and they are not properly
seconded by the spiritual heads of the communities, who rather stir up
the disputants and increase the difficulty of restoring peace.
The most wealthy and powerful, and, in times past (and sometimes even
now), the most distinguished in these contentions are the Latins,
Greeks, and Armenians; and the Turks are never sorry to see them at
strife, as they reap a harvest from both the losers and the winners.
Scarcely had the tempest of war caused by the Crusades passed away, when
these communities began to struggle at the court of the Sublime Porte
for the possession of the Holy Places. Each produced _firmans_ given by
Mohammed, Omar, Saladin, or various Sultans; and the ministers at the
court always decided in favour of the highest bidder, so that the same
place was assigned by different _firmans_ to the Latins, the Greeks, or
the Armenians. In consequence it has happened that one party, believing
itself to be the true proprietor of a particular Sanctuary, has declared
the other an impostor, until the sight of a _firman_ of older date has
shown the vanity of its claims.
The enmity of the clergy has descended to the people, and frequently,
upon the most futile pretexts, the churches and Holy Places have been
the theatres of fatal encounters between rival nations. The Pashas of
former times (now it is different) gladly interfered on these occasions,
to impose heavy fines upon the weaker party, and to sell impunity to the
strong, who were quite ready to begin fresh disturbances the next day.
At one time the Greeks were driven from the Holy Places by order of the
Porte; now the Latins were subjected to the utmost annoyance; while the
Armenians profited by the discord to establish themselves in the
Sanctuaries belonging to one or other of the disputants, whose claims
they pretended to be supporting. The Catholic Governments lacked the
means, and perhaps the inclination, to interfere directly in such
questions. The ministers of France, Spain, Venice, and Austria, in
Constantinople, sometimes listened to the complaints of the religious
fraternities, to whom the custody of the Holy Places had been confided.
But whether their own governments failed to support them, or whether
that of the Sultan was not found tractable, certain it is that their
applications were seldom heeded; and, in fact, cases occurred of even
personal violence being employed against the French Ministers and the
Venetian _Baili_, or still more frequently, against their subordinates.
Until within a few years past, money was the only way of succeeding in
negotiations with the Porte. Hence it may be understood, as regards the
Latins, how it is that the guardianship of the Holy Land has been so
expensive to Europe[898]. The Franciscans had also the privilege of
acquiring real property and disposing of the alms of the Faithful; until
the Propaganda began to view with dislike such large sums removed
entirely from its control; so in order to inaugurate a fresh system, a
Patriarch was established at Jerusalem in 1847, and assigned as his
revenue the fifth part of the alms received by the Guardians. This
arrangement gave him the right of examining the accounts, and to the
Propaganda upon the management of affairs. He was, however, so
obstinately opposed by the monks, that he was obliged to make a
compromise with them, in which the interests, if not the minds, of the
two parties were somewhat reconciled. The Greeks also were reduced to
the same situation as the Latins; for a community which is obliged to
support its influence at the Turkish Court by the aid of money alone, is
compelled to have recourse to expedients of every sort in order to
obtain it. Consequently, either from the piety of the faithful or the
activity of the monks, the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem has amassed a
very large property, consisting of possessions in Wallachia, Bessarabia,
Greece, and other countries, besides its estates in Palestine, and
especially in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, which are being
continually augmented. The secretary of the Greek convent of S.
Constantine, the Archimandrite Nicoferus, has purchased in the last few
years a number of estates, the value of which is not less than 6,000,000
piastres, or about £48,000. The property of the monasteries is almost
entirely derived from the legacies left by the monks, who purchase in
their own names, to leave to the convent, which always inherits their
possessions, except a small allowance to the parents of the deceased, if
they are living. The purchase-money, however, must come from the common
chest of the convent, for it is of course impossible that a poor monk
should have the means of buying land to such an amount. However this may
be, the convent ultimately obtains the property, and thus its rent-roll
increases. It still keeps on receiving the offerings of the faithful,
which it lays out in the purchase of real property. This the Franciscans
are now forbidden by the Propaganda to acquire; they are therefore
obliged to subsist, maintain their Sanctuaries, and entertain pilgrims,
on the alms which, to a greater or less amount, are sent to them from
Christendom.
The revenues of the Armenians are chiefly supplied by landed property,
by the money which they have out at interest on good security, and by
the alms and dues of the pilgrims. They possess the best establishment
in Jerusalem, and their revenues are well administered; but in spite of
that they would not have so much influence as the Greeks and Latins,
were it not for those of their religion who fill high places in the
Turkish government.
No part of the population furnishes so many subjects for reflexion as
the Jews, who dwell in the land of their fathers, without seeking to
imitate their example. A remnant of their nation, they stay in their
ancient capital, to pray, to weep, and to die, in the land that should
be their own. The greater part live without working, upon the gifts sent
by their industrious brethren in Europe and the East. From this
circumstance it will be easily understood how it is that misery and
indigence prevail among them, because they depend not on labour but on
alms, which diminish year by year, on account of the increasing numbers
who flock to Jerusalem to share them. When these supplies are
distributed slowly, or are scanty, they begin to murmur, and utter the
most unreasonable and shameless complaints against their benefactors.
The sole source of revenue of the Jewish community is the almsbox; and
when its contents diminish, the different congregations assemble and
choose persons, who are provided with papers from the Rabbis,
countersigned by the Consuls, and start as collectors, returning after
long journeys with the fruits of their wanderings. The alms thus
obtained are carelessly and thriftlessly distributed, and not applied to
any useful purpose, consequently these collections are constantly
repeated. Nor are they fairly divided; the truly poor, the sick, the
widows and the orphans, too weak to complain or resist, are often
neglected and defrauded; they cannot write, and therefore are not
feared; but those who can cry aloud and make their discontent heard, who
can give trouble or annoyance by complaints and intrigues, are attended
to and served. Those too who are appointed to distribute the alms are
utterly unfit for the duty, giving no heed and making no endeavours to
qualify themselves for it, since they are neither able nor willing to
make the best of the means committed to them, and secure its being
bestowed on deserving objects. In a word, the Jews at Jerusalem are
unfortunate in those who manage their affairs, for they are men who
neglect good advice, who are servile flatterers when they hope to gain,
and discontented grumblers when they get nothing. Hence it is their own
fault that the Jews are degraded and miserable, because they do not
attempt to repress the abuses that prevail. If the constant arrival of
idle paupers was prevented, the funds would be sufficient for those who
really want. Again, most of those who come are aged men, and unable to
resist the demands of certain Arabs, who term themselves their
protectors. If only the Jews would act with energy against their
oppressors, the Government would attend to them; but, rather than claim
their rights, they submit to those who rob them of their scanty alms.
Formerly they were also oppressed by the Government, which was enough to
account for their unfortunate condition; but since 1855 they have had no
ground of complaint on this score, for Kiamil Pasha and Surraya Pasha
treated them as fairly as all the other religious communities, by
affording a ready ear to their complaints, by discomfiting their enemies
at Hebron, and making the roads safe which they frequent on their
pilgrimage. These Governors have also made laws enforcing cleanliness in
the Jewish Quarter, have protected their rights in the purchase of land
and houses, have admitted them to their parties, and visited their
principal men; so that it is not now the fault of the Pashas if the Jews
still live in dirt and degradation. It would be well if there were a
Board in Jerusalem, commissioned to investigate the motives which bring
settlers into the country, and prevent those from coming whose sole mode
of subsistence would be the alms of others. They might also employ part
of the money entrusted to them in succouring real misery, and the rest
in supporting useful institutions, in purchasing lands, and bringing
them under cultivation. Thus might the Jews be rescued from their
degradation, and at length rendered happy instead of miserable.
We must also say a few words on the Protestant Mission to the Jews. This
was established in 1840, but can scarcely be said to have met with the
success that the efforts it has made, and the sums it has expended,
deserve. I do not believe that the number of converts, during the 23
years that the Mission has been in operation, amounts to 150; and a very
small number of these has been won in Jerusalem. Most of them, after
being converted in some part of Europe, come to Palestine to find
occupation, which they have lost in their native country from deserting
the creed of their fathers. On arriving they are assisted and employed
by the Mission; but, were they not thus cared for, I fear that many of
them would relapse. In fact, though these converts read their Bibles,
and rigorously conform to the observances of their new faith, they do
not appear to understand it, and the benefit of the change only shews
itself in their children, who have been brought up in the bosom of the
Christian Church, and are thus free from the memories of the Synagogue,
and not actuated by the interested motives which in some cases have
influenced their fathers. Impostors also have contributed to swell the
ranks of the converts, who have been excommunicated by the Rabbis, or
who wish to avail themselves of some of the advantages the Mission
offers, and who, after they have gained their points, return to their
former allegiance. Nor do the Missionaries meet with much success among
the Jewish residents in the city, or among those who come there to die;
their convictions and their interest are opposed to a change of faith.
Munk[899], himself a Jew, wrote thus a few years ago: "It is needless to
say that the attempts of Bishop Alexander, sent to Palestine under the
auspices of England and Prussia, have up to this time met with no
success;" and I can assert the same of Bishop Gobat. Truth compels me to
state that the Mission has not been successful at Jerusalem, and will
not be (in my opinion) if the wealthy Jews in Europe take care that the
affairs of their brethren in Jerusalem are properly managed. If the
conversion of the Jews be desired, I believe that more success will be
obtained among the larger numbers resident in Europe, than among the
little band of those more strongly attached to their ancient faith, who
are resident at Jerusalem. Since their efforts against Judaism have
failed, the Missionaries have attempted to make proselytes from the
other religious sects, but with little success. I do not wish to enter
fully into the subject, but simply state that the few converts, which
have been won from the other Christian communities, have to be
maintained at the expense of the Mission, or they would be soon lost;
and that the Mission has thus excited the jealousy of the other bodies,
and exposed itself to secret and open attacks. True it is that it
circulates copies of the Bible in all the languages spoken in the
country; but this is not a result of so much value as it appears at
first sight to be. Very many volumes indeed are given away, or purchased
(and that too at a very low price); but how many of them fall into the
hands of men who cannot or will not read, or are bought or taken away by
the monks, and destroyed? Many copies in different languages are thus
lost, which would be most valuable if distributed among more highly
civilized people. It may be doubted, too, whether it is wise to
circulate the entire volume, for often the reader comes upon some
passage which shocks his prejudices, and so the book is cast away in
disgust, because he is not yet able to bear a doctrine so different to
what he has always been taught.
I conclude this subject by declaring that, in the above remarks, I have
not been actuated by any party spirit, but by the desire of speaking the
plain truth; and I confidently appeal to those who are acquainted with
the real state of affairs at Jerusalem, to bear me out in what I have
felt it my duty to say.
A few words must also be devoted to the Turks and the Arabs. The former
govern the country; the latter endure their rule, and frequently rebel
against their authority. As slaves they thoroughly hate their masters,
still they are frequently reconciled by common interests, when there
seems a chance of conjointly extorting money from the Christian
communities. It should, however, be said, that there has been a great
change for the better since 1857, owing to the excellent rule of
Surraya Pasha; but still the Mohammedans are a hindrance and an evil in
the country. This is not so much due to any fault in individuals, as to
the bad administration of the Turkish Government at Constantinople.
Their appointments are often bestowed upon the highest bidder, and again
taken away when a higher appears; consequently the man who obtains a
governorship of a province, a judgeship, or any other post, has invested
a portion of his capital in the quest, and comes to his duties with
every intention of refilling his coffers as quickly as possible, since
he cannot reckon upon his stay in office. The subordinates too are
miserably paid, and have hardly a shilling for the necessaries of life;
consequently they have greedy palms, and so oppression, venality,
injustice, and all kinds of evils, are perpetrated. The religious
communities, however, do not suffer as they once did, owing to the zeal
and moderation of Surraya Pasha, the energy of the Consuls, and the
resistance which some of the Ecclesiastical Dignitaries have offered to
grasping cupidity and unjust demands. Among these, however, we cannot
reckon the Orientals, who still submit slavishly, and pay whatever is
demanded, as they are dependent upon the Sublime Porte, and so must
comply with the custom of the country. In conclusion, I may add, that
money is all-powerful with the Turks and Arabs in Jerusalem: gold calms
fanaticism, humbles the proud, renders justice uncertain and the police
blind, opens the prison-doors; in a word, in that city everything has
its price. The effect of this is that self-interest, as I have already
said, prevents any outbreak of fanaticism against the Christians or the
Jews, as the Mohammedans know full well that by this means they would be
greatly the losers.
A few words must also be said about the proselytes among the different
Christian sects. The insane rivalries among these, far more than true
conviction, produce the greater number of converts from one party to
another. Of this there are many sad examples in Jerusalem. Whenever a
person (I do not refer to Europeans) thinks he is wronged by his own
community, he turns to another, and goes where he expects to find the
greatest advantages. No one can form an idea of this commerce in
religion who has not lived some time at Jerusalem and seen it for
himself. The most trivial matters are enough to make a man change his
creed; but happily the Missionaries and Convents are beginning to open
their eyes to the true state of the case, and do not so readily admit
the new converts into their church, without making previous enquiry into
their character, and the reasons which have produced the change.
One of the things which excites commerce and brings a little money into
Jerusalem is the system of pilgrimages; and on these I purpose to say a
few words, without entering into details--an endless matter. The
European pilgrims are not so numerous as those from the East, and most
of them are poor, so that they bring more expense than profit to the
Franciscans, in whose convents they are lodged and fed, and by whom
they are conducted to the spots consecrated by the events of the Old and
New Testament. For this the monks ask nothing, though they accept any
gift that is offered; consequently the presents are unfrequent, and
seldom compensate for the expense that the donor has caused. Every
pilgrim is allowed to remain a month in the hospice at Jerusalem,
without any other recommendation than his passport and three days in the
others in different parts of Palestine, provided he be in good health.
When he is ill, according to his rank, he is nursed in the hospice, or
in the hospital, without anything to pay for doctors, druggists, or
attendants. It is plain, therefore, that this philanthropic undertaking
of the Franciscans is on too large a scale, and is a burden to the
convents, besides encouraging knaves and vagabonds, who go on
pilgrimages to pass away the time and live in idleness. A judicious
reform of this unlimited hospitality, and a careful scrutiny of the
papers of such as appear to be vagrants, would be a beneficial change.
Those who think that the pilgrims supply, in great part, the revenues
which enable the Fathers of the Holy Land to bear these heavy expenses,
should know that these come mainly from the different Christian nations,
with whose alms the churches, schools, and houses in which the pilgrims
are lodged, are maintained, and the poor and pilgrims supported. In
order to give an idea of the number of the pilgrims who have availed
themselves of the hospitality of the Franciscans during the last ten
years, I print the following extract from the Archives of the Convent of
S. Saviour:
Year. | No. of Pilgrims | Length of their
| received. | stay (days).
| |
1850 | 3611 | 16373
1851 | 3797 | 28580
1852 | 5696 | 20109
1853 | 5574 | 21364
1854 | 4620 | 18144
1855 | 6874 | 23522
1856 | 5470 | 21302
1857 | 7196 | 26280
1858 | 5809 | 25800
1859 | 7116 | 27792
Therefore in these ten years 55,763 pilgrims have been admitted into the
different convents in Palestine, who were supported during 229,346 days,
and their offerings cannot have been enough to entertain them for a
third part of their stay, so that the Friars cannot be said to derive
any advantage from them.
The Latin Patriarchate, though its revenues are small in comparison with
the expenses it has to support, practises largely the virtue of
hospitality, and knows well how to succour the poor and destitute.
The Protestant Mission relieves the poor, but does not offer to
travellers or pilgrims of its own faith the same advantage as the heads
of the Latin community, who bestow their benefits upon members of other
religious sects with as much care as upon their own.
The Jewish community relieves its pilgrims from the moment of their
arrival, admitting them into houses appointed for that purpose; but if
the strangers are without means of their own, they have no great cause
to praise the welcome and hospitality they receive.
The great mass of pilgrims to the Holy City comes, every year, from the
East, consisting of Russians, Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Copts,
Abyssinians, Maronites, and Mohammedans themselves. The greater part of
these arrive at Jaffa in steam-boats or trading vessels, in which they
are stowed like merchandise, or like negroes in a slave-ship. Not only
men, but also entire families, women, girls, and boys, the aged, the
sick, and the maimed, make the long pilgrimage. These all expose
themselves to bad weather by sea and land, to great privations, and to
all kinds of exactions. They assemble in large companies, carrying their
provisions along with them, besides merchandize for driving bargains,
together with mats for bedding, and cooking vessels, which they load
upon camels, mules, and asses. They, however, in many cases walk, often
bare-foot, making short stages, sleeping in the open air, or crowded
together in a convent; enduring all these fatigues in order to worship
in the places which Christ has consecrated by His sufferings. When they
arrive at Jerusalem they betake themselves severally to the convents
belonging to their own community, and there, after certain formalities,
are distributed into lodgings; where, if Greeks, they are crowded
together in heaps; if Armenians, they are more comfortable; and if
Russians, they have every comfort. I will not weary the reader by
relating what the arrangements of the different communities are with
regard to their pilgrims; but will only describe those of the Greeks, as
they receive the greatest number of all.
The Greek pilgrims of high rank are conducted into apartments assigned
to them, where they are well lodged and nourished, according to their
importance and dignity. They are not asked for money, but are given to
understand the wants of the community, and the needs of the Church; so
that they pay liberally for the hospitality they have received, and for
the churches and Sanctuaries they have visited. The common pilgrims,
after reposing two days in the great convent of S. Constantine, are
presented to the Patriarch, who receives an offering from each, under
the name of a contribution to the wants of the churches and convents of
his diocese. They are then conducted into the Church of the
Resurrection, where they pass a night in prayer, and make other
offerings to the Guardian of the Sepulchre for the maintenance of the
Sanctuaries. On being brought back into the convent, a plentiful repast
is provided for them, and their names are enrolled for the pilgrimages
to the Jordan and Nazareth, for which they pay a tax. They are then
conducted to their lodgings, or rather dens, in one of the numerous
convents in Jerusalem. On taking possession of these, they pay a sum
proportionate to the expense of their pilgrimage, amounting only to
eight or ten shillings. They must, however, make a present in addition,
to the church of the place, to those who have brought them, to the
Superior who receives them, and to the laics who assist to instal them
in their new quarters. When they are settled, they are taken to visit
the Tomb of the Virgin and all the churches of the convents, where they
pay. They make pilgrimages to Bethlehem, and all the other remarkable
places. They buy relics, ask for prayers and blessings, but always pay;
so that after being entertained at their own expense for four or five
months, and after having expended their resources, many are obliged to
sell their baggage to return to their native lands, taking back with
them the articles they have acquired with so much toil, all of which
however have received a blessing. That they are crowded together, and
may be said to occupy dens rather than lodgings, appears from the fact,
that sometimes eight persons are quartered in a room 16 or 18 feet
square, who have not unfrequently met for the first time, and are from
different countries; so that the reader may easily conceive the
inconveniences they suffer, and the maladies that are caused by the
straitened accommodation, especially when the winter happens to be more
rainy than usual. Notwithstanding all the observations that have been
made on this barbarous manner of lodging, they are always tenacious of
their ancient customs; but as Russia now provides well for her own
pilgrims, it is to be hoped that the Greeks, having more space, will
find some better manner of accommodating theirs.
With the Armenians the pilgrims are better cared for in every respect;
but they have to pay for everything, as with the Greeks.
The pilgrims of the different communities are on no better terms one
with another than the convents themselves; consequently quarrels break
out every year, in which, though life is not lost, bruises and blows of
sticks are plentifully bestowed. These contests are most frequent
between the Greeks and the Armenians; and the monks, instead of
attempting to allay the strife, rather excite it.
I conclude by giving a list of the schools, hospitals, hospices, and
other establishments, belonging to the different communities in
Jerusalem.
The Jews possess:--
8 Schools (now perhaps more).
1 Hospital, bearing Rothschild's name.
2 Houses used as Hospices (now perhaps more).
1 Large building for lodging the poor, called after Sir
M. Montefiore.
The Mohammedans:--
1 Military Hospital.
1 Hospice, called after Saladin.
1 Hospice of the Kusbeck Dervishes.
1 Tekhiyeh el-Khasseki-Sultane, where the poor are supported.
A number of unimportant Schools.
Several ruined buildings in the _Haram es-Sherîf_, in which the
poor are lodged.
The Lepers' Quarter.
The Orthodox Greeks:--
1 Seminary, called after the Holy Cross.
2 Boys' Schools.
1 Girls' School.
1 Free Dispensary.
18 Convents for accommodating Pilgrims.
A number of houses used for the same purpose, and many others for
the poor of the community.
1 Printing Press.
The Latins:--
1 Patriarchal Seminary at Beit-jala.
1 Boys' School, kept by the Friars Minor.
2 Girls' Schools, one kept by the Sisters of S. Joseph; the other
by the Daughters of Sion. 1 Hospital of S. Louis.
1 Hospice of the Casa Nuova.
1 Hospice, called after the Flagellation.
1 Hospice (the Austrian).
1 Printing Press.
1 Carpenter's shop.
1 Forge.
Several houses for the poor of the community.
The Armenians:--
1 Seminary.
1 Printing Press.
1 Boys' School.
1 Girls' School.
Magnificent Lodgings for Pilgrims.
Houses for the poor.
Protestant Missions:--
1 Boys' School.
1 Girls' School.
1 Girls' School, managed by the Prussian Deaconesses.
1 Hospital under the same care.
1 Hospice (Prussian).
1 Hospital (English).
1 Carpenters' School.
1 Reading Room.
Some houses belonging to the Prussians.
Russians:--
1 Hospital.
Magnificent Lodgings for Pilgrims.
Copts:--
1 Hospice.
Houses for members of their community.
The other communities have only their convents.
In a population of only 20,453 inhabitants, where there are so many
schools and so many establishments, it is a great misfortune that no
progress is seen, and that there does not appear to be even the hope of
obtaining it for a long time to come.
FOOTNOTES:
[898] To show the sums received by the reverend Franciscan Fathers of
the Holy Land, I think it will prove interesting if I give the following
account published in a pamphlet, _L'Eco Francescano_, printed at Madrid
in the year 1854. It is an authentic statement of the sums sent by the
Catholic states to the Holy Land between the years 1650 and 1850. I do
not add the details of the manner in which the amount was expended,
because I have not the necessary papers; but I do not exaggerate when I
say that those who have derived the greatest advantage from it have been
the ministers of the Ottoman Porte and their dependents.
Spanish Reals.
Spain sent 146,362,280
The Austrian States (Lombardy and
Venice are not distinct) 18,361,680
France 2,499,420
Naples 14,091,560
Portugal 39,685,480
Sicily 5,275,000
Rome 2,205,660
Tuscany 3,290,800
Island of Sardinia 1,137,700
Island of Malta 1,439,360
Piedmont 5,578,120
-----------
Total 239,737,060
About 11,996,883 francs, nearly half a million sterling, of which not a
centime remains.
[899] Palestine, p. 653.
NOTES.
NOTES ON CHAPTER I.
NOTE I. See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. IV. 2 sqq.; and his book on the
Martyrs of Palestine, chap. 11; Dio's resumé of the history of the reign
of Hadrian; S. Jerome, Letter to Paulinus.
NOTE II. Neby Samwîl (Prophet Samuel) is a village on the N.W. of
Jerusalem, at a distance of about three hours from the city. From its
summit the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea are visible, and it commands a
magnificent view of Palestine to the East and West. This is not the
place to say anything of this site in its connexion with ancient
topography; I will merely state in passing that I dissent from the
opinion of Dr Robinson, who would identify the place with Mizpeh, the
frequent meeting-place of the Jews (Judges xx.; 1 Sam. vii. 6, 12, x.
17, 24); I believe it to be Ramah. For here is found the sepulchre of
the prophet Samuel, which I have myself seen, and from the earliest
times to this day the Israelites have constantly undertaken pilgrimages
in order to touch even the outer walls which enclose the tomb.
Accordingly I identify the Ramah mentioned in 1 Sam. xxv. 1 and xxviii.
3, and the Ramah of Josephus (Ant. VI. 13, § 5), with the Arab village
of Neby Samwîl. In my book on the tombs of Machpelah, Ephratah, and
Ramah, this point will be discussed at length.
NOTE III. "He removed thence (from Gabaoth Saul), and came to a place
called Scopus; from whence the city began already to be seen, and a
plain view might be taken of the great temple." (Josephus, Wars, V. 2, §
3.) Titus himself, with 600 horsemen, had made a reconnoitring
expedition before he encamped at Scopus, during which he was intercepted
by a body of the Jews, and had a very narrow escape with his life.
Scopus was, however, the first place from which the main army obtained a
view of the city.
NOTE IV. Above each of the gates of Jerusalem is inserted a stone
bearing the following inscription, which was translated for me from the
Arabic (Plate VII.): "The Sultan our sovereign, the most potent king,
and illustrious monarch, the lord of the nations, the king of the
Greeks, Arabs, and Persians, the Sultan Solyman (whose reign may God
render happy and immortal!) caused the building of these holy walls, in
the year 941;" of the Hejra, that is, corresponding to 1534 of the
common era.
NOTE V. I subjoin the following note for the information of travellers,
that they may not have to pass the night outside the Jaffa gate, or on
Fridays lose valuable time.
The gates of the city are all closed at sunset, the Jaffa gate a little
later, that being the one by which all foot-passengers enter the city,
and by which the inhabitants of the city go out for their walks. A
person reaching Jerusalem after all the gates are closed can procure
entrance by the Jaffa gate only, on obtaining a permit from the
governor.
Every Friday at the hour of prayer (i.e. from noon to 1 P.M.) all the
gates of the city are closed, and it is difficult to obtain permission
to have them opened. This is done to allow time to the guards in charge
for their devotions.
NOTE VI. The following are the names of the principal streets of
Jerusalem:
_Harat bâb-el-'Amud_ (the street of the Column-gate), crosses the city
from North to South;
_Souk el-Kebir_ (the street of the Grand Bazaar), runs from West to
East, and is the same which in the time of the Crusades was called the
Street of David;
_Harat el-Alam_ (the _Via Dolorosa_), starts from the gate of S. Mary,
passes to the barrack on Mount Moriah, then after bearing for a short
way to the South in the Tyropoeon valley, takes again a Westerly
direction as far as the Porta Judiciaria;
_Harat el-Naçâra_ (the street of the Christians), from the Holy
Sepulchre to the Latin Convent;
_Harat el-Arman_ (the Armenian street), on the East of the Castle;
_Harat el-Yahud_ (the Jews' street) is situated on the Eastern slope of
Mount Sion;
_Harat bâb Hotta_, the street that runs parallel to the Temple in the
central valley;
And many others, which are little frequented, and are not worthy of
mention.
NOTES ON CHAPTER II.
NOTE I. The drainage system of the city is divided into the Southern,
Northern, and Eastern sections, the division of the two former being
marked by the street called the Street of David. The keeping in repair
of the Southern section is the business of the local governor, and in
consideration thereof he receives a fixed annual sum from the Armenians
and the Jews, as inhabitants of that quarter. The Northern section as
far as the central valley is kept in repair by the Latin and Greek
convents, this district containing the quarters of their respective
nations. All the drainage on the Eastern side is under the sole charge
of the governor. The Arabs very seldom take the trouble to look after
their own sewers, but are zealous enough in enforcing the execution of
repairs which belong to the Christian communities; and since the latter
have them executed with an ill-will, and employ men of no experience for
the direction of the works, the drains are choked and flooded almost
every year, and are constantly being opened for repairs; a cause of no
slight annoyance in the city. It was during these works that, for eight
successive years, I had the opportunity of examining their formation,
their respective inclines, and directions, from which I found that they
all run into the central valley (the Tyropoeon Valley of my map), and
thence drain away to the S.E. outside the city, as far as the large
pool, now filled up, below the fountain of Siloam.
The Christians have been obliged to accept the performance of these and
other foul works since the commencement of the supremacy of the Arabs
and Turks, who have submitted them to the most severe humiliations, and
to the most vile and oppressive tasks.
NOTE II. On the subject of "cubits" and stadia, I transcribe the remarks
of M. Munk, in his book entitled "La Palestine," subjoining an account
of my own special observations on the subject.
"The measures of length, called _Middoth_, are generally referred to the
hand and arm; the following are mentioned: (1) _Eçba_ (Jer. lii. 21),
_the finger_, i.e. the breadth of the finger or thumb; (2) _Tephach_ (1
Kings vii. 26), or _tophach_ (Exodus xxv. 25), the _hand-breadth_, i.e.
the breadth of four fingers; (3) _Zereth_ (Exodus xxviii. 16), the
distance between the tips of the thumb and little finger, or the _span_;
(4) _Ammah_, the whole length of the fore-arm, or _cubit_. The relative
value of these measures is not indicated in any part of the Bible; to
fix it, we must consult Josephus and the Rabbinic traditions. In Exodus
xxv. 10, the dimensions of the ark are stated as follows; length 2-1/2
cubits, breadth 1-1/2 cubits, height 1-1/2 cubits. Josephus, in the
Antiquities (III. 6, § 5), represents the 2-1/2 cubits by 5 spans, and
for 1-1/2 cubits puts 3 spans: hence the span was the half of the cubit.
The Rabbins agree with Josephus; according to them the zereth is half a
cubit, referring to the mean cubit[A] which contained six hand-breadths,
each hand-breadth being equivalent to four fingers. These data may be
adhered to as exact, because the same proportions recur in other ancient
systems. Thus for example the Greeks had their cubits of 1-1/2 feet,
which made six hand-breadths or 24 fingers; Herodotus (II. 149) speaks
of a cubit of six hands in use amongst the Egyptians. We have then for
the relative values of the Hebrew measures the following table:
_Ammah_ 1
_Zereth_ 2 . 1
_Tephach_ 6 . 3 . 1
_Eçba_ 24 . 12 . 4 . 1
"The knowledge of the absolute value of any one of these would therefore
be sufficient to enable us to deduce those of the rest; but since on
this point we have no positive datum, in the writings either of Josephus
or of the Rabbins, we must be contented with an approximate estimate by
the aid of the Egyptian measures, which modern discoveries enable us to
fix with a certain precision. It is probable, besides, that the system
of the Hebrews was borrowed from that of the Egyptians. The Rabbins
determine their measures of length by the breadth of grains of barley
placed side by side--a custom which also prevails amongst the Arabs and
other Eastern tribes. It is easily seen that there is an uncertainty in
this method of measurement, owing to the unequal sizes of the
barley-grains. Maimonides, who has made minute calculations on the
subject, has found that the Eçba of the Bible is equal to the breadth of
seven average-sized grains of barley[B], which gives for the _Ammah_
168. It is found by calculations sufficiently exact that the Arab cubit,
which is estimated at 144 grains of barley (that is, twenty-four fingers
of six grains each), when reduced to (Paris) lines and decimal parts of
lines, gives 213.050[C], which would give for the Hebrew _Ammah_ of 168
barley-grains 248.564 (about 560 millimetres, or 22 inches). This result
is not thoroughly exact, but it will be seen that it does not differ
much from the probable value of the Egyptian measures;--at any rate it
may serve to establish the connexion which existed between the measures
of the Hebrews and those of the Egyptians.
"But another question presents itself. The learned have attributed to
the Hebrews more than one kind of cubit[D], and while we reject mere
conjectures that have no solid basis, we must at any rate admit two
kinds; the one ancient or Mosaic, used for the measurement of sacred
things, the other modern, for common use. In the second book of
Chronicles (iii. 3), a 'cubit of the first measure,' or ancient cubit,
is spoken of as employed for the measurements of the Temple of
Solomon,--which implies the existence of a modern or common cubit. The
prophet Ezekiel (xl. 5, xliii. 13) in a vision in which he sees the
dimensions of the future temple, speaks evidently of a cubit containing
a hand-breadth more than the ordinary cubit, from which we may conclude
that between the two cubits there was a difference of a hand-breadth.
This difference the Talmud interprets in the sense, that the less
contained only five of the six hand-breadths of the greater[E]; but it
would be more consistent to give them the same ratio as the two
different Egyptian cubits had, i.e. that of 7 : 6, approximately.
Further, it is probable that each of the two was divided into six
hand-breadths; the Talmud speaks expressly of longer and shorter
hand-breadths[F]. The old Mosaic cubit was, without doubt, the royal
cubit of the Egyptians, and the different scales of this still extant,
together with the measurements of several Egyptian monuments, give for
its mean value about 525 millimetres[G] (or 20.67 inches). This result
appears less doubtful since it differs by only 35 millimetres from that
which was found by the very uncertain calculation of the breadth of the
barley-grains. Admitting this, we obtain for the value of the ordinary
cubit 450 millimetres or 433.5 (i.e. 17.71 or 17.07 inches), according
as we take the Egyptian ratio 7 : 6 or that of the Talmud 6 : 5. Each of
these two cubits was divided in the same proportion into two spans, six
hand-breadths, and twenty-four fingers.
"With measures of length may be classed those of distance, or
road-measures; but the old Hebrews measured their roads in a very vague
and uncertain manner; and as we shall not need to refer to their
measurements in this book, I leave the discussion of them to turn to
those which are necessary.
"In the Græco-Roman period the Jews reckoned by stadia and miles; which
measures are found in the Old Testament and in the Talmud, as is also
the _Sabbath-day's journey_ (Acts i. 12), which was about 2000 cubits."
Josephus also often quotes his measurements in stadia, so I will speak
of these. Three principal kinds of stadia are known; the Olympic,
equivalent to 184.95 metres (or 606.8 feet); the Pythian, equal to 147.6
metres (or 484.3 feet), and lastly the Philæterian, of 213 metres (or
698.8 feet). Through the whole of this work I have adopted the Olympic,
because in the measurements taken in Jerusalem itself, and its environs,
I have found that it alone corresponds with all the distances which are
cited in stadia by Josephus. That author, speaking of the Mount of
Olives, puts it at five stadia from the city, Mount Scopus at seven, the
monument of Absalom at two, Herodium at sixty, and lastly, Anathoth at
twenty stadia. All these distances I have verified, comparing them with
the Olympic stadium, and have always found them exact. Hence it is that
I employ this to measure the thirty-three stadia of the city's
circumference, and the thirty-nine of the lines drawn round it by Titus,
&c. For the sacred cubit of the first measure I have adopted the
Egyptian of 20.67 inches, and for the common cubit that of 17.71 inches,
as a result of the extended observation and study of measurements that I
have made on the old stones which are found in the Eastern wall of the
Temple, or of the Haram es-Sherîf; with considerable difficulty I have
managed to measure many such which have suffered no mutilation, and have
found them to correspond with the ordinary cubits and their aliquot
parts of spans, hand-breadths, and digits.
In case the reader should desire to examine more minutely the question
of Jewish measures, I refer him to the following works, to which the
numerals in the text above relate.
[A] David Kimchi's Dictionary, s. vv. 'Zereth' and 'Tephach;'
Maimonides, _Comment. on Mishna_, part 5, tract _Middoth_, ch. 3, § 1,
part 6; tract _Kilim_, ch. 17, § 9.
[B] Maimonides, _Mische Thorah_, or _Summary of the Talmud_, Bk. II.
sect. 3 (_Sepher Thorah_), ch. 9, § 9.
[C] Böckh's Metrologische Untersuchungen, p. 247. Bertheau, ch. 1, p.
60.
[D] Leusden, Philologus Hebræomixtus, p. 211, where four kinds of cubits
are mentioned; the _common_, the _Sacred_, the _royal_, and the
_geometrical_.
[E] Maimonides, Comment. on the Mishna, tract _Middoth_, III. 1;
_Mishna_, tract _Ketim_; the commentaries of Raschi and Kimchi on Ezek.
xl. 5.
[F] Babylonish Talmud, tract _Succa_, fol. 7, a. Compare Buxtorf,
Lexicon Talmudicum, coll. 900 and 2370.
[G] Böckh finds 524.587 millimetres, nearly 232.55 lines. See Bertheau,
c. 1, p. 83.
NOTE III. The Armenians, in the various new edifices that they have
built on Mount Sion, have found remains of walls, stones, reservoirs and
cisterns of the most remote antiquity, generally at a depth of eighteen
or even twenty feet below the surface, sometimes more. Before my arrival
in Jerusalem, whilst digging for foundations they found a large quantity
of small blocks of limestone of five and seven inches cube, dressed on
every side, and so many in number that they employed them to build high
and long unmortared walls, which to this day surround their property on
the south inside the city. These stones were found collected together in
one place, and were not scattered about: it is not impossible that they
had been prepared to line the walls of a large pool. I say this because
stones of this shape are now found in the pool of Bethesda, but in this
reservoir they are wrought with more accuracy and uniformity. In my own
time, in 1859, they discovered a pool, cut in the solid rock, which
shewed however that the work had not been completed; it was 18 feet
long, 10 broad, and 10 deep. In its neighbourhood were seen traces of
conduits that they had begun to cut out in the rock.
On the same site I have examined a wall made of blocks of stone roughly
squared, combined with others of a polygonal form; the size of the
stones for the most part being from two to four cubic feet, and all the
interstices between them on the two faces and inside being filled with
small stones well fitted together without any trace of cement. At an
angle where the stones were larger I observed that they were secured
together by means of tenons and mortises of parallelepipedal form cut in
the stone itself. The wall was about 5-1/2 feet broad by 6 feet high;
but it was evident that it must have been mutilated at some time. I
assign it to the age of the Jebusites.
Another wall, six feet broad, was composed of large irregular blocks of
stone of from four to eight cubic feet. In it could be distinguished
four rows placed one above the other, whose stones were fastened by
clamps of iron or of stone, and in each was discernible more or less
some trace of rude rustic work: in the interstices of the interior were
inserted small stones well packed together without cement, so that the
internal building of the wall formed a solid mass. To their discredit
the Armenians do not trouble themselves about antiquities, and
consequently take no pains to preserve such ancient remains as they meet
with, but destroy or hide them, or avail themselves of the materials for
the building of new walls.
NOTE IV. In the environs of the city, with the exception of the north
and north-west, are frequently found walls, conduits, and scattered
stones of large size, rusticated or not, and with or without marks of
clamps; but they have been constantly broken up because of the want of
will, and also of mechanical means, to make the most of them, or to
remove them. Owing to this vandalism, the most precious remains of
antiquity are daily disappearing from the soil of Jerusalem. Not seldom
trunks of columns, capitals, pedestals, have been found, but some rude
clown has broken them up, to be able the more easily to transport the
fragments into the city. Sometimes old walls have been broken up by
blasting, without any one's taking the trouble to preserve them, or even
to delay their destruction, so as to allow of some examination of them.
These cases are repeated daily on Mount Sion, on the east of the Mount
of Olives, and on the western side of the valley of Kidron; but never in
any part where it is not known from human memory, or received tradition,
that there have been found remains of Jewish buildings, or large stones
scattered over the soil.
On the north and north-west I have made various excavations in order to
recover, if possible, one of the Herodian stones of twenty cubits
(Josephus, Jewish War, V. 4, § 2); but after repeated and careful
research I have failed to find a single one, I do not say of twenty
cubits, but even of four: nothing is found there but rock and small
unshapen stones, which do not however give one the idea that they have
ever formed part of blocks of larger dimensions.
NOTE V. To facilitate the reader's understanding of the allusions in the
course of the work, it is necessary that I should indicate the titles by
which I characterise the different walls and stones which are found at
Jerusalem.
_Jebusite Walls_. This name and age I assign to those that are built of
unsquared stones of different sizes, some of which are fastened together
by tenon and mortise; the interstices being filled with small stones.
(See Note III.)
_Walls of David_. By this name I indicate those walls whose stones are
of considerable size and rudely squared, and which present some trace of
irregular rustic-work, and are always fastened by tenons of stone or
clamps of iron.
_Walls of Solomon_. (See Plate X.) Walls of Solomon I call those that
are composed of large blocks of stone, that have not all the same
breadth and height, and whose rude rustic-work, about two inches in
relief, is surrounded by a flat band of from two inches to two inches
and a half. They are fastened together by tenons and mortises in the
stone itself, or by cubical pieces inlaid, of a different stone from the
block itself, and contain no cement. The various layers of stone one
above the other are in one vertical plane, and diminish in thickness the
higher they rise; but the vertical joinings of the stones of any layer
do not correspond with any regularity with those of a higher or lower
layer (Fig. 1): this kind is especially found in the basement of the
east wall of the Haram.
By the _wall of Nehemiah_ I mean that which presents many blocks of the
same character with those of the walls of Solomon; but these are joined
together in an irregular manner, that is to say, the several layers are
not formed of stones of equal heights, some stones appear to be turned
upside down, in some the rustic-work is mutilated in places, many are
placed aslant, and lastly, not a few shew the holes where the clamps
have been (that is, the side is put in front); and besides, there are
mixed with these small stones which appear with a portion of
rustication, which shews that the large stones of the old wall have been
broken in order to place them more carefully in their position. I assign
them to Nehemiah, because the Bible informs us (Neh. iv. 17, 18, vi.
15), that he conducted the work in the midst of alarms, the workmen
being all armed, so as to render the walls fit to sustain the assaults
with which their enemies were threatening them every moment. Accordingly
to this they owe the irregularity with which they were formed (Fig. 2).
What I have described may be observed in the east wall of the Haram
towards the southern end.
_Herodian walls_ I judge to be those which present large squared blocks,
polished with accurate exactness, and joined together without cement,
but with the most delicate care: they have a rustication, much wrought,
standing two or three lines in relief, and surrounded by a band of about
an inch and a half wide. In these walls the sizes of the stones diminish
regularly as they rise higher from the ground, and the vertical joinings
of alternate layers correspond exactly throughout, and are at the middle
points of the stones which separate the two layers; lastly, every layer
is an inch and a half in rear of the preceding. Walls of this kind are
found at the S.E. corner of the Haram, and in its western enclosure
towards the south (Fig. 3).
_The Roman walls_ are formed of fine squared stones, well wrought,
joined by means of cement. They may be seen on the south and at the
south-west corner of the Haram (Fig. 4).
The walls built by the Crusaders, or by the old Arabs (Saracenic work),
reveal themselves at once by the economical proportion of the stones, by
the excellent way in which they are joined, and sometimes by their being
formed of rows of different colours, red, white, and black (Fig. 5).
The Arab walls of the present day are distinguished by their miserable
appearance.
NOTE VI. At the first entry of Omar into the city he was conducted by
the Patriarch Sophronius to visit the Holy Sepulchre. Whilst he was
lingering there, mid-day struck, whereupon the Khalif went out to
perform his devotions, and retired to the place where afterwards the
little mosque was built;--a remarkable instance of moderation on the
part of the Khalif, seeing that, if he had prayed in the Christian
church, it would by Mohammedan law have been converted into a mosque. It
is owing to this that the sons of Islam have left it to the Christian
worship. The adjoining minaret was built by the Mohammedans at the
expense of the Christians in the 13th century.
NOTE VII. M. Munk, in his book on Palestine writes, "We enumerate here
the gates of Jerusalem in their actual order, as ascertained, if not
with certainty, at any rate with probable accuracy, starting from the
North-west and passing thence to the West, South and East, so as to make
the circuit of the walls.
(1) The gate called the _ancient_ or _first gate_ on the North-east; (2)
the _gate of Ephraim_, or of _Benjamin_, on the North, leading to the
allotments of these two tribes; (3) the _Corner-gate_ on the North-west,
at a distance of 400 cubits from the preceding; (4) the _Valley-gate_,
on the West, leading probably to the _valley of Gihon_, and the
dragon-well (Neh. ii. 13); (5) the _Dung-gate_ on the South-west, 1000
cubits from the preceding (Ibid. iii. 13), apparently the same which was
afterwards called the _gate of the Essenes_; (6) the _Fountain-gate_ on
the South-east, so called from the fountain of Siloam (?), possibly the
same which Jeremiah (xix. 2) calls _Harsith_ (_Pottery-gate_), and which
led to the valley of Hinnom. On the South side, where Mount Sion is
inaccessible, there were probably no gates. There remain still five
gates, which must have been on the East or South-east of the Temple in
the following order from South to North; (7) the _Water-gate_; (8) the
_Horse-gate_; (9) the _gate of the Review_ or _numbering_ (vulg. Porta
Judicialis, Neh. iii. 31); (10) the _Sheep-gate_; (11) the
_Fish-gate_;--the _Prison-gate_ (Neh. xii. 39) appears to have been one
of the gates of the Temple."
NOTE VIII. The present castle is called by some the Castle of the
Pisans; and Adrichomius says that it was built by them when the Latins
were the masters of Jerusalem. His words are, "The castle of the Pisans,
surrounded by broad fosses, and by towers, was built on the West side of
the city by the Christians of Pisa in Italy, at the time when they
occupied the Holy Land. Where the Pisans formerly were, the Saracens,
and at the present time the Turks, levy a sacrilegious tribute on the
pilgrims to the Holy Land."
I cannot attribute to the Pisans the entire building of the edifice, but
I grant that they may have restored it in great part. It is certain that
Solyman repaired this castle in the year 1534; the inscriptions above
the entrance tell us thus much.
NOTE IX. Traditions in the East are very unwavering, a fact recognised
by all. For instance, we are told that the Judgment Hall was near to
the Temple, on the west side; to this day the Mohammedan tribunal is
there, and the Arabs say that their judges sit in the very Judgment Hall
not only of the Crusaders but of Solomon. I grant that the walls of the
building do not indicate that it is of the age of Solomon, but I shall
discuss this building more in detail hereafter.
NOTE X. _Description of Jerusalem by Tacitus_ (_H._ V. 10-12).
"Accordingly, as we have said, he (Titus) pitched his camp before the
walls of Jerusalem, and made a display of his forces, having drawn them
up in battle array. The Jews formed their line close under the walls,
where, if success attended them, they could venture further out, and at
the same time had a place of shelter ready, in case they should be
driven back.
"The cavalry were sent against them together with the light-armed
auxiliaries, and fought with doubtful issue; but in time the enemy gave
way, and on the following days engaged in frequent skirmishings before
the gates, till by their repeated losses they were driven within the
walls. The Romans then prepared to carry the place by assault, thinking
it unworthy of them to wait till the enemy should be starved out, and
volunteered for the dangerous duty of the storming party, some from real
valour, many from a reckless bravery and coveting its special rewards.
Titus himself had Rome with its wealth and pleasures before his eyes,
which seemed to be retarded should not Jerusalem fall at once. But the
city, naturally difficult of access, was further strengthened by works
and defences which would prove sufficient protection even on level
ground. For two hills, which rise to a considerable elevation, were
enclosed by walls scientifically made to slant or bend inwards, in order
that the flank of a besieging party might be exposed to fire. The edge
of the rock breaks off in precipices, and the towers were built to the
height of 60 feet, where the form of the mountain added to the height,
and to a height of 120 in the lower ground, presenting a wonderful
appearance, and at a distance seemingly of equal height. There was a
second line of walls inside surrounding the king's palace, and the
conspicuous roof of the Antonian tower, so named by Herod in compliment
to Marcus Antonius.
"The Temple was a sort of citadel with walls of its own, superior to the
rest in construction and finish; the porticoes by which the circuit of
the building was made, forming themselves an excellent rampart. It
contains a spring of never-failing water, and large reservoirs hollowed
out under the soil, and pools and cisterns for storing the rain-water.
Its builders had foreseen that frequent wars must arise from the
singularity of their customs, and so had provided everything even to
meet a long siege; and when the city was taken by Pompeius, their fears
and experiences had taught them most of the necessary precautions. And
availing themselves of the greed of the reign of Claudius, they
purchased the right of fortifying the town, and built walls in time of
peace, in apparent anticipation of war--a medley population, its numbers
swollen by the disasters of other cities; for all the most headstrong
men had taken refuge there, and therefore they were more riotous in
their behaviour. They had three leaders, and three armies. The outermost
and widest line of walls was defended by Simon, the middle of the city
by John, the Temple by Eleazar. John and Simon had the largest number of
troops, and the most efficiently armed, while Eleazar had the strongest
position: but internecine fighting, treachery, and incendiarism were
rife amongst them, and a great quantity of corn was burnt. In time John
having sent a detachment of soldiers to murder Eleazar and his band,
under plea of offering sacrifice, made himself master of the Temple. In
this way the city split up into two factions, till on the approach of
the Romans harmony was produced by the war from without."
NOTE XI. _THE PILGRIM OF BORDEAUX'S DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM._
"There are in Jerusalem two large pools by the side of the Temple; to
wit, one on the right, and another on the left, which Solomon made.
Inside the city there be two pools with five porticoes, which are called
Bethsaida: there men with diseases of many years' standing were healed.
The water of these pools is somewhat turbid and of a reddish hue. There
likewise is a crypt, where Solomon was wont to torture the unclean
spirits. There is the corner of a very high tower, whither the Lord went
up, and he that tempted said unto Him, (Cast thyself down from hence);
and the Lord said unto him, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, but
Him only shalt thou serve. There is also the great corner-stone of which
it was said, The stone which the builders rejected. Also at the head of
the corner and under the battlements of the tower itself are several
chambers on the spot where Solomon had his palace. There too standeth
the chamber in the which he sat, and described Wisdom, which chamber is
roofed by one single stone. There are two large reservoirs for the
subterraneous water, and pools built with great labour. And in the
building itself where the Temple was, which Solomon built, you would say
that the blood of Zacharias on the marble before the altar had been shed
this very day; and the marks of the nails of the soldiers who slew him
are so plainly seen, that you would think they had been planted on wax
over the whole area. Also there be there two statues of Hadrian, and not
far from the statues is a stone much worn, to which the Jews come every
year, and anoint it, and bemoan themselves with sighs and rend their
garments, and so depart. There is also the house of Hezekiah, king of
Judah. Also as you go out into Jerusalem to go up mount Sion, below you
on the left in the valley hard by the wall is a pool which is called
Siloam. It has four porches, and another large pool without. Its spring
runs for six days and nights, but on the seventh is an entire Sabbath,
and it runs not by night nor by day. Continuing along the same road up
mount Sion, you may see the place where was the house of Caiaphas the
priest, and to this time the column still remains where they scourged
Jesus. Within the walls of Sion is seen the place where David had his
palace, and of seven synagogues which were there one only remains; the
rest are ploughed and sown over, as the prophet Esaias foretold. Then to
proceed outside the wall, as you go from Sion to the Neapolitan gate, on
the right in the valley below are the walls where was once the palace of
Pontius Pilate; there our Lord had hearing before He suffered. On the
left is the hill of Golgotha, where the Lord was crucified. About a
stone's throw thence is the crypt where His body was laid, and on the
third day He rose again: on this spot Constantine the Emperor has
erected lately a basilica, or church, of wondrous beauty, having at the
side reservoirs from which water is drawn, and behind it a bath where
children are baptized.
"Also at Jerusalem, as you go to the Eastern gate, to climb the slope of
the Mount of Olives, on the left is the valley, called the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, where are the vines, and the stone where Judas Iscariot
betrayed Christ; while on the right is the palm-tree from which the
children plucked the boughs, as Christ entered the city, and strewed
them in the way before Him. Not far thence, about a stone's throw, are
two monumental columns of wondrous beauty: on one was placed the statue
of the prophet Isaiah, a true monolith, and on the other Hezekiah, the
king of the Jews. Thence you ascend the Mount of Olives, where the Lord
taught His Apostles before His Passion. There a basilica was built by
order of Constantine. Not far thence is the mountain whither the Lord
went out to pray, when He took with Him Peter and John, and there
appeared unto them Moses and Elias. Eastward thence at 1500 paces is a
village called Bethany, in which is a crypt where Lazarus was laid, whom
the Lord raised to life."
NOTE XII. _Description of Jerusalem during the occupation of the Franks,
extracted from the Universal Geography of Edrisi, who wrote at the
middle of the 12th century._
"JERUSALEM.
"_Beït el-Mocaddas_ (Jerusalem) is an illustrious and ancient city, full
of ancient monuments. It bears the name of Ilia (_Ælia Capitolina_).
Situated on a mountain easy of access on every side," (Edrisi was
mistaken, or has been mistranslated), "it extends from West to East. On
the West is the gate called _El-Mihrab_; beneath is the cupola of David
(to whom God be merciful): on the East the gate called the Gate of
Mercy, which is generally shut, being opened only on the Feast of Palms;
to the South the gate of _Seihun_ (Sion); on the North the gate called
the Gate of _'Amud el-Ghorab_. Starting from the western gate, or gate
of _El-Mihrab_, you go in an easterly direction by a broad street, till
you come to the great Church of the Resurrection, called by Mohammedans
_Comamé_. This church is the object of the pilgrimage of Christians from
all countries of the East and the West. Entering by the western door you
find yourself under a cupola which covers the whole enclosure, and which
is one of the most remarkable sights in the world. The church itself is
beneath this door, and it is not possible to go down into the lower part
of the building on this side; the descent is made on the north side by a
door which opens at the top of a long staircase of thirty steps, which
door is called _Bâb Sitti Mariam_. At the entrance of the church the
spectator finds the Holy Sepulchre, a building of considerable size,
with two doors, and surmounted by a cupola of very solid construction,
built with admirable skill; of these two doors one, on the north side,
faces the door of S. Mary, the other faces the South, and is called _Bâb
es-Salubié_ (door of the Crucifixion): on this side is the peristyle of
the church, in front of which, towards the east, is another church of
considerable size and note, where the Christians celebrate their holy
offices and make their prayers and oblations.
"On the east of this church, by a gentle descent, you come to the prison
where the Lord Messiah was confined, and to the place where he was
crucified. The large dome has a circular opening to the sky, and all
round it and in the interior are seen pictures representing the
Prophets, the Lord Messiah, S. Mary his mother, and S. John Baptist.
Among the lamps which are hung above the Holy Sepulchre are
distinguished three which are of gold and are placed in a particular
spot. If you leave the principal church, and turn your steps eastward,
you will come to the sacred dwelling, which was built by Solomon the son
of David, and was a resort of pilgrims in the time of the greatness of
the Jews. This temple was subsequently taken from them, and they were
driven out of it upon the arrival of the Mohammedans. Under the Moslem
supremacy it was enlarged, and is (at this day) the large mosque known
to Mohammedans under the name of _Mesjid el-Aksa_. There is none in the
world which equals it in size, if you except the great mosque of Cordova
in Andalusia: for, as I am told, the roof of that mosque is larger than
that of _Mesjid el-Aksa_. To proceed, the area of this latter forms a
parallelogram whose length is two hundred fathoms (_ba'a_) and its
breadth a hundred and eighty. The half of this space, which is near to
the _Mihrab_, is covered by a roof (or rather by a dome) of stone
supported by several rows of columns, the rest being open to the sky. In
the centre of the building is a large dome, known as the _Dome of the
Rock_: it has been ornamented with arabesques in gold, and with other
beautiful works, by the care of different Moslem Khalifs. Beneath this
is the falling stone. This stone is of a quadrangular form like a
shield, one of its extremities rising above the ground to the height of
about half a fathom, the other being close to the ground; it is nearly
cubical, and its breadth nearly equal to its length, that is to say,
about ten cubits (_Zira'a_). Beneath is a cavern, or a dark recess, ten
cubits long by five wide, whose height is about six feet. It is entered
only by torch-light. The building contains four doors; opposite the
western is seen the altar on which the children of Israel offered their
sacrifices; near the eastern door is the church called the Holy of
Holies, an elegant building; on the south is a chapel which was used by
the Mohammedans, but the Christians made themselves masters of it by
main force, and it has remained in their power up to the time of the
present work (1154 A.D.). They have converted this chapel into a
convent, where reside certain members of the order of the Templars, i.e.
of the Servants of the House of God. Lastly, the northern door faces a
garden well planted with different kinds of trees, and surrounded by
columns of marble carved with much skill. At the end of the garden is a
refectory for the priests, and for those who are preparing to enter the
religious orders.
"Leaving this place of worship, and turning eastward, you will come to
the _Gate of Mercy_, shut, as we have just said, but near it is another
gate by which you can go in or out, and which is called _Bâb el-Asbat_
(or of the tribes of Israel). Within bow-shot from the latter is a very
large and very beautiful church under the patronage of S. Mary, known by
the name of _Djesmanié_; here is the tomb (of the Virgin) in sight of
the Mount of Olives, about a mile distant from _Bâb el-Asbat_. On the
road by which this mountain is ascended is seen another church, large
and solidly built, which is called the church of the _Pater Noster_; and
on the top is a large church where men and women live a cloister life,
awaiting thus the reward of heaven. On the south-east of the mountain is
the tomb of Lazarus, who was raised to life by the Lord Messiah; and two
miles from Mount Olivet, the village from which was brought the ass on
which the Lord rode on his entry into Jerusalem; this village is now
deserted and in ruins.
"It is on leaving the tomb of Lazarus that the road begins which leads
to the Jordan, which river is distant a day's journey from the Holy
City. Before arriving at its banks you will pass the city of _Erikha_
(Jericho), three miles distant from the river. Near the Jordan is a
large church under the patronage of S. John Baptist, served by Greek
monks. The Jordan flows out of the lake of Tiberias, and empties its
waters into the lake of Sodom and Gomorrah, cities which the Most High
drowned as a punishment for the wickedness of their inhabitants. To the
south of this river is an immense desert.
"As regards the southern side of Jerusalem: leaving the city by the gate
of Sion, you find, at the distance of a stone's throw, the Church of
Sion, a beautiful church, and fortified, where is seen the chamber in
which the Lord Messiah did eat with His disciples, and also the table,
which exists to this day, and is to be seen on Thursdays. From the gate
of Sion you descend into a ravine well known under the name of the
_Valley of Gehenna_ (Hinnom), near which is the Church of S. Peter. In
this ravine is the fountain of _Selwan_ (Siloam), where the Lord Messiah
gave sight to a blind man, who had not before known the light of day. To
the south of this spring is the field which was bought by the Messiah
for the burial of strangers. Not far from it are numerous dwellings cut
out in the rock, and occupied by pious hermits."
NOTE XIII. I may mention here that one day I caused a trumpet to be
played on Gihon, near the present Pool of Mamillah, and the site of the
Russian buildings, and I heard it distinctly, while standing myself by
the Fountain of Rogel, that is by the well situated at the S.E.
extremity of the Valley of Siloam, the _Bir Eyub_ (Well of Joab) of the
Arabs; while, on changing the position of the player, by sending him
more to the N.W., I heard nothing. Accordingly I can confirm in every
respect the Bible account (1 Kings i. 41), that Adonijah heard the
festive cries of the people and the sound of the trumpets which welcomed
the coronation of Solomon.
NOTES TO CHAPTER III.
NOTE I. The Haram es-Sherîf cannot be visited without the permission of
the Pasha, the Governor of the city, which, though almost always
granted, may be delayed for some days. The Pasha himself never gives
permission to enter the sacred enclosure without having first submitted
the question to the Council of the Effendis, who always give their
consent, not of their own free will, but through fear of displeasing him
who makes the request. When all this is arranged, it rests with the
keeper of the Haram to appoint the time for the visit: the time fixed is
always in the morning, because the place is then almost deserted, and
visitors can converse without fear of disturbing the devotion of the
worshippers. Travellers must apply for the permission in question,
through their respective consulates, and every visitor has to pay a fee
to the keeper and to the escort of police who accompany him, to protect
him from any insult, which at times would be sure to arise on the part
of some bigoted Mohammedan. The payment is fixed by custom at twenty
francs. When the visitors do not pay it themselves, the matter is
arranged by their respective consuls. The Europeans who are admitted to
see the Haram must provide themselves with broad Turkish slippers, or
with two pieces of canvas, to cover their ordinary boots; without this
precaution, they would meet with every opposition to their being
admitted to the places of greater sanctity: they should be careful to
carry no cigars with them, and to conduct themselves reverently, because
else some complaint might be lodged against them, in which case those
who came after them might, through their fault, be refused admission to
the ancient summit of Moriah. I speak from experience.
NOTE II. I said that by patience, perseverance, and no slight personal
sacrifice, I managed to obtain a knowledge of the Haram, because, though
I had the required permission, the strong protection of the Pasha, the
support of the Effendi, and Mohammedan sympathy, I was nevertheless
obliged to be continually satisfying the greed of my escort, and still
more of the keeper of the Haram, and, I may add, of his children, with
both money and presents. I was obliged also to see them constantly in my
apartments, enduring their company apparently unmoved, although they
threatened every moment to plunder my goods and eat me up with the
little that I possessed. Besides this, it was no rare thing for me to
arrange with the superintendent of the Haram to begin a work, and then
have to wait several months before I could finish it, simply owing to
the whim of a Mohammedan. Appeal to the Pasha was out of the question,
because any violent measure that he might in such case have taken would
have resulted in a thousand new difficulties thrown in my way, and I
should never have succeeded in my design.
NOTE III. There is an unvarying tradition amongst the Arabs that the
Holy Rock, _Sakharah_, covered by the dome of the mosque, is the same
stone on which slept Israil-Ullah, that is, the patriarch Jacob, and on
which he had the vision of the ladder. Omar himself, when he made his
triumphant entry into Jerusalem, caused a search to be made for it,
inquiring where the stone was that had served for Jacob's pillow. They
agree, moreover, in recognizing in it the ancient foundation of the
Temple of Solomon.
NOTE IV. The Arabs maintain the belief, that under the Sakharah is a
large well (which they call _Bir-el-Arruah_, i.e. _well of souls_) which
communicates with the nether world; and there are a thousand Eastern
legends relating to it. It may be gathered from all these legends that
there is a well of considerable depth, divided into two parts. In the
lower part exists the universal fountain, which furnishes water to the
whole world, and near it stand the mothers of Jesus and Mohammed working
garments for the souls of the righteous. With respect to the two
cisterns on the north of the mosque they relate, that in ancient times
they served as a receptacle for the drainage, but that subsequently they
were cleansed, and that yet, notwithstanding, the waters are not good,
nor fit to drink. I shall shew further on for what purposes these
ancient cisterns of Araunah's threshing-floor were used in the service
of the different Jewish temples.
NOTE V. Those who desire more detailed accounts may consult in
particular the following works: Jacob Jehuda Leone, de Templo
Hierosolymitano (in Hebrew), Amsterdam, 1650, in 4to; translated into
Latin by Saubert, Helmstad, 1665; the same work in Dutch (Afbeeldinge
van den Tempel Salomonis), by the Author, Amsterdam, 1679. This author
has confused together in the same description the Temple of Solomon and
that of Herod. Also Bernard Lami, de Tabernaculo Foederis, de Sancta
Civitate Jerusalem, et de Templo ejus, Paris, 1720, in folio; A. Hirt,
der Tempel Salomons, Berlin, 1809, in 4to; Meyer, der Tempel Salomons,
Berlin, 1830, in 8vo; Winer, Realwörterbuch, Tom. II. pp. 661-670.
NOTE VI. The _bath_, according to Josephus, is equivalent to an Attic
_metretes_, or 72 _xestæ_ (sextarii), or about 8 gallons, 5 pints; (see
Josephus, Antiqq. viii. 2, § 9).
NOTE VII. "According to the prophet Jeremiah (xxv. 11)," writes M. Munk
(Palestine, p. 461), "the Babylonish captivity was to last 70 years. To
obtain this number they make the time fixed by the prophet to date from
the year 606, which, according to Jewish writers, is the first of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar; and indeed it was in this same year that
Jeremiah spoke for the first time of the 70 years during which the
Babylonish government was to last (xxv. 12), a statement which he
repeats in the year 599, on the occasion of the banishment of Jehoiachin
(xxix. 10). But in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar there was no idea of
a Babylonish captivity."
NOTE VIII. See Josephus, Antiqq. XV. 11, § 1. According to the printed
text, the Temple of Zerubbabel wanted 60 cubits of the height of the
Temple of Solomon, which is unintelligible. The corrected reading of
several Manuscripts, which have "_seven_ cubits," is to be preferred.
(Cf. Havercamp's edition, Vol. I. p. 778, Note 7.)
NOTE IX. The two descriptions of Josephus leave much to be desired, and
the numbers appear in many instances to have been corrupted by the
copyists. They may be supplemented by a third, and more detailed
description, furnished by the _Mishna_, part 5, tract. _Middoth_
(published separately, with a Latin translation and notes, by
L'empereur, Leyden, 1630, in 4to.). Amongst modern writers the following
may be consulted: Lightfoot, _Descriptio Templi Hierosolymitani_, in
his works, Vol I. pp. 549 and following (chiefly after the Mishna);
Hirt, in the Historical and Philological Memoirs of the Berlin Academy
for the Years 1816 and 1817 (published in 1819). Hirt has exclusively
followed Josephus--his plan has several essential defects; M. Munk has
followed that of Wette (Archäologie, § 238), which is much more exact,
and has combined the accounts of Josephus and the Mishna.
NOTE X. According to tradition the folding-doors of the Nicanor gate,
which were of Corinthian bronze, had been brought from Alexandria by one
Nicanor, and miraculously saved from a shipwreck. This gate alone was of
bronze; the others were of wood, and plated with gold and silver. See
Mishna, part 2, tract. Yoma, chap. 3, § 10, and the Comments of
Maimonides; Babylonish Talmud, the same treatise, fol. 38. Compare
Josephus' Wars, V. 5, § 3.
NOTE XI. In the tower _Baris_ were kept the pontifical robes, which were
worn by the High Priest on solemn days: a practice established by the
Asmonean princes, who united in their own persons the chief civil and
religious authority.
NOTE XII. See Jeremiah lii. 12. According to Rabbinical tradition the
burning of the Temple of Solomon began on the ninth of the month Ab in
the evening; and it was moreover on the ninth of Ab that the Romans
burnt the third temple; accordingly, on this day the Jews, with the
exception of the Karaites, keep the anniversary of the destruction of
Jerusalem. Josephus, however (Wars, VI. 4, § 5), agreeing therein with
the book of Jeremiah, expressly mentions the tenth day of the month Loüs
or Ab. Possibly the date given by the Rabbins, as concerns the third
temple, may have been the result of a different calculation of new moons
from that of Josephus.
NOTE XIII. From the time of Hadrian, the Jews obtained, for a money
payment, permission to visit Jerusalem once in the year, there to bewail
their humiliation. See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. IV. 6. This state of things
lasted till the time of S. Jerome: the following words are from his
Commentary on Zephaniah, chap. i. "Even to the present day they are
forbidden to enter Jerusalem, and buy the permission to weep over the
ruins of their city."
NOTE XIV. See Gibbon, chap. 23. The silence which is observed on this
event by S. Jerome, who arrived in Palestine some years afterwards, is,
according to Gibbon, a proof that the pretended miracle had made far
less sensation on the spot than at a distance.
See also Ammian. Marcell. Hist. lib. 23, c. 1; Rufinus, Theodoret,
Socrates, and Sozomen, in their respective histories; the fathers of the
Church, who were contemporary with the event, admit the miracle, as S.
Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem. See Clinton, Fasti Rom. A.D. 363.
NOTE XV. Some maintain that the building of this basilica is to be
attributed to S. Helena; but this opinion is not admissible, for
Eusebius who wrote the life of Constantine, makes no mention of it.
There are stronger reasons for attributing it to Justinian, according to
the account transmitted to us by Procopius, his panegyrist, who gives
minute details of its building. See Procopius, de Ædif. Justin. lib. IV.
cap. 6.
NOTE XVI. Omar found the old site of the threshing-floor of Araunah full
of impurities, and was the first to set the example of cleansing it; the
followers of Islam followed his example, and it was then that the Khalif
determined upon building a sumptuous mosque over the holy rock.
NOTE XVII. William of Tyre, Book I. Chap. 2. "There are, moreover, in
the same temple-building, within and without, very old monuments in
mosaic work, and in the Arabic character, which are believed to be of
that date, in which the author of the work, and the expense of it, and
the times at which the work was begun and finished, are evidently set
forth:" he adds that the mosque was the work of Omar, "which, after a
short time, being completed successfully to his mind, as it exists at
this day in Jerusalem, he (Omar) endowed with many and countless
possessions." This author repeats that in the interior, and outside the
building, was written the name of Omar its founder. "Moreover, in the
beginning of this volume, we have named the author of this building, the
son of Catab, who, third from the seducer Mohammed, was his successor in
his apostasy and his kingdom: and that this is so the ancient
inscriptions inside the said building and outside it plainly declare."
(Book VIII. chap. 3.)
NOTE XVIII. An Arab chronicler relates, that "Abd-el-Malek, khalif of
the dynasty of the Ommiades, gave orders for the construction of the
great dome which was then wanting, and sent letters everywhere to inform
the Emirs of his intention. Every one commended his design, and the
people invoked upon him the blessings of heaven. He set aside for this
work the tribute that he collected from Egypt for seven years, and
deposited it under the cupola of the so-called throne of David, which he
turned for the time into a treasury. The charge of this treasury he
entrusted to one Regiah-ben-Havuk, appointing besides, for the
superintendence of the works, Jazib-ben-Salem; and a part of the mosque
to the east having fallen, while the treasury was short of money, he
ordered that the plates of gold with which the dome was ornamented
should be converted into coin. This happened in the year 65 of the
Hejra, or 684 A.D. The mosque was opened to the public at that time
twice a week; on Monday and Thursday. From beneath the Sakharah, the
Mohammedans say, rises the spring of the four rivers of the earthly
paradise, whose waters have the virtue of washing away the sins of those
who drink of them. They believe, moreover, that an angel is appointed to
be guardian of the mosque." (Arab MS. in the library of the Kadi at
Jaffa.)
NOTE XIX. Khondemir, a celebrated Persian historian, who wrote in the
fifteenth century, attributes the enlargement of the building to Valid.
He is an author worthy of credit. He drew the materials of his history
from the famous library of the Emir _Aly-Schyr_, a virtuoso, and a great
protector of letters. The latter, in the year 904 (1498 A.D.), conferred
upon him the post of librarian. He it is who tells the story of the
cupola at Baalbec.
NOTE XX. The invasion of the Carmathians having stopped for a time the
pilgrimages to Mecca, the Mosque of Omar took the place of the _Kaaba_,
and for more than twenty years the crowds of pilgrims turned their steps
towards Jerusalem. This interruption of the pilgrimages began in the
year 317 of the Hejra (A.D. 929) under the Khalifate of Al-Moktadar, and
lasted till 339 (950). (See D'Herbelot, s. v. Cods.)
NOTE XXI. As regards the date of this inscription it is not necessary to
calculate rigorously, whether the works of the building took place after
that period, or began in that year, seeing that the Turkish and Arab
princes date the events of their reign from the day of their accession.
It is the same with the coins which are struck through the whole course
of their reign.
NOTE XXII. A Christian writer, an eye-witness, says, "that under the
dome, and in the porch of the mosque the blood ran up to the knees, and
up to the snaffles of the horses." Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, Vol.
I. p. 443. Fifth edition. Very inappropriately has M. Chateaubriand, in
speaking of the Crusades, repeated it as a truth, "that the spirit of
Mohammedanism is persecution and conquest, and that the Gospel, on the
contrary, preaches only tolerance and peace." The champions of the Cross
gave this doctrine the lie, written in blood. The Crusaders hardly
remembered even for a few moments that they had come to worship the
sepulchre of Christ; after prostrating themselves in the Church of the
Resurrection, they turned aside to renew the scenes of butchery, which
did not cease for a whole week. More than 70,000 Mohammedans, of every
age and sex, were massacred at Jerusalem: the Jews were shut up in their
synagogues and burnt. (Bibliothèque des Croisades, Tom. IV. p. 12.)
NOTE XXIII. This building was consecrated by Albericus, bishop at that
time in Syria, whither Pope Innocent II. had sent him as Apostolical
Legate. A number of noble and distinguished personages were gathered
together to witness the ceremony, among whom is mentioned Jocelin, Count
of Edessa, who had come to Jerusalem on the occasion of Easter. "The
legate therefore, having first taken counsel with the prelates of the
churches, on the third day after the holy Passover, together with the
patriarch, and some of the bishops, solemnly dedicated the temple of the
Lord. There were present on the day of dedication many great and noble
men, as well from beyond the seas as from the neighbouring lands,
amongst whom was the younger Jocelin, Count of Edessa, who at that time,
during the solemn festivals of Eastertide, was residing in great state
in the city." (William of Tyre, Book XV. Chap. 17.)
NOTE XXIV. It is at this period of the Crusades that the mosque began to
be known under the name of "Temple of the Lord," which has often caused
many writers to confound this "temple" with that of the Resurrection,
otherwise called that of the Holy Sepulchre.
NOTE XXV. The behaviour of Saladin to the Christians is deserving of all
praise: he gave liberty to a large number of poor persons who could not
pay a ransom; he distributed alms to a great number of people; he
allowed the Knights Hospitaler to remain at Jerusalem to take charge of
their sick; and his brother Malec-Adel paid the ransom of two thousand
prisoners. The generous conduct of the Mohammedan chiefs offers,
assuredly, an extraordinary contrast to the barbarous excesses committed
by the warriors of the first crusade: it is a difficult thing to justify
the latter. (See Gibbon, chap. LIX.; Michaud, I. p. 347.)
NOTE XXVI. Saladin, before reconverting the "Temple of the Lord" into a
mosque, had it wholly cleansed with rose-water, which he had procured
from Damascus. Then he removed all the ornaments and whatever else could
recall the Christian occupation, and set there himself the pulpit which
had been built by Norradin.
NOTE XXVII. When the news of the discovery of the fountain spread over
Jerusalem, all the people gathered in crowds to see it, but the most
eager were the Israelites. They rejoiced at the sight of it, and pressed
forward, anxious to touch the rock, to taste the water, or to take a
little of it in small pitchers, some in order to preserve it as a relic,
others to carry it to the infirm who could not crawl to the spot. From
the chief Rabbi to the old women, all ran to the place, and all gave
vent to cries of joy, or were moved even to tears. Why was all this? The
Israelites were influenced by a tradition deeply graven on their hearts,
to the effect that when certain springs in Jerusalem had been
discovered, the coming of Messiah was at hand, the temple should rise
again from its ruins, and with it the glory of their nation.
NOTE XXVIII. The sites where the stones are found greatest in length and
in cubical content in the walls of Jerusalem, are the following:
In the wall, which starts from the line of the eastern enclosure, at the
north-east corner of the quadrilateral of the Haram (Plate XVII.); one
is found which is about 23 feet in length and 3-1/2 in height.
Between this and the golden gate, in the wall, is another 12 feet long
and 5 feet high: and in the inner jamb of the golden gate, on the north,
one is found of nearly the same dimensions as the preceding.
At the south-east corner of the Haram there are some of large
dimensions; there are none greater in the whole city. Of the stones of
20 cubits in length, and 10 in height, of which Josephus writes (Wars,
V. 4, § 2), I have not found a single one on the soil of Jerusalem.
NOTE XXIX. It seems that the use of the two gates may be attributed to
their being situated in the most frequented part of the city; they
served for the passage, the one of persons going out, the other of
persons coming in, so as to avoid all crowding, and the stoppages which
might result from it. Indeed, on the eastern side of the temple, where a
great part of the Court of the Gentiles was, there must always have been
a great multitude of people. The real ground for its being closed
(though so many ridiculous causes are alleged) is that the Turks
consider the temple enclosure sacred in all its parts. Therefore, they
do not allow any trade to be carried on there, nor any buying or
selling, or transaction of business, or even walking for pleasure:
accordingly, the gate on that side becomes entirely useless, the more
so, that there is in its neighbourhood the gate of S. Mary.
NOTE XXX. There was a time when the Christians in Palestine adopted the
practice of representing the entry of Jesus into the Temple on Palm
Sunday, entering Jerusalem in procession by the Golden Gate. The custom
may be traced up to the time of Godfrey of Bouillon. On this subject the
reader may consult, as contemporary authorities, Albert of Aix (Book
XIII. Chap. 17) and William of Tyre (Book VIII. Chap. 3, and Book XI.
Chap. 35).
NOTE XXXI. In the times of Alberto Floresi, an Italian traveller who
visited Jerusalem in 1630, it was by the Dung gate (called also the gate
of the Mogarabins) that the procession entered, which some centuries
before, as I mentioned above, starting from Bethphage, and crossing the
Mount of Olives, passed through the Golden Gate. (MS. Travels of
Floresi, communicated to the Abbé Mariti by Dr Octavio Targioni
Tozzetti, L'État présent de Jérusalem, p. 21.)
NOTE XXXII. The Mohammedans say that the mare el-Borak was the steed
ordinarily ridden by the Angel Gabriel, who used often to lend it to
Mohammed to take his night-journeys. They portray it as having the head
and the neck of a beautiful woman, with a crown and wings.
NOTE XXXIII. Many are the stories which are told of the Golden Gate, as
well by Mohammedans as by Christians: I quote some of them.
The Mohammedans say that the two divisions of the Golden Gate were made
in memory of the _repentance_ of Adam and Eve, for having disobeyed the
orders which God had given them in Paradise, and at the same time of the
_mercy_ of God shown towards them. Hence they call the southern aisle
the Gate of _Mercy_, and the other, the Gate of _Repentance_.
There is a general belief amongst Mohammedans that a day will come when
Jerusalem will fall into the hands of a Christian prince, who will take
it on a Friday. This is one of the reasons why it remains a fortified
town.
The Christians have no less traditions on this head. For example, they
report, that when the Emperor Heraclius returned victorious to
Jerusalem, bringing back thither the wood of the Holy Cross which he had
recovered in Persia, he wished to pass through the Golden Gate on
horseback, and decked out in all the insignia of royalty, but that an
invisible hand held him back, whilst a voice ordered him to dismount, to
divest himself of his regal robes, and to pass that threshold in all
humility; whereupon he was able to pass.
NOTE XXXIV. "From Sion (we went) to the Church of St Mary, where is a
large body of monks, and countless companies of women, and where beds
for the sick can be provided, from three to five thousand. And we
offered up prayer in the judgment-hall, where the Lord had hearing, in
which is now the Church of S. Sophia. Before the ruins of the Temple of
Solomon, under the street, there runs water from the Fountain of Siloam.
Near Solomon's porch, in the church itself, is the seat on which Pilate
sate, when he heard the Lord. There is a square stone on which the
accused was elevated, that He might be heard and seen by all. On it was
our Lord raised when He had hearing of Pilate, and there remained an
impression of a small, handsome, and delicate foot. By the rock itself,
too, many miracles are wrought: they take the measure of the foot-print,
and tie it over a weak part, which is immediately healed." (Anton.
Placent. Itin. Sect. 23 in Ugolini, Thes. Tom. VII. page 1216.)
NOTE XXXV. In the year 1118 Hugues de Payens, and Geoffroid de St
Aldemar, and certain other knights, applied for a rule for the formation
of an order. In 1128 the Pope Honorius gave them a charter, which was
adopted at the Council of Troyes in Champagne. The members of this order
took the name of Templars, and wore a white robe with a red cross. Their
name was derived from their having their first house close to the
temple, for King Baldwin had given up to them a part of his palace, to
the south of the temple. (William of Tyre, Book XII. Chap. 7.)
NOTE XXXVI. The Mohammedans say that in this place King David, during
his life, administered justice in the following way. When he was sitting
in judgment, and wished to know if the deponents in their examination
were stating what was true, he made a chain descend from heaven, and
ordered that each of the two parties who had thus stated their cases
should touch it. When one of the parties had told a lie, at his touch a
ring fell from the chain, and so the wise king learnt which was in the
right. I may be allowed to remark that now the chain no longer descends
from heaven, so we may conclude that all the rings have fallen, from its
having been too much used.
It is on this same site that David will return to judge the people of
Israel at the final judgment.
NOTE XXXVII. The keeper of the mosque relates, that when Solomon wished
to build a Temple to the Lord, he called not only men to his aid, but
also the living creatures of the earth. All came together to help him
with all their power; but the _magpie_ sought to disobey Solomon,
whereupon the great King turned it into stone, to be an example to all
those who were disposed not to execute his orders. This is the stone
that the keeper shews.
NOTE XXXVIII. The mosaics which adorn the interior of the mosque
_es-Sakharah_ above the pointed arches that spring from the columns, and
in the drum which supports the dome, date, according to Mohammedan
Chronicles, from the time of Selim I. and Solyman, but I imagine they
are of still greater antiquity. The internal ornamentation of the dome
has a thoroughly Saracenic character; I conclude that it is perhaps
anterior to Solyman, though there is no doubt that he restored it a good
deal. All the other decorations are of Solyman's time. The Count de
Vogüé has just completed a long examination of the mosques
_es-Sakharah_, and _el-Aksa_, and we may fairly expect that he, with his
clear judgment, and ready intelligence, will not deprive science of the
result of his labours.
NOTE XXXIX. The Mohammedan traditions concerning this rock are numerous;
I quote a few of them. It has been the scene of the prayers of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Mohammed, and many other prophets, and
here they have received their inspiration from heaven. The rock retains
the imprint of the foot of the patriarch Enoch, who was the handsomest,
and the wisest man that lived upon the earth. He was learned in
astronomy, in which he made great discoveries, and, to publish them,
invented printing. God loved him so that he would not let him die, but
translated him to heaven. The patriarch had such an attachment to
Jerusalem, that he wished to leave some memorial of his having lived
there, which accounts for his foot-print being there.
The rock is guarded by an army of Angels, who keep watch there night and
day, in prayer to God. The canvas covering which is found on the rock is
the same which was used by Adam and Eve, when the former found the
latter after their separation of a hundred years, consequent on their
expulsion from Paradise.
The stairs which lead into the vaults of the mosque contain the stone
called _the tongue_, because it announced to Omar, that this was the
rock on which Jacob had the vision.
NOTE XL. The Mohammedans say that it is supported in the air by the
following cause. When Mohammed died, and ascended to heaven, the sacred
stone wished to follow him, but the prophet ordered it to return to its
place; whilst it hesitated the angel Gabriel pressed it down (this is
the reason why they show the impression of his five fingers on the
rock), and then it lowered itself again; but when it was already in
contact, as it were, with the ground, and received no further orders, it
remained in the position in which it is now found.
NOTE XLI. By the side of the _Minbar_, the Mohammedan guide, with all
seriousness, points out the place where is an invisible balance, which
is called _Wezn_, and tells how at the end of the world there will be
three ages: and then Israfil, who has charge of the celestial trumpet
(called _Boru_), will blow it the first time to give notice of the
universal death. It will sound for the second time 40 years afterwards,
and then all the dead of past ages shall rise: on that day Jesus, with
the other prophets, will descend from heaven with their attendants, and
when they have come to the _Haram es-Sherîf_ Jesus will sit upon His
throne for judgment: but not being sufficient in Himself for all, He
will depute David and Solomon to judge the Jews, Mohammed to judge the
Mohammedans, and will retain the Christians for His own jurisdiction. In
this great Judgment the balance _Wezn_ will be used to decide who are to
enjoy eternal felicity, and who to be punished by being appointed their
portion for ever in fire with the fallen spirits. All those who are to
undergo this trial will be gathered together in the Valley of
Jehoshaphat.
NOTE XLII. Terrace-roofs have always been in general use in the East,
even for ages; compare Judges xvi. 27, where we are told that there were
people on the roof when Samson made the temple of Dagon fall. Assuredly
if it had not been flat, 3000 persons could not have remained upon it.
NOTES TO CHAPTER IV.
NOTE I. The Holy City, by the Rev. George Williams, B.D., Fellow of
King's College, Cambridge; Second Edition, including an Architectural
History of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, by the Rev.
Robert Willis, M.A., F.R.S., Jacksonian Professor in the University of
Cambridge, 2 Vols. 8vo. 1849; Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, par le
Comte Melchior de Vogüé.
NOTE II. List of the bishops of Jerusalem, extracted from Michel le
Quien's Oriens Christianus, Tom. III. pp. 139 sq. Paris, 1740.
A.D.
30. S. James, the Apostle and brother of our Lord.
60. S. Simeon, or Simon, the Martyr.
107. Justus, or Jude I.
111. Zacchæus, or Zacharias.
Tobias.
Benjamin.
John I.
Matthias, or Matthew.
Philip.
125. Seneca.
Justus II.
Levi.
Ephraim.
Joseph.
Jude II.
All the above are of Hebrew extraction. The following are of Gentile
origin. The former were bishops of Jerusalem, properly so called, the
latter bishops of Ælia Capitolina, who are counted as bishops of
Jerusalem.
136. Marcus.
156. Cassianus.
Publius.
Maximus I.
Julian I.
Caius I., or Gaius.
Symmachus.
Caius II.
Julian II.
Capito.
185. Maximus II.
Antoninus.
Valens.
Dolichianus.
Narcissus.
Dius.
Germanion.
Gordius.
Narcissus (a second time).
212. Alexander, martyr.
250. Mazabanes.
265. Hymenæus.
298. Zabdas.
302. Hermon.
313. Macarius I. During his episcopate Constantine laid the
foundations of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.
335. Maximus III., who consecrated the Church of the Resurrection.
NOTE III. Eusebius, Life of Constantine, book III. chap. 27 and
following (English Translation, Bagster and Sons, London, 1845). After
giving an account of the demolition of the temple of Venus, he proceeds,
"Nor did the Emperor's zeal stop here; but he gave further orders that the
materials of what was then destroyed should be removed, and thrown as far
from the spot as possible; and this command was speedily executed. The
emperor, however, was not satisfied with having proceeded thus far: once
more, fired with holy ardour, he directed that the ground itself should be
dug up to a considerable depth, and the soil, which had been polluted by
the foul impurities of demon worship, transported to a far distant place.
This also was accomplished without delay. But as soon as the original
surface of the ground, beneath the covering of earth, appeared,
immediately, and contrary to all expectation, the venerable and hallowed
monument of our Saviour's resurrection was discovered. Then indeed did
this most holy cave present a most faithful similitude of His return to
life, in that, after lying buried in darkness, it again emerged to light,
and afforded to all who came to witness the sight, a clear and visible
proof of the wonders of which that spot had once been the scene."
Chap. XXXI. (_Continuation of a Letter from Constantine to the Bishop
Macarius._) "It will be well therefore for your sagacity to make such
arrangements and provision of all things needful for the work, that not
only the church itself as a whole may surpass all others whatsoever in
beauty, but that the details of the building may be of such a kind that
the fairest structures in any city of the empire may be excelled by this.
And with respect to the erection and decoration of the walls, this is to
inform you that our friend Dracilianus, the deputy of the Prætorian
Prefects, and the governor of the province, have received a charge from
us. For our pious directions to them are to the effect that artificers and
labourers, ... shall forthwith be furnished by their care. And as to the
columns and marbles, whatever you shall judge, after actual inspection of
the plan, to be especially precious and serviceable, be diligent to send
information to us in writing, in order that whatever materials, and in
whatever quantity we shall esteem from your letter to be needful, may be
procured from every quarter, as required. With respect to the roof of the
church, I wish to know from you whether in your judgment it should be
ceiled, or finished with any other kind of workmanship. If the ceiling be
adopted, it may also be ornamented with gold."
Chap. XXXIII. "This was the emperor's letter; and his directions were at
once carried into effect. Accordingly, on the very spot which witnessed
the Saviour's sufferings, a new Jerusalem was constructed, over against
the one so celebrated of old, which, since the foul stain of guilt brought
upon it by the murder of the Lord, had experienced the last extremity of
desolation, the effect of Divine judgment on its impious people. It was
opposite this city that the emperor now began to rear a monument to the
Saviour's victory over death."
Chap. XXXIV. &c. _Description of the Holy Sepulchre._ "This monument,
therefore, first of all, as the chief part of the whole, the emperor's
zealous magnificence beautified with rare columns, and profusely enriched
with the most splendid decorations of every kind. The next object of his
attention was a space of ground of great extent, and open to the pure air
of heaven. This he adorned with a pavement of finely-polished stone, and
enclosed it on three sides with porticoes of great length. For at the side
opposite to the Sepulchre, which was the eastern side, the church itself
was erected; a noble work rising to a vast height, and of great extent
both in length and breadth. The interior of this structure was floored
with marble slabs of various colours; while the external surface of the
walls, which shone with polished stones, accurately fitted together,
exhibited a degree of splendour in no respect inferior to that of marble.
With regard to the roof, it was covered on the outside with lead, as a
protection against the rains of winter. But the inner part of the roof,
which was finished with sculptured fretwork, extended in a series of
connected compartments, like a vast sea, over the whole church; and being
overlaid throughout with the purest gold, caused the entire building to
glitter as it were with rays of light.
"Besides this were two porticoes on each side, with upper and lower ranges
of pillars, corresponding in length with the church itself; and these also
had their roofs ornamented with gold. Of these porticoes, those which were
exterior to the church were supported by columns of great size, while
those within these rested on piles of stone beautifully adorned on the
surface. Three gates, placed exactly east, were intended to receive those
who entered the church.
"Opposite these gates the crowning part of the whole was the hemisphere,"
(apparently an altar of a hemicylindrical form,) "which rose to the very
summit of the church. This was encircled by twelve columns, (according to
the number of the apostles of our Saviour,) having their capitals
embellished with silver bowls of great size, which the emperor himself
presented as a splendid offering to his God.
"In the next place, he enclosed the atrium which occupied the space
leading to the entrances in front of the church. This comprehended, first
the court, then the porticoes on each side, and lastly the gates of the
court. After these in the midst of the open market-place, the entrance
gates of the whole work, which were of exquisite workmanship, afforded to
passers by on the outside a view of the interior, which could not fail to
inspire astonishment."
Such is Eusebius' account of the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre at
Jerusalem: he makes no mention of Calvary, and I make no doubt that, if
its site had then been discovered, the historian of Constantine would
not have passed it over without notice.
An eye-witness of the magnificence of Constantine's Church is found in
the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, who visited Jerusalem about 333 or 334. He
speaks of it in his description of the Holy City, quoted in the notes to
the first chapter.
NOTE IV. _Description of S. Arculf, who visited the Holy places in 680_
(Acta Sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti. Sæc. III. part 2, p. 504).
"On these points we have inquired very particularly of S. Arculf, and
specially concerning the Sepulchre of our Lord, and the church erected
over it, the plan of which he drew for us upon a waxen tablet. It is a
large church built entirely of stone, forming a perfect circle, and
rising from its foundations with three walls. Between each pair of walls
is a broad space forming a corridor, and at three points in the middle
wall are three altars of wonderful workmanship. This round church is
occupied by the three altars above mentioned, one facing the south,
another the north, and the third towards the west. It is supported by
twelve stone columns of wondrous size. It has eight doors, or entrances,
through the three walls with the corridors intervening, four of which
doors face the south-east, while the rest face the east. In the middle
space of the inner circle is a round grotto cut in the solid rock, in
which nine men can pray standing, and the roof of which is about a foot
and a half above the head of a man of ordinary stature. The entrance to
this grotto is on the eastern side, and the whole of the exterior is
covered with choice marble, the apex being adorned with gold, and
supporting a golden cross of considerable size. Within, on the north
side of this grotto, is the tomb cut out of the same rock: but the floor
of the grotto is lower than the level of the tomb, for from the former
to the lateral margin of the tomb is a height of about three palms.
"In this place we must mention a discrepancy of names between the
monument and the tomb; for the round grotto mentioned above is otherwise
called the Monument of the Evangelist: and they say, that to the mouth
of this the stone was rolled, and from it rolled away, at our Lord's
resurrection; while the name of sepulchre is applied to the chamber
within the grotto that is on the north side of the monument, in which
the Lord's body lay wrapt in fine linen. The length of this S. Arculf
measured with his own hands, and found it to be seven feet. This tomb is
not, as some persons wrongly imagine, divided in two by a stone cut out
of the wall, itself forming a space for two legs and thighs, by coming
between and separating them; but is undivided from the head to the foot,
with sufficient room for one man lying upon his back, so forming a kind
of cavern with an entrance at the side opposite to the south part of the
monumental chamber. It has a low apex projecting above it, carved in the
rock, and contains twelve lamps burning continually day and night,
corresponding to the number of the twelve apostles. Four of these are
placed at the foot of the sepulchral couch, and the other eight towards
the head, on the right hand side, all of them being constantly fed with
oil.
"As to the stone which after our Lord's crucifixion and burial was
rolled to the mouth of the said monument by the united efforts of many
men, Arculf relates that he found it broken in two parts. The lesser
part, squared by the chisel, forms the altar which stands before the
entrance of the aforesaid round church, while the larger, also chiselled
like the former, is the square altar, covered with linen cloths, on the
eastern side of the same.
"As regards the colours of the stone out of which the aforementioned
grotto is hollowed by the tools of the stone-workers, with the Lord's
Sepulchre on its north side cut from the same rock as the grotto itself,
Arculf told me in answer to my questions, that the said grotto of the
monument of our Lord, being covered with no ornament within, bears to
this day upon its vaulted surface the marks of the tools used by the
masons and stone-workers in the work: but the colour of the said stone
appears not to be uniform, but a mixture of two, to wit, red and white,
and the said stone is shewn as the stone of two colours.
"This round church, so often mentioned above, which is called the
Anastasis, or Resurrection, and is built on the spot which witnessed our
Lord's resurrection, is joined on the right by a square church dedicated
to S. Mary the mother of God.
"Moreover another large church is built on the eastern side on the spot
which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: from the ceiling of which is
suspended by ropes a brazen wheel with lamps, and beneath it is a large
silver cross fixed in the very place where stood the wooden cross on
which the Saviour of the human race suffered.
"Adjoining this square-built church on the site of Calvary, on the east,
is the famous stone church built with great magnificence by the Emperor
Constantine, and called the Martyrdom, erected, as they say, in the
place where the cross of our Lord and the other two crosses were found
by divine revelation, two hundred and thirty-three years after they had
been buried. Between these two churches is the famous spot where the
patriarch Abraham built an altar, and laid upon it the bundle of wood,
and seized the sword already drawn from its scabbard to sacrifice his
son Isaac; where is now a wooden table of moderate size, on which the
offerings of the people for the poor are deposited.
"Between the Anastasis or round church so often mentioned above, and the
basilica of Constantine, a short open street extends to the church on
Golgotha, in which are lamps burning night and day. Also between the
basilica on Golgotha and the Martyrdom is a seat, in which is the cup of
the Lord, which, after blessing it with His own hand during the supper
before His passion, He Himself handed to the Apostles that sate at meat
with Him. It is a silver cup, holding about a French quart, and having
two handles set over against each other on opposite sides. In this cup
is the sponge, which they that crucified our Lord filled with vinegar,
and put upon hyssop, and held up to His mouth. From this same cup, it is
said that our Lord drank in company with His Apostles after His
resurrection."
NOTE V. _Extracts from the description of Sæwulf._ (Translated in Mr
Wright's "Early Travels in Palestine.")
"The entrance to the city of Jerusalem is from the west, under the
citadel of King David, by the gate which is called the Gate of David.
The first place to be visited is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
called the Martyrdom, not only because the streets lead most directly to
it, but because it is more celebrated than all the other churches.... In
the middle of this church is our Lord's Sepulchre, surrounded by a very
strong wall and roof, lest the rain should fall upon the Holy Sepulchre,
for the church above is open to the sky.... In the court of the church
of our Lord's Sepulchre are seen some very holy places, namely, the
prison in which our Lord Jesus Christ was confined after He was
betrayed, according to the testimony of the Assyrians; then, a little
above, appears the place where the holy cross and the other crosses were
found, where afterwards a large church was built in honour of Queen
Helena, which however has since been utterly destroyed by the Pagans;
and below, not far from the prison, stands the marble column to which
our Lord Jesus Christ was bound in the common hall, and scourged with
most cruel stripes. Near this is the spot where our Lord was stripped of
His garments and clad in a purple robe by the soldiers, and crowned with
the crown of thorns, and they parted His raiment amongst them, casting
lots. Next we ascend Mount Calvary, where the patriarch Abraham raised
an altar, and prepared, by God's command, to sacrifice his own son;
there afterwards the Son of God, whom he prefigured, was offered up as a
sacrifice to God the Father for the redemption of the world. The rock of
that mountain remains a witness of our Lord's passion, being much
cracked near the hole, in which our Lord's cross was fixed, because it
could not suffer the death of its Maker without rending, as we read in
the Passion, 'and the rocks rent.' Below is the place called Golgotha,
where Adam is said to have been raised from the dead by the stream of
the Lord's blood which fell upon him, as is said in the Lord's Passion,
'And many bodies of the saints which slept arose.' But in the Sentences
of S. Augustine, we read that he was buried at Hebron, where also the
three patriarchs were afterwards buried with their wives; Abraham with
Sarah, Isaac with Rebecca, and Jacob with Leah; as also the bones of
Joseph which the children of Israel carried with them from Egypt. Near
the place of Calvary is the church of S. Mary, on the spot where the
body of our Lord, after having been taken down from the cross, was
anointed with spices and wrapt in a linen cloth or shroud.
"At the head of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the wall outside,
not far from the place of Calvary, is the place called _Compas_, which
our Lord Jesus Christ Himself signified and measured with his own hands
as the middle of the world, according to the words of the Psalmist, 'For
God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.'
Some say that this is the place where our Lord Jesus Christ first
appeared to Mary Magdalene, while she sought Him weeping, and thought He
had been a gardener, as is related in the Gospel.
"These most holy places of prayer are contained in the court of our
Lord's Sepulchre, on the east side. In the sides of the church itself
are attached, on one side and the other, two most beautiful chapels in
honour of S. Mary and S. John, who, sharing in our Lord's sufferings,
stationed themselves one on each side of Him. On the west wall of the
chapel of S. Mary is seen the portrait of the mother of our Lord, who
once, by speaking wonderfully through the Holy Spirit, in the form in
which she is here painted, comforted Mary the Egyptian, when she
repented with her whole heart, and sought the help of the mother of our
Lord, as we read in her life.
"On the other side of the church of S. John is a very fair monastery of
the Holy Trinity, in which is the place of the baptistery, to which
adjoins the chapel of S. James the Apostle, who first filled the
pontifical chair at Jerusalem. These are all so composed and arranged,
that any one standing in the furthest church may clearly scan the five
churches from door to door.
"Without the gate of the Holy Sepulchre, to the south, is the church of
S. Mary, called the Latin, because the monks there perform divine
service in the Latin tongue; and the Assyrians say that the blessed
mother of our Lord, at the crucifixion of her Son, stood on the spot now
occupied by the altar of this church. Adjoining this church is another
church of S. Mary, called the Less, occupied by nuns who serve devoutly
the Virgin and her Son. Near which is the Hospital, where is a
celebrated monastery founded in honour of S. John the Baptist."
NOTE VI. William of Tyre, VIII. 3. "On the eastern slope of the same
hill is the Church of the Resurrection in the form of a rotunda, which
being situated on the slope, and almost over-topped by the hill close to
it, and so darkened, has a roof composed of beams placed upright, and
wrought together by wondrous art into the shape of a crown, uncovered,
and always open, by which the necessary light is conveyed into the
church. Under this opening is the tomb of our Saviour. Beyond the
entrance for the Latins is the scene of our Lord's passion, which is
called Calvary, or Golgotha; where it is said that the wood of the
life-giving cross was found, and where our Saviour's body, having been
taken down from the cross, is said to have been embalmed with spices and
wrapt in fine linen, as was the Jews' custom of burial. Beyond the
limits of the Calvary aforesaid are many small houses of prayer. But
after that the Christians, by the help of the divine goodness, occupied
the city with a strong hand, the aforesaid building appeared to them too
contracted, and by enlarging the church with most solid and excellent
work, and enclosing the old building within the new, they succeeded
wonderfully in putting together in one the aforementioned places."
John of Würtzburg, who visited the Holy Land in the twelfth century,
when the Crusaders had already completed their works in the Church of
the Resurrection, has transmitted to us a valuable detailed description,
the principal passages of which I quote: "Whilst everything was in
preparing for the crucifixion," he says, "our Lord was kept bound in a
place at some distance from Calvary, which served as a prison: this
place is marked by a chapel, and is called to this day the prison of our
Lord, and is on the side opposite to Calvary, on the left of the
church.... To the right of the entrance in the greater church is a place
forming a portion of Calvary, in whose upper part is shewn a rent in the
rock. In the same is depicted in fine mosaic work the Passion of Christ,
and His burial, together with the testimony of the prophets, agreeing on
all sides with the fact.
"In the middle of the choir, not far from the site of Calvary, is a spot
where an altar has been formed of raised slabs of marble, supported by a
trellis of iron. Beneath these slabs are some small circles traced in
the pavements, which, they say is the centre of the earth, according to
the saying, 'In the middle of the earth He hath wrought salvation.'
"A building of large dimensions, erected in a circular form round the
monument, has at its further end a continuous wall adorned by different
statues, and lighted by several lamps. In the inner circle of this
larger building are eight round columns, on square bases, adorned on
the outside with the same number of square slabs of marble, and erected
all round the building, so as to sustain the weight of the building and
the roof, which, as we have said, is open in the middle.
"We have said that the columns are placed round the building to the
number above mentioned, but towards the east their positions and number
have been altered, owing to the addition of a new building, which has
its entrance-door on that side. This new church, just added, contains a
wide and roomy choir, and a spacious chapel, in which is the high altar,
consecrated to the honour of the Anastasis, or Resurrection, as the
mosaic above it distinctly proves. For in it Christ is depicted as
having broken the bars of hell, and rising again from the dead, and as
bringing back thence our first father Adam. Without this chapel, and
within the cloisters, is a wide corridor leading round the new building
and also the older building of the monument aforesaid, suited for a
procession. At the head of the said new church, towards the east and
close to the choir-screen, is a well-lighted subterranean passage like a
crypt, in which Queen Helena is said to have found our Lord's cross.
Accordingly there is within an altar dedicated to the honour of the said
S. Helena. The greater part of the sacred wood she took with her to
Constantinople, the remainder however was left at Jerusalem, and is
carefully and reverently kept in a certain place on the other side of
the church opposite to Calvary."
NOTE VII. The whole of the dome has been covered with sheet-lead, which
has disappeared on the south-west side (Plate XXXI.), where are the
Greek terrace-roofs. Consequently the damp is every day destroying the
wooden supports, and in the absence of such covering the ground below is
flooded in the rainy season. Throughout the rest of its circumference,
on the side of the Mohammedan terrace, the dome is in good condition,
and the lead is intact. Why then, it may be asked, is it thus damaged
only on the side belonging to the Greeks? We are told in reply, that the
wind detaches the sheets of lead, (which, be it observed, are fastened
by nails,) and carries them away; but it must be remarked that it is the
north wind only, and not the others, which blows with great force over
the city. It may be inferred from this how necessary it is that the
whole covering of the Holy Sepulchre should belong exclusively to the
church, and that no one should come near it or use it, in which case
disputes would diminish, and the interior of the building would be less
injured by damp.
NOTE VIII. The two gates, the one on the west, the other on the east,
through which the square in front of the Church of the Resurrection is
reached, are very narrow and low, so that strangers are surprised to
find such a form used in places frequented by many visitors. This is not
the work of the Mohammedans, but was done by agreement of the different
religious bodies, in order to prevent beasts of burden from penetrating
into these sacred places. Without some such precaution their owners, and
especially the camel-drivers, would not fail to instal them there for
the night, simply because of the convenient situation of the square.
Besides this, these two gates form the barrier for the Jews of
Jerusalem, beyond which they cannot pass without exposing themselves to
insults, and perhaps to blows, or even worse, from the Christians of
Jerusalem, who imagine the place profaned by the passing of a Jew:
though they themselves think nothing of behaving irreverently while the
holy offices are being celebrated. If, however, a Jew is accompanied by
some one who can inspire them with fear or respect, these good
Christians will perhaps mutter and grumble, but venture no further. If a
slight _bakshish_ be administered, they will even salute him, and call
their correligionists a set of ignoramuses, though they themselves held
the same views before receiving _bakshish_.
NOTE IX. The fact that there is only one entrance to the Church of the
Resurrection is the cause of many serious accidents at times when there
is any great gathering of people, particularly at Easter. This is
especially the case when the times of the celebration of this festival
by the different sects coincide. During the eight years which I spent at
Jerusalem, not an Easter passed without some such casualty. Some were
suffocated; some fainted in the crush, were trampled upon, and received
serious injuries; some had their limbs broken. These accidents are
constantly repeated, yet no one ever thinks of taking any means to avoid
them, though it would be so easy to open the other door. It is well
known how in 1836 Ibrahim Pasha attended the Greek service of the Holy
Fire, and a quarrel arose betwixt the Greeks and the Armenians: the
whole multitude sought some way of escape, and such was the crowding at
this the only single door, that the conqueror got out with much
difficulty by passing over thirty dead bodies that lay there, the
victims of the crush. (See Curzon's Monasteries of the Levant, chap.
16.)
NOTE X. The following is Edrisi's account of the western gate. "The
church is entered by the western gate, and the traveller finds himself
under the cupola, which covers the whole of the enclosure, and which is
one of the most remarkable things in the world. The church is lower than
this door, and it is not possible to descend to the lower part on this
side of the building. Entrance is to be had on the north side by a door
which opens at the head of a staircase of thirty steps, which door is
called Bâb-Sitti Mariam."
NOTE XI. The Abbé Mariti, who visited the Sepulchre before the fire of
1808, found in Adam's Chapel, on the right, the tomb of Godfrey de
Bouillon, and on the left, opposite the former, the tomb of Baldwin I.,
his successor; they were of marble, or of a kind of stone which much
resembles it[900]. The following is the inscription on Godfrey's tomb:
HIC JACET
INCLITUS DUX GODEFRIDUS DE BULLON
QUI TOTAM TERRAM AQUISIVIT
CULTUI KRANO CUI ANIMA REGNET CUM XRO
AMEN.
_Here lies the illustrious Captain Godfrey de Bouillon, who won all this
land for the Christian faith. May his soul reign with Christ. Amen._
That engraved on Baldwin's tomb is as follows:--
REX BALDEWINUS
IUDAS ALTER MACHABEUS. SPES PATRIE VIGOR
ECCLIE VIRT' UTRIUSQ' QUEM FORMIDABANT
CUI DONA TRIBUTA FEREBANT CEDAR EGYPT' DAN.
AC HOMICIDA DAMASCUS
PROH DOLOR
IN MODICO CLAUDITUR HOC TUMULO.
_King Baldwin, a second Judas Maccabæus, the hope of his country, the
strength of the Church, the mainstay of both, to whom Kedar, Egypt, Dan
and the murderous Damascus in fear brought gifts and tribute, is pent
up, alas! within this narrow tomb._
He also found in the same chapel an old tomb without any inscription,
fastened into the wall, which he was told was the _tomb of Melchizedek_.
It is known that the place was formerly intended to serve as a
burial-place for the Latin kings, and we are assured, says the Abbé,
that besides Godfrey and Baldwin I., there have since been buried there
Baldwin II., Baldwin III., Almericus I. (Amaury), Baldwin IV., and
Baldwin V. The tomb of the last-mentioned still exists amongst those
which are to be seen in the neighbourhood against the south side of the
choir of the Greeks, i.e. opposite to the Stone of Unction, on the
north side. On it is the following inscription:--
SEPTIM' IN TUMULO PUER ISTO REX TUMULAT'
EST BALDEVINI REGUM DE SANGUINE NAT'.
QUEM TULIT E MUNDO SORS PRIMÆ CONDITIONIS
UT PARADISIACÆ LOCA POSSIDEAT REGIONIS[901].
"_Within this tomb rests a youthful king, the seventh of a line of kings
sprung from Baldwin; whom the common lot has carried off from the world
to inhabit the regions of paradise._" Histoire de l'État présent de
Jérusalem, par l'Abbé Mariti, publiée par le R. P. Laorty Hadji, Paris,
1853, pp. 56, 57.
NOTE XII. William of Tyre refers to a place where our Lord's body is
said to have been embalmed (Book VIII. Chap. 3. See Note VI.).
Sanutus, who wrote in the fourteenth century, speaks of this place, but
puts it in the middle of the choir of the Greeks, far from that of which
we are now speaking. (Liber Secretorum fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. p. 14,
cap. 8.)
Nicetas Choniata[902], a writer of the twelfth century, in his eighth
book, relates that the stone on which Christ's body was embalmed, was to
be seen in his time at Ephesus, whither the Emperor Manuel Comnenus had
carried it on his own shoulders from the gate of Bucoleon to the chapel
which was within the precincts of the palace, and that after the death
of that emperor it was removed thence and placed in his tomb. Nicetas
says that the stone is of a red hue; it seems more probable therefore
that it had formed part of Calvary itself, or of some smooth rock near
the sepulchre.
NOTE XIII. I quote the most important passages relating to the Holy
Sepulchre, properly so called, which was carefully examined by the Abbé
Mariti, before it was all covered over as it is at present.
"The Holy Sepulchre, placed at the centre of the building, is a block of
stone, which forms part of the soil, so hewn as to be quite separate
from the rest of the hill.
"In the terrace-roof of the Sepulchre holes have been ingeniously formed
to let out the smoke from the lamps in the interior.
"The sacred grotto is divided into two parts; the first is the Chapel of
the Angel; its eastern side, in which is the entrance-door, being built
of materials prepared by human hands, while the rest forms part of the
solid rock. There we saw a socle of stone, nearly square, embedded in
the rock, at the length of a cubit and a half from the gate of the Holy
Sepulchre, which is to the west of it: it served formerly as a support
to the stone which used to close the entrance of the Sepulchre. Inside
the Sepulchre is found a basin, hewn out with the chisel in the rock, of
three cubits and a sixth in length; its height four cubits five soldi,
in the middle; and on the sides, where it bends in forming a circular
arc, three cubits five soldi. Its breadth from north to south is not
equal throughout, being at the eastern end three cubits three soldi and
one-third, and at the west two cubits sixteen soldi and two-thirds. The
bench on which the Saviour's body was laid is three cubits and a third
long, and about two cubits and a third broad, raised one cubit and one
inch from the ground." (L'État présent de Jérusalem, p. 66.)
NOTE XIV. Before I give the description of the way in which the festival
of the Holy Fire is celebrated, I will quote the account given of it in
Abulfaragii (or Barhebræi) Chronicum Syriacum, Lips. 1789, 2 Vols. 4to.
pp. 215-220.
"The originator of this persecution (that is, the persecution of Hakem
when he destroyed the Sepulchre in 1010) was some enemy of the
Christians[a], who told Hakem: When the Christians meet in the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre to keep Easter, the ministers of the Church employ
a particular artifice, viz. they anoint with oil and with balsam the
iron chain by which the lamp above the Sepulchre is suspended; and when
the Arab official has fastened the door of the Sepulchre, they place the
fire at the end of the iron chain, reaching it from the roof; the chain
descends immediately with it till it reaches the match, and is ignited.
Then they break into tears and cry _Kyrie Eleison_ as they see the fire
falling from heaven upon the tomb, and so strengthen themselves in their
faith."
Another account is transmitted to us by Aretas, of Cæsarea, who gives
certain information concerning it, under the name of Leo the Philosopher
to an Arab Vizir. He says: "To this day the sacred and much-worshipped
Sepulchre of Christ works a miracle every year on the day of the
Resurrection; when every fire in Jerusalem has been put out, the
Christians prepare a candle, and place it within the monument near the
Holy Sepulchre. The Emir of Jerusalem[b] closes the door, and while
the Christians stand outside crying _Kyrie Eleison_, a lamp appears, and
at once the candle is lighted by its flame. Then all the inhabitants
rekindle their fires in their houses by means of other candles lighted
at this one."
_The Holy Fire of the Greeks and the Holy Sabbath of the Armenians at
Jerusalem._
In an age like the present, it is well that we should put on record
those acts and customs by which the name of civilization is profaned,
especially where they mask themselves under the name of religion. For
if this be done, those who have it in their power to stop and to
suppress them, cannot plead ignorance in excuse of the neglect of their
duty.
The Holy Sabbath is a kind of festival or revel held round the Sepulchre
of our Lord, and continues from ten o'clock in the morning to three
o'clock in the afternoon. First of all, the Greek bishop takes his stand
inside the Sepulchre, while the pilgrims and the resident Greeks and
Armenians form a procession round the tomb, stamping and clapping their
hands, and shouting in a loud voice, _El Messiah atanah, u bidammu
astarana: Mahna el jom faratra u el jahudie hazana_. "The Messiah came
to us and redeemed us with His blood; to-day we rejoice, and the Jews
are sad." The excitement increases with the shouting, until the greater
part of the multitude appear to be intoxicated, and rush to and fro, as
in a state of frenzy, with the wildest cries and gesticulations. Some
throw their heads about violently, their hair floating in wild disorder,
and the foam streaming from their mouths, like men possessed. Some
mounting on each other's shoulders form themselves into living human
columns, and then suddenly fling themselves in the midst of the excited
throng. Others feign to be dead, and their companions carry them round
the building, singing funeral hymns and uttering their wonted cries of
mourning. Here is a party in high dispute, there a company fighting and
wrestling, while a third, and far the most numerous band, is madly
pressing towards the two oval holes through which the fire issues from
the Sepulchre, the one at the north, the other at the south end of the
monument. Meanwhile the government guards, or _Cavas_, attempt to
re-establish order by lashing out right and left with their tough whips
of hippopotamus hide. Everywhere is uproar and confusion, shouting and
stamping, as of madmen. When this has gone on for four or five hours, a
small flame at length makes its appearance at each of the holes above
mentioned. The bishop, concealed within the Sepulchre, having received
_from heaven_ the sacred fire, communicates it to the expectant
worshippers, who have awaited its coming with such devotion. The mind
cannot conceive, nor words describe the scene which then ensues; the
din, the crush, the struggling, each to be among the first to receive
the light. He who is nearest to the hole, and so the first to light his
candle, has probably paid dearly for the privilege; so high does the
competition run and such is the importance attached to gaining the
prize. Many pilgrims come from great distances, incurring all the
hardships and expense of a protracted journey merely to receive the Holy
Fire. As soon as they have received it, and carefully secured it in
their lanterns, they return home, having accomplished the sole purpose
of their pilgrimage, and caring nothing for the other festivities of
Easter-tide.
Surraya Pasha, induced thereto by the urgent representations of M. de
Barrère, the French Consul in Palestine, has taken measures to prevent
any recurrence of the serious disorders which so frequently arose in
former times in connexion with this festival. Since he has been
governor, the time allowed for this desecration of the Holy Places has
been shortened, and the murderous quarrels which before prevailed are no
longer known. Would it not be more worthy of modern civilization to stop
it altogether? the Greek and Armenian pilgrimages to Jerusalem would
then, in all probability, cease.
[Footnote a: See Silv. de Sacy, Exposé de la Réligion des Druses, Book
I. pp. cccxxxvi. and foll. The author mentions other details of the
origin and the motives of Hakem's fury against the Christians, given by
Severus. This Coptic Arab author attributes the origin of it to a monk
named John, who was ambitious of becoming bishop.]
[Footnote b: In our time the door of the Sepulchre is closed, after a Greek
bishop, who is called _Bishop of the Fire_, has entered. We do not know
whether the miracle in present times is produced by a lamp concealed in
the walls of the Sepulchre, or by a preparation of phosphorus: but they
that wait for the appearance of the fire are as credulous, or pretend to
be so, as the Christians of the time of Aretas.]
NOTE XV. I have as strong objections to the service celebrated by the
Franciscans on the evening of Good Friday, as to that of the Holy Fire.
Like the latter, it gives rise to disputes, tumults, and serious
disorders; and besides, there is in it an utter absence of decorum.
Generally speaking, it has none of the impressive effect of a religious
ceremony, but rather excites a feeling of the ridiculous, when it does
not result in mourning for some fatal accident. How it is that the
Franciscan fathers have not done away with it, or modified it, I cannot
understand. To hold a service in a church to which persons of all sects
are admitted, and to think that men's hearts can be reached by it, is an
utter mistake. When no one is carried out of the building dead or
wounded, they say with a satisfied air, "_The service has passed off
well;_" little thinking of the exertions that are required to make it
pass off well. A battalion of infantry is drawn up under arms in the
square of the Sepulchre, and supplies the guards in the interior of the
church; all the officers are employed to suppress any slight
disturbance; the Governor betakes himself to the church to be ready in
case of any serious outbreak: the French Consul is busy with
preparations two days before, and on the evening of the service he and
his employés are wearied out; the clergy are knocked about by the crowd;
and all this passes off well.
They ought to remember the year in which human blood was shed on Mount
Calvary; and how in 1861, had it not been for the energy of the French
Consul, and the singular discretion and moderation of General Ducrot, of
the French Corps d'Expédition in Syria, and his forty officers, the
service certainly would not have passed off well.
NOTE XVI. The short street which connects the two churches of S. Mary
the Great and S. Mary the Less was called, at the time of the Crusades,
_the street of Palms_, because palm-branches were there sold to
pilgrims. A similar traffic goes on at the present day, and on the same
spot, during the feast of Palms; but palms being scarcer than formerly,
olive-branches are generally substituted for them.
NOTE XVII. The original firman exists in the archives of the Franciscan
Convent of S. Saviour at Jerusalem. Its exact date is not known, but may
be placed between 1014 and 1023. See Boré, Question des Lieux Saints, 5.
NOTE XVIII. The direction of this street is clearly marked in a paper
published by Sebastian Paoli (Cod. Diplom. I. p. 243), and reproduced by
Schultz, Williams, and De Vogüé: "I, Amalric ... have given ... to the
sacred Hospital at Jerusalem, and to the Church of S. Mary the Great, a
certain street which was _between_ the Hospital aforesaid and the Church
of S. Mary the Great aforesaid, to which there is an _entrance on the
north from the Street of Palms_, opposite the front of the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, and on the south between the two aforesaid houses of the
hospital and of St Mary the Less, which leads also _below the buildings
of the Hospital to the Street of the Patriarch's Baths_...." June, 1174.
NOTES TO CHAPTER V.
NOTE I. See De Vogüé, p. 302. We first find it mentioned in La Citez de
Jhérusalem, under the name of 'Porte douloureuse.' "When you have gone a
little further on" (after crossing the Street of Jehoshaphat, on the way
from S. Stephen's Gate) "you come to a place where two streets cross:
that which comes from the left comes from the Temple and goes to the
Sepulchre. At the commencement of this street is a gate, on the Temple
side, which is called 'Porte douloureuse:' by it Jesus passed when he
was taken to Calvary to be crucified; and therefore it is called the
gate of mourning."
NOTE II. "The Sultan, on his return to Jerusalem, increased the
endowment of the school which he had there founded. Before the
occupation by the Mohammedans it had been known as the Church of S. Ann,
the mother of S. Mary; whose tomb is said to have been found there.
Under the Mohammedans it had been turned into a school, before the
Franks made themselves masters of the city. They had restored the church
to its former position, but the Sultan, having conquered the Franks,
again changed it into a school, whose management and revenues he
entrusted to Bohaddin, son of Sieddad." Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici,
from Reiske's translation.
NOTE III. The Church of the Holy Cross is superior to that of S. Ann in
the simplicity of its ornamentation, answering to the description of M.
de Vogüé (p. 241): "Some persons have thought they saw in the poverty
and simplicity of the ornamentation a proof of Byzantine influence. I
would rather attribute it partly to the want of sculptors, and partly to
the influence of the Cistercians, which seems to have been brought to
bear on the foundation and building of the monastery." The latter
statement he illustrates by a note which I will also quote: "S. Bernard
took a lively interest in all that occurred in the Holy Land, and
exercised much influence thereon by his letters. He was in constant
correspondence with Queen Milisendis (1130-1150), with the Patriarch,
and with the Templars--the rules of whose order he helped to draw up. It
was well known how sternly he had denounced the excessive adorning of
churches, and how rigorously the Cistercian order applied his
principles. The connexion of S. Bernard with Milisendis, who was the
chief benefactress of the Convent of S. Ann, _leads me to suppose_ that
his views may have been followed in the building of the Church of S.
Ann, and of the monastery. See in M. de Verneuil's L'Architecture
Byzantine en France (Plate XIII.), the design of the Cistercian Abbey at
Boschaud, built in 1154. The general form is not the same with that of
S. Ann, but the style is identical. Further there are also the pilasters
of the binding joists ending in corbelling." I would gladly assent to M.
de Vogüé's hypothesis--but I cannot; for in S. Bernard's correspondence
there is no mention at all of the building of the Church of S. Ann. I
allow that the style is identical with that of the Cistercian Abbey: but
certainly the form changes a good deal, because this is not a trapezium
like that of S. Ann.
NOTE IV. Some idea may be formed of the position which the Franciscans
hold in respect of the local government, from the conditions to which
they were required to submit before they received permission to take up
a residence within the walls of Jerusalem. The following are some of
them: that they would give presents every year to the _Kadi_, the
governor, and to all the members of the Divan: that, when one of them
died, they should not be allowed to carry his body out to burial in the
sight of the Mohammedans, but that he should be wrapt in a carpet, and
carried outside the walls and buried there: that they should never buy
any property in Jerusalem, under pain of its being confiscated and given
to the Mosque of Omar: that the friars should not shew themselves too
frequently in the streets of the city: that the monastery occupied by
them should be inspected every three years by the _Kadi_, the governor,
and his architect, to see whether any changes had been made in the
building. These conditions were rigorously enforced every time that the
local governor was pleased to extort money from the brotherhood, who, of
course, were always in the wrong. (These facts are drawn from the papers
found in the Registry of the Convent of S. Saviour.)
NOTE V. It is sometimes supposed that the Franciscans carry on a trade
in the articles that are made in the workroom of S. Saviour; but it is
quite a mistake. The friars have these articles made by poor workpeople,
and so give them the means of supporting themselves by their industry;
and any profits that may accrue from the sale are applied to the support
of widows and orphans, as in every other work of charity, which is
constantly carried on by the society.
NOTE VI. The Greeks, who since the coming of the first Crusaders had
been unjustly robbed of all their other possessions in the Holy Land,
returned thither in 1348, in consequence of a treaty concluded between
the Emperor Cantacuzenus and Naser Eddin Hassan, Sultan of Egypt. They
established a hospice for pilgrims in the Monastery of S. Euthymius,
whilst their servants took up their abode in that of S. Michael the
Archangel.
NOTES TO CHAPTER VI.
NOTE I. The eastern Christians call the Valley of Jehoshaphat in the
language of the country _Wady el-Nar_ (Valley of Fire); a name which is
also given to it by the Mohammedans, from the belief that the general
judgment will take place there. If we interpret the name _Jehoshaphat_
according to the idea of the Jews, its meaning is _judgment of God_, for
the Chaldee in the passage in Joel (chap. iii. 2, 12, 15), instead of
saying "_in the valley of Jehoshaphat_," translates it thus, "_in the
valley of the division of judgment_." If we are to accept the opinion of
Calmet, that by the valley of Jehoshaphat we are to understand the
_valley of Jezreel_, we cannot believe that the final judgment is to
take place in this valley, which is close under the walls of Jerusalem,
but in that of Jezreel.
Origen looks upon this general gathering of mankind in a more extended
view than that of Calmet: "Origen thinks that the nations will be
gathered together over the face of the whole earth; and that the
manifestation of Christ will be like to a blaze of light that covers at
once the whole world." S. Jerome expresses himself thus, "It is folly to
seek in a small or secret place for Him who is the light of the whole
world." (Calmet's Commentary on Joel.) Mariti, L'État présent, &c. p.
132.
NOTE II. Those who made of the Hebrew word Kidron (Cedron) a Greek word,
fancy that the name may have been derived from some cedars planted in
the neighbourhood; they rely probably on the Greek text of the gospel of
S. John, where the word is written with +ô+ instead of +o+, which may be
simply an error of the copyists, as some commentators have remarked;
seeing that in other parts of the Bible it is called Kidron.
The valley of Kidron begins, on the north, near or a little above the
Tombs of the Kings, at a height of about 2460 feet above the
Mediterranean; at first it is called the Valley of Kidron, or of
Jehoshaphat; then _Wady er-Nahib_ (Valley of the Monks), in the
neighbourhood of the monastery of S. Saba; and lastly, _Wady el-Nar_
(Valley of Fire), in the last part of its course. The entire descent
from the head of the valley to the Dead Sea is about 3690 vertical feet.
I have traversed it several times on foot with Bedouins, for the sole
purpose of examining all the changes of its sides. Near S. Saba it is
very picturesque.
NOTE III. Nicephorus Callistus expresses himself thus: "She also raised
another splendid temple in the garden of Gethsemane to the Mother of
God; and enclosed within it her life-giving tomb. Moreover the place
being on a hill-side she erected marble steps, for travellers to pass
from the city eastwards." (Ecclesiastical History, VIII. 30.)
NOTE IV. These are the words of the empress: "We hear that there is a
noble and splendid church dedicated to Mary, Mother of God and perpetual
Virgin, on the ground called Gethsemane where her body was laid."
Johann. Damascen. Orat. II. de B. M. Assumptione, ap. Quaresm. E. T. S.
Lib. IV. pereg. 7, c. 2, Tom. II. p. 241.
NOTE V. This is the account of Sebastiano Paoli: "That most venerable
Mount Sion also they have profaned and treated with no respect: the
Temple of the Lord, the church in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where is
the Sepulchre of the Virgin, the church at Bethlehem, and the place of
our Lord's nativity, they have polluted by enormities too grievous to be
told, exceeding therein the wickedness of all the Saracens." (Seb.
Paoli, Cod. Diplom. del S. Mil. Ord. Gerusal. Said Ebn Batrik, II. 212.)
NOTE VI. It was Godfrey de Bouillon who brought these monks to Jerusalem
and gave them for their abbey the whole of the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
"The same Godfrey aforesaid had also brought monks from well-disciplined
cloisters, religious men, and distinguished by their holy conversation,
who during the whole of the journey, day and night, celebrated the
divine offices according to ecclesiastical usage. And when he obtained
the kingdom, he settled them at their own request in the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, and gave them an ample endowment." (William of Tyre, IX.
9.)
NOTE VII. In which place was a wonderful work built in the earliest
times of the Christian religion, as S. Jerome testifies in his writings.
It surpassed all the other buildings in size, workmanship, and design;
but was afterwards destroyed by the treacherous Gentiles: its ruins are
to be seen even to this day. Bongars, p. 574. De Vogüé says that the
author grounds his statement wrongly on an apocryphal letter of S.
Jerome. See Quaresmius, E. T. S. Tom. II. p. 244.
NOTE VIII. Brocardus writes: "The Sepulchre of the Virgin is covered
with earth to such an extent that the church built upon its site, though
its walls were lofty, and it had a noble roof, is now entirely buried
underground.... There was built, however, on the same site, and _upon
the surface of the ground_, a church or a building like a chapel, after
the repairing of the city. Having entered this, you will descend by
several steps _underground_ to the aforementioned church and the Tomb
of the Virgin; if I am not mistaken there are sixty steps. The tomb is
in the middle of the choir and in front of a marble altar beautifully
decorated, which the Saracens too most devoutly worship, falling down
before it and kissing it, and in a loud voice, as is their custom,
praying for the intercession of the Holy Virgin. I have been inside the
Sepulchre itself."
Willibrand (Leo Allat. Sym. p. 149) says, "We saw a church richly
adorned and in its midst a monument, covered on all sides with white,
i.e. virgin, marble."
NOTE IX. Father Geraldo Calvetti, guardian and keeper of Mount Sion,
took possession of the Sepulchre. The document which proves this is
found in the archives of the convent of S. Saviour at Jerusalem, under
the letter C. Quaresmius, I. 181: "These things were done at Jerusalem
before the gate and entrance of the said church of Our Blessed Lady of
the Valley of Jehoshaphat."
NOTE X. A firman, granted in 1852, allows the Latins to hold service in
the Sepulchre of the Virgin, after the Greeks and the Armenians,
enjoining upon them at the same time to take away on each occasion the
objects of worship. This firman, amongst the many false statements that
it makes, contains a few lines which are worth quoting: "it is just to
confirm the permission granted at all times to the Christians of the
Catholic rite to exercise their own form of worship in this place." In
spite of these previous concessions, &c. the Latins had been totally
driven out from it. Of what use are firmans when they are acquired at
will by presents of gold?
NOTE XI. Father Morone[903], Guardian of the Holy Land, relates that
towards the middle of the seventeenth century some tombstones were found
near the entrance of the Grotto of the Agony; and on them were
inscriptions belonging to the Latin Christians; but that he himself, who
had the oversight of the work, did not let them be uncovered, from fear
lest the Turks should take possession of them. If he had only taken a
copy of these epitaphs, we might possibly know the resting-place of some
of the more distinguished Crusaders. However, I conclude, from the fact
that he relates, that the existing passage was made at that time.
NOTE XII. In 1857 I obtained leave from the Superior of the Greek
convent to draw the ground-plan of the church. I set to work, and got as
far as the Armenian Chapel of S. Joseph, when the Armenian lay-keeper of
the chapel wished to hinder my continuing my work; I asked him as a
favour to let me go on, and offered him an acknowledgment, but he only
became more annoying still. At last I tried force, compelled him to
return to his sacristy, set a European servant to watch at the door,
and, regardless of his cries, persisted in my work. I mention this to
shew how great difficulties are met with, even amongst Christians of
other sects, in conducting any investigations respecting the monuments
that belong to them.
NOTE XIII. The olive-trees of the Garden of Gethsemane, says
Chateaubriand (Itinéraire, Vol. II.), belong at any rate to the later
empire. In Turkey, every olive-tree found already planted when the Turks
invaded Asia, pays a tax of a medino; those that have been planted since
the conquest pay to the Sultan the half of their fruit. Now, the eight
olive-trees of Gethsemane are taxed at eight medini.
NOTE XIV. The various elevations of the hills, and other special
localities of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, are drawn in section.
(Plate IV.)
NOTE XV. The Jews had derived the worship of Moloch from the Canaanites.
Moloch and Saturn appear to have been the same deity: the way in which
they were worshipped is the same. The Carthaginians, who were descended
from the Canaanites, offered human victims to Saturn. "There was in
their city," says Diodorus Siculus (Book XX. chap. 14), "a bronze statue
representing Cronos (Saturn): it had its hands spread out, and bent down
towards the ground, so that the child that was put in its hands, rolling
itself up, fell into a fiery furnace." These cruel sacrifices continued
to prevail in Africa till the time of the Emperor Tiberius (Tertullian,
Apol. IX.). From Syria the practice passed into Europe. Agathocles, king
of Sicily, sacrificed two hundred children of the noblest families to
his deity, believing him to be angry. (Pescennius Festus in Lactant.
Divin. Instit. I. 21.)
The Rabbi Simon, in his commentary on Jeremiah (viii.), gives the
following description of the idol Moloch: "All the idol temples were in
the city of Jerusalem, except that of Moloch, which was in a place set
apart outside the city. It was a statue of bronze with the head of an
ox, and with the hands stretched out like those of a man who wishes to
receive something from another; within it was quite hollow. Before the
image were seven chapels; he who offered a dove, or any other bird, went
into the first; he who gave a lamb, or a sheep, into the second; into
the third for a wether; into the fourth for a calf; into the fifth for a
bull; into the sixth for an ox; while he who sacrificed his own son
entered the seventh chapel and embraced the idol, as it is said in Hosea
(xiii. 2), 'Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.' The child was
set before the idol, beneath which a fire was kindled, till the bronze
became red hot; then the priest took the child, and put it between the
burning hands of Moloch, while the parents were bound to witness the
sacrifice without any expression of feeling. To prevent the cries of the
victims reaching them, drums and gongs were sounded! from this comes the
name _Topheth_, which signifies a drum. It was also called _Hinnom_,
because of the cries of the children, from _naham_, to cry, or,
according to another interpretation from the words which the priest used
to address to the parents, _Jehenelach_--this will be of service to
thee. King Josiah, in order to render the place an object of horror,
'defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no
man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to
Moloch' (2 Kings xxiii. 10)."
NOTE XVI. So when Solomon is spoken of, it is said, "Solomon slept with
his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father" (1 Kings
xi. 43); and the same formula is used of the kings Rehoboam, Abijam,
Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah, Jehoiada, the priest (2 Chron. xxiv. 16), and the
kings Amaziah, Jotham, Josiah; while in the case of the rest different
expressions are used. Asa was buried "in his own sepulchres, which he
had made for himself in the city of David" (2 Chron. xvi. 14); therefore
he was not buried with his fathers. Jehoram was buried "in the city of
David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings" (2 Chron. xxi. 20). The
place of burial of the usurper Athaliah is not mentioned. Joash, in 2
Kings xii. 21, is buried "with his fathers in the city of David," while
in 2 Chron. xxiv. 25, it is said that "they buried him not in the
sepulchres of the kings." Uzziah "they buried with his fathers in the
field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a
leper" (2 Chron. xxvi. 23). Ahaz they "buried in the city, _even_ at
Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of
Israel" (2 Chron. xxviii. 27). Hezekiah was buried "in the highest of
the sepulchres of the sons of David" (2 Chron. xxxii. 33). Manasseh "was
buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza;" as also
was Amon, his successor (2 Kings xxi. 18, 26). Jehoahaz died in Egypt (2
Kings xxiii. 34). Eliakim, or Jehoiachim, according to Jeremiah (xxii.
19), is to be "buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem;" and (xxxvi. 30), "his dead body shall be
cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost;" from
all which we may the more certainly conclude that the sepulchres of the
other kings were within the gates of Jerusalem. Lastly, we have
Jehoiachin and Zedekiah led captive to Babylon, where they died.
NOTE XVII. Bede, who wrote in the eighth century (on the authority of
Arculf), calls the building of the Coenaculum a large church. In his
time there was in the neighbourhood a convent of monks. He says: "On the
upper part of Mount Sion there is a large church, surrounded by a great
number of monks' cells. The church was founded, it is said, by the
apostles, because it was there that they received the Holy Ghost, and
that Mary died. They shew there to this day the memorable place which
was the scene of our Lord's supper. In the middle of the church is a
column of marble, to which Jesus was bound when He was scourged."
FOOTNOTES:
[900] Persons who have seen them have told me that they were of the
veined red breccia of Palestine.
[901] These three inscriptions were traced in characters of the 12th
century.
[902] Lib. VII. ad fin. p. 289, ed. Bonn.
[903] Mariano Morone da Maleo, Terra Santa nuovamente illustrata.
Piacenza, 1669, 4to.
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY
OF THE HISTORY AND EVENTS OF JERUSALEM.
B.C.
1913 Melchizedek, king of Salem, receives Abram at the Valley of
Shaveh, which is the King's Dale Gen. xiv. 17, 18.
1872 Sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah _Ib._ xxii. 2-14.
1451 Adonizedek king of Jerusalem Josh. x. 1.
1444 The descendants of Judah dwell among the Jebusites at
Jerusalem _Ib._ xv. 63.
1425 The descendants of Benjamin dwell among the Jebusites at
Jerusalem Judges i. 21.
-- Jebus, the city of the Jebusites, is
Jerusalem _Ib._ xix. 10, 11.
1050 David reigns in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah
2 Sam. v. 5.
1023 Death of Absalom, and his Pillar in the King's Dale
_Ib._ xviii. 14, 18.
1017 The prophets, Nathan and Gad, at Jerusalem
_Ib._ xxiv. 11; 1 Kings i. 11.
-- David buys the Threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and
builds there an Altar to God 2 Sam. xxiv. 24, 25.
-- Solomon proclaimed king at Jerusalem 1 Kings i. 39.
1015 Death of David, after 40 years' reign _Ib._ ii. 10, 11.
1014 Solomon begins to build the Temple _Ib._ vi. 1.
1007 The Temple finished _Ib._ vi. 38.
1004 Dedication of Solomon's Temple _Ib._ viii. 63.
992 Solomon forsakes God, and builds a high place to Chemosh, &c.
_Ib._ xi. 7.
977 Death of Solomon, after 40 years' reign _Ib._ xi. 42, 43.
-- Division of the Kingdom. Rehoboam, king of Judah, reigns 17
years _Ib._ xii. 17; xiv. 21.
973 Shishak, king of Egypt, besieges and takes Jerusalem
_Ib._ xiv. 25, 26.
960 Abijam, king of Judah, reigns 3 years _Ib._ xv. 1, 2.
958 Asa, king of Judah, reigns 41 years _Ib._ xv. 9, 10.
917 Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, reigns 25 years _Ib._ xxii. 42.
896 The prophet Elijah taken up to heaven. Elisha the prophet
2 Kings ii. 11, 12.
892 Joram, king of Judah, reigns 8 years _Ib._ viii. 16, 17.
887 The Philistines and Arabians pillage Judah
2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17.
885 Ahaziah, king of Judah, reigns 1 year 2 Kings viii. 25, 26.
884 Usurpation of the throne by Athaliah; reigns 6 years
_Ib._ xi. 1, 3.
878 Jehoash, king of Judah, reigns 40 years _Ib._ xii. 1.
856 Repairs of the Temple _Ib._ xii. 11-14.
840 Hazael, king of Syria, threatens Jerusalem _Ib._ xii. 18.
839 Amaziah, king of Judah, reigns 29 years _Ib._ xiv. 1, 2.
838 Jehoash, king of Israel, comes to Jerusalem as a conqueror
_Ib._ xiv. 17.
811 Azariah, king of Judah, reigns 52 years _Ib._ xv. 2.
787 The Prophet Amos Amos i. 1.
785 The Prophet Hosea Hosea i. 1.
759 Jotham, king of Judah, reigns 16 years; fortifies Ophel
2 Kings xv. 32; 2 Chr. xxvii. 3.
743 Ahaz, king of Judah, reigns 16 years _Ib._ xvi. 2.
-- Isaiah the Prophet. Micah the Prophet, in the days of Jotham
Isai. i. 1; Micah i. 1.
727 Hezekiah, king of Judah, reigns 29 years 2 Kings xviii. 2.
714 Judah invaded by Sennacherib the Assyrian _Ib._ xviii. 13.
713 Destruction of Sennacherib's army 2 Kings xix. 35.
698 Manasseh, king of Judah, reigns 55 years; fortifies Ophel
_Ib._ xxi. 1; 2 Chr. xxxiii. 14.
643 Amon, king of Judah, reigns 2 years _Ib._ xxi. 19.
641 Josiah, king of Judah, reigns 31 years _Ib._ xxii. 1.
629 The prophet Jeremiah Jer. i. 2.
-- The prophet Zephaniah Zephan. i. 1.
624 The Book of the Law found 2 Kings xxii. 8.
610-9 Josiah killed by Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt
_Ib._ xxiii. 29.
-- Jehoahaz, king of Judah, reigns 3 months _Ib._ xxiii. 31.
-- Jehoiachim (Eliakim), king of Judah, reigns 11 years
_Ib._ xxiii. 34, 36.
606-5 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, subdues Judea. Epoch
generally used to indicate the commencement of the Seventy
years' Captivity in Babylon _Ib._ xxiv. 1.
599-8 Jehoiachin, king of Judah, reigns 3 months. Jerusalem taken by
Nebuchadnezzar. _Ib._ xxiv. 12.
-- Zedekiah, king of Judah under the Chaldeans, reigns 11 years
_Ib._ xxiv. 18.
595 The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel, in the thirtieth year after
the reformation of Josiah, by the river Chebar, in Babylon
Ezekiel i. 1.
589 The city of Jerusalem besieged by Nebuchadnezzar
2 Kings xxv. 1, 2.
588 Jeremiah in prison Jer. xxxvii. 15.
587 Destruction of Jerusalem; Zedekiah taken prisoner; the people
carried captive to Babylon 2 Kings xxv. 6, 9-11.
536 Return of the Jews to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in the 1st
year of the reign of Cyrus Ezra i. 1; ii. 2.
521 The building of the Temple interrupted by order of Smerdis,
called by Ezra, Artaxerxes _Ib._ iii. 8; iv. 1, 21, 24.
520 Recommencement of the building of the Temple in the 2nd year
of Darius, king of Persia _Ib._ iv. 24; vi. 7-14.
517 Completion and Dedication of the Temple _Ib._ vi. 15, 16.
457 Ezra goes to Judea with many of the Jews, by order of
Artaxerxes _Ib._ vii. 1-8.
444 Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem, rebuilds the walls, and governs
the city until 432 Nehem. i. 1; ii. 1; iii.
332 The great high-priest Jaddua receives Alexander the Great at
Jerusalem.
-- Palestine under Greek and Roman Dominion.
323 Ptolemy, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, surprises
and takes Jerusalem.
320 Many Jews in captivity at Alexandria.
314 Antiochus the Great subdues Palestine.
301 Ptolemy Epiphanes recovers Palestine.
292 Death of Simon the Just.
170 Antiochus Epiphanes lays waste the city of Jerusalem, pillages
the Temple, and builds a fortress to command it.
167 Mattathias begins the war of Jewish Independence.
165 Judas Maccabeus delivers his Country, purifies and restores
the Temple at Jerusalem.
164 Antiochus Eupator besieges the Temple at Jerusalem.
160 Jonathan succeeds his brother, Judas Maccabeus.
144 Jonathan undertakes to fortify Jerusalem.
143 Simon Maccabeus, general of the Jews, delivers his Nation from
Macedonian servitude; takes the fortress commanding the
Temple, which he razes to the ground, and destroys the hill
upon which it was built.
135 Simon Maccabeus treacherously killed.
129 Antiochus Soter besieges Hyrcanus in Jerusalem. Hyrcanus
causes the Sepulchre of David to be opened, and takes from
it three thousand talents.
107 Aristobulus, the eldest son of Hyrcanus, prince of the Jews,
causes himself to be crowned king. Death of his brother
Antigonus in the subterranean passages of Strato's Tower at
Jerusalem.
79 Death of Alexander Janneus.
65 Aretas, king of Arabia, besieges Aristobulus in Jerusalem.
64-63 Pompey besieges the Temple of Jerusalem.
63 After a siege of three months Pompey carries the Temple by
assault.
54 Crassus pillages the Temple of Jerusalem.
47 Cæsar permits Hyrcanus to rebuild the Walls of Jerusalem.
44 Herod besieges Jerusalem.
43 Cassius in Judea.
40 Jerusalem taken by the Parthians; Phazaelus killed.
-- Herod besieges Jerusalem; is proclaimed king at Rome.
38 Herod, assisted by Sosius, takes Jerusalem by storm.
17 Herod rebuilds the Temple and the fortress of Baris, which he
calls Antonia. In the upper town he builds the Cæsarean and
Agrippan palaces, and excavates a subterranean passage from
the Tower Antonia to the Eastern gate of the Temple.
12 Herod causes the Sepulchre of David to be opened.
7 Herod causes his sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, to be
condemned in a large assembly at Berytus.
5 Sabinus at Jerusalem seizes the treasures left by Herod.
4 Birth of Jesus Christ. The Vulgar Era commences four years
later.
4 Death of Herod, who is interred at Herodium, and succeeded by
Archelaus.
* * * * *
A.D.
26 Death of Augustus, succeeded by Tiberius.
-- Pilate supplies Jerusalem with water by means of Aqueducts.
28 Jesus Christ keeps the second Passover at Jerusalem.
31 Death of Jesus Christ.
37 Birth of Flavius Josephus at Jerusalem.
38 Agrippa named king of the Jews by Caius Caligula.
42 Claudius confirms Agrippa's title as king.
44 King Agrippa begins to fortify Jerusalem, but is forbidden to
continue the work by the emperor Claudius.
-- Izates, king of Adiabene, and queen Helena, his mother,
embrace Judaism.
46 Death of Herod, king of Chalcis. The emperor Claudius gives
his dominions to Agrippa, son of king Agrippa the Great.
47 The insolence of a Roman soldier causes the death of twenty
thousand Jews at Jerusalem.
52 Death of the emperor Claudius. Nero succeeds him.
60 King Agrippa builds an apartment whence he can see all that
goes on in the precincts of the Temple.
62 Ananias, the high-priest, puts S. James to death.
65 Albinus and Gessius Florus persecute the Jews.
66 Cestius Gallus enters Jerusalem, and would have taken the
Temple, had he not imprudently raised the siege.
-- Cestius defeated at Gibeon by the Jews.
-- The Christian Jews, guided by their bishop, Simon, retire
beyond the Jordan, to the town of Pella. (See Eusebius,
Hist. Eccles. III. 5.)
-- The Jews prepare for war with the Romans. The emperor Nero
confers the command of his Syrian armies upon Vespasian, to
make war upon the Jews.
67 Vespasian and Titus proceed to Ptolemais with an army of
sixty thousand men.
-- Flavius Josephus made prisoner by Vespasian.
68 Vespasian begins to blockade Jerusalem.
-- Flavius Josephus set at liberty by Vespasian, who is now
become emperor.
69 Vespasian despatches Titus to Judea, to take Jerusalem.
70 Titus arrives at Jerusalem, in which place Simon had ten
thousand men, besides five thousand Idumeans. John had
eight thousand four hundred men. Total twenty-three
thousand four hundred.
-- Titus takes the city of Jerusalem, and reduces it to ruins.
-- Titus returns to view Jerusalem.
136-8 Hadrian rebuilds Jerusalem, and calls it Ælia Capitolina.
306 Constantine proclaimed emperor.
326 The emperor Constantine and his mother Helena build many
churches in Palestine.
335 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre completed.
363 Under the reign of Julian the Apostate the Jews attempt to
rebuild the Temple.
396 Palestine a province of the Eastern Empire.
420 Patriarchate of Tiberius came to an end under Theodosius II.
436 Under the reign of Marcian, the general Council of Chalcedon
raises the Church of Jerusalem to the Patriarchal dignity.
527-565 Justinian, emperor of the East, builds churches in Palestine.
614 Chosroes II. enters Palestine and destroys the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.
629 The emperor Heraclius carries back to Jerusalem the wood of
the Cross restored by Chosroes.
-- The Greek monk, Modestus, afterwards Patriarch, determines to
rebuild the Church of the Sepulchre.
636 Omar becomes master of Jerusalem under a capitulation arranged
with Sophronius the patriarch.
637 Omar orders the construction of a Mosque upon the site of the
Jewish Temple, and converts the basilica of S. Mary of
Justinian into the Mosque el-Aksa.
687-690 The Caliph Abd-el-Melik Ibn-Merwan erects the Mosque of Omar.
748 and subsequently. The Christians inhabit a separate quarter
of Jerusalem, and pay tribute.
786-809 Haroun-er-Raschid presents the keys of the Holy Sepulchre to
Charlemagne, king of the French.
842 Under the Caliphate of Al-Motassim, Tamim, surnamed Abu-Harb,
marches to Jerusalem and threatens to burn the churches,
but retires after receiving a sum of money.
878 Syria and Palestine conquered by Ahmed-ben-Touloun.
929-950 Interruption of the pilgrimages to Mecca, owing to the
invasion of the Carmathians; the Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem
replaces the Caaba.
936 Abubeker-Mohammed, surnamed Ikshide, makes himself master of
Palestine.
945 The eunuch Cafour master of Palestine until his death in 968.
972 Palestine in the power of Moezz-Ledin-Allah, caliph of the
dynasty of the Fatimites.
996 The caliph Al-Hakem-Biamr-Allah ascends the throne of Egypt.
1010 Hakem-Biamr-Allah destroys the Church of the Sepulchre at
Jerusalem.
1046 The Church of the Sepulchre rebuilt under caliph
Al-Mostanser-Billah. The emperor Constantine Monomachus
gives large sums towards the work.
1071 Atsiz takes Jerusalem from caliph Al-Mostanser-Billah, and
pillages many of the churches.
1095 Al-Mastaali-Billah, caliph of Egypt, sends an army to
Palestine under the command of Al-Afdhal-ibn-Bedr; Jerusalem
capitulates after 40 days' siege.
-- At the general Council of Clermont Peter the Hermit appears by
the side of Pope Urban II., and the Crusade is determined.
1099 The Crusaders, commanded by Godfrey of Bouillon, take
Jerusalem, Friday, July 15th.
1100 Death of Godfrey of Bouillon in the month of July.
1118 Death of Baldwin I.
1131 Death of Baldwin II.
-- Under the reign of Baldwin II. the military and religious
orders of S. John, or Hospitalers and Knights of the Temple,
are approved by the Pope.
1142 Fulk, count of Anjou, dies at Ptolemais.
1146 The second Crusade decided upon in the Assembly of Vezelay,
March 31st. Undertaken by Louis VII., king of France, and
Conrad, emperor of Germany, under the pontificate of
Eugenius III.
1162 Baldwin III. dies at Beyrout.
1173 Death of Amaury. This king witnessed the birth and development
of the power of Saladin.
1185 Death of Baldwin IV.
1186 Death of Baldwin V.
1187 Saladin destroys the army of Guy of Lusignan, July 4.
-- The Christians of Jerusalem capitulate to Saladin, October
2nd.
1189 Third Crusade under the pontificate of Clement III., Philip
Augustus, king of France, Richard Coeur de Lion, king of
England, Frederic Barbarossa, emperor of Germany.
1190 Death of Frederic Barbarossa on the Cydnus.
1191 Siege and capture of S. Jean d'Acre by Richard Coeur de Lion
and Philip Augustus.
1193 Death of Saladin at Damascus, the night of March 3rd.
1203 Fourth Crusade under the pontificate of Innocent III.
1205 Amaury II. dies in the Spring.
1212 Crusade of the fifty thousand children.
1217 Fifth Crusade under the pontificate of Honorius III.
1219 Francis of Assisi in Palestine.
1229 Sixth Crusade under the pontificate of Gregory IX. The sultan,
Malek-Kamel, cedes Jerusalem to Frederic without combat.
1239 The Christians reconstruct the ramparts of Jerusalem, with
Thibaut, count of Champagne, and king of Navarre; but the
prince of Kerek enters the city and destroys the new
fortifications and the Tower of David.
1240 Richard of Cornwall, brother of Henry III., king of England,
arrives in Palestine with an army of English Crusaders.
1244 The Tartars under Gengis Khan take and destroy Jerusalem.
-- Palestine remains in possession of the Egyptians.
1248 Louis IX. undertakes a Crusade under the pontificate of
Innocent IV.
1254 Louis IX. abandons Palestine upon the news of queen Blanche's
death.
1270 Louis IX. undertakes a fresh Crusade.
-- Louis IX. dies at Tunis, August 25th.
1271 Prince Edward, son of Henry III. of England, in the East. He
is wounded with a dagger by an emissary of the Old Man of
the Mountain, but is saved by the princess Eleanor, his
wife.
1291 The Crusaders lose S. Jean d'Acre, their last possession in
Palestine.
1313 Robert of Anjou, king of Naples, causes the disciples of
S. Francis of Assisi to be admitted into Jerusalem.
1491 The Franciscans of Mount Sion dispersed in the reign of sultan
Malec-dhaher-djahmak.
1517-18 Selim I., sultan of Constantinople, conquers Syria and
Palestine.
1534 Sultan Solyman, son of Selim I., builds the wall of the city,
together with many edifices and fountains.
1799 Napoleon Bonaparte in Palestine.
1832 Conquest of Syria and Palestine by Ibrahim Pasha.
1841 Syria and Palestine restored to the Sultan.
1859 Surraya Pasha, governor of Palestine, subdues the chiefs of
the country, and restores tranquillity.
1860 Massacre of the Christians in the Lebanon and at Damascus.
Palestine remains tranquil under the good government of
Surraya Pasha.
PRINCIPAL PASSAGES FROM THE HOLY BIBLE
BEARING UPON THE STATEMENTS IN THE TEXT.
GENESIS.
[Sidenote: Valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.]
"And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the
slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the
valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale." xiv. 17. (page 1.)
[Sidenote: Salem.]
"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine." xiv. 18.
(p. 1.)
[Sidenote: Moriah.]
"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." xxii. 2.
(pp. 17, 46.)
[Sidenote: Jehovah-jireh.]
"And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said
to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." xxii. 14. (pp.
17, 46.)
EXODUS.
[Sidenote: Altar of stone.]
"And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of
hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted
it." xx. 25. (p. 54.)
"Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness
be not discovered thereon." xx. 26. (p. 89.)
LEVITICUS.
[Sidenote: Altar.]
"And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the
Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round
about upon the altar." i. 11. (pp. 50, 89.)
[Sidenote: Place of the ashes.]
"And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside
the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes." i. 16. (pp. 50,
92.)
DEUTERONOMY.
[Sidenote: Altar of stones.]
"And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of
stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them." xxvii. 5. (p.
54.)
[Sidenote: Of whole stones.]
"Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones: and
thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God." xxvii.
6. (p. 54.)
JOSHUA.
[Sidenote: Jerusalem.]
"Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem had heard how
Joshua had taken Ai," &c. x. 1. (pp. 1, 2.)
[Sidenote: Jebusites.]
"As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of
Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the
children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." xv. 63. (p. 2.)
[Sidenote: Valley of the son of Hinnom.]
[Sidenote: Valley of the giants. En-Rogel.]
"And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before
the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the
giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side
of Jebusi on the south, and descended to En-rogel." xviii. 16. (pp. 17,
22, 188, 204, 290.)
JUDGES.
[Sidenote: Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem.]
"And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that
inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of
Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day." i. 21. (pp. 2, 22.)
[Sidenote: Jebus, which is Jerusalem.]
"But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed,
and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him
two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him." xix. 10. (p. 1.)
2 SAMUEL.
[Sidenote: David went to Jerusalem.]
"And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the
inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou
take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither:
thinking, David cannot come in hither." v. 6. (pp. 2, 16, 22.)
[Sidenote: Stronghold of Zion. City of David.]
"Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the city of
David." v. 7. (pp. 2, 16, 22, 210.)
[Sidenote: Millo.]
"So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David
built round about from Millo and inward." v. 9. (pp. 2, 16, 22, 23, 24,
210.)
[Sidenote: Hiram. Masons.]
"And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar-trees, and
carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house." v. 11. (p. 22.)
[Sidenote: Valley of Rephaim.]
"The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of
Rephaim." v. 18. (p. 194.)
[Sidenote: Mount Olivet.]
"And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went
up," &c. xv. 30. (p. 21.)
[Sidenote: Absalom.]
"And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and
laid a very great heap of stones upon him; and all Israel fled every one
to his tent." xviii. 17. (p. 182.)
[Sidenote: His place.]
"Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a
pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep
my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and
it is called unto this day, Absalom's place." xviii. 18. (pp. 47, 182.)
[Sidenote: Araunah the Jebusite.]
"And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it,
the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed
the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord
was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite." xxiv. 16. (pp. 24,
46.)
[Sidenote: Altar on his threshingfloor.]
"And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar
unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite." xxiv. 18.
(pp. 24, 46.)
"So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of
silver." xxiv. 24. (pp. 24, 46.)
"And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land,
and the plague was stayed from Israel." xxiv. 25. (pp. 24, 46.)
1 KINGS.
[Sidenote: En-Rogel.]
"And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of
Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king's
sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants." i. 9. (pp. 188,
290.)
[Sidenote: Gihon.]
"So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused
Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon." i.
38. (p. 21.)
"And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had
made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he
said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?" i. 41.
(p. 290.)
[Sidenote: David buried.]
"So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David."
ii. 10. (p. 210.)
[Sidenote: Solomon, and the wall of Jerusalem.]
"And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took
Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had
made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and
the wall of Jerusalem round about." iii. 1. (p. 24.)
[Sidenote: Builders of Solomon and Hiram.]
"And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the
stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house."
v. 18. (p. 48.)
[Sidenote: House which king Solomon built for the Lord.]
"And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof
was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the
height thereof thirty cubits." vi. 2. (p. 49.)
[Sidenote: Stone.]
"And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready
before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe
nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building." vi.
7. (p. 48.)
[Sidenote: Oracle.]
"And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of
the covenant of the Lord." vi. 19. (p. 49.)
[Sidenote: Altar.]
"And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty
cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he
overlaid it with pure gold." vi. 20. (p. 49.)
[Sidenote: Stones.]
"All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed
stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation
unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court." vii. 9.
(p. 48.)
"And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of
ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits." vii. 10. (p. 48.)
[Sidenote: Millo and the wall of Jerusalem.]
"And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to
build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall
of Jerusalem." ix. 15. (pp. 24, 25.)
"But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house
which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo." ix. 24. (p.
25.)
[Sidenote: High places in the hill before Jerusalem.]
"Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of
Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the
abomination of the children of Ammon." xi. 7. (p. 21, 204.)
[Sidenote: Millo.]
"And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king:
Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his
father." xi. 27. (pp. 24, 25.)
[Sidenote: Solomon buried.]
"And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David
his father." xi. 43. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Shishak.]
"And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak
king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem." xiv. 25. (pp. 2, 50.)
[Sidenote: Rehoboam buried.]
"And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in
the city of David." xiv. 31. (p. 310.)
2 KINGS.
[Sidenote: Ahaziah buried.]
"And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him
in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David." ix. 28. (p.
310.)
[Sidenote: Joash, House of Millo, Silla.]
"And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the
house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla." xii. 20. (pp. 25, 253.)
[Sidenote: Conduit of upper pool.]
"And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from
Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they
went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and
stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the
fuller's field." xviii. 17. (pp. 39, 241, 252.)
[Sidenote: The people on the wall.]
"Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto
Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language;
for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the
ears of the people that are on the wall." xviii. 26. (p. 252.)
[Sidenote: Hezekiah.]
[Sidenote: Pool. Conduit. Water into the city.]
"And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he
made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?" xx.
20. (pp. 14, 24, 25, 32.)
"And Hezekiah slept with his fathers." xx. 21. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Manasseh buried in the garden of Uzza.]
"And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of
his own house, in the garden of Uzza." xxi. 18. (pp. 184, 310.)
[Sidenote: Amon buried in same place.]
"And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza." xxi. 26.
(pp. 184, 310.)
[Sidenote: Huldah.]
"So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and
Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of
Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in
Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her." xxii. 14. (pp.
25, 70.)
[Sidenote: Josiah. The graves of the children of the people.]
"And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without
Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and
stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves
of the children of the people." xxiii. 6. (pp. 39, 168.)
[Sidenote: Topheth, Hinnom.]
"And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of
Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through
the fire to Molech." xxiii. 10. (pp. 21, 310.)
[Sidenote: Places before Jerusalem.]
"And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right
hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon," &c. xxiii. 13. (p. 21.)
[Sidenote: Josiah buried.]
"And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and
brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre." xxiii.
30. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Nebuchadnezzar.]
"At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up
against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged." xxiv. 10. (pp. 2, 50.)
"And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the
mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen
and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the
land." xxiv. 14. (pp. 2, 50.)
[Sidenote: Gate between two walls. King's garden.]
"And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the
way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now
the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the
way toward the plain." xxv. 4. (pp. 26, 182, 188.)
[Sidenote: Nebuzar-adan came unto Jerusalem.]
"And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the
nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came
Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon,
unto Jerusalem." xxv. 8. (p. 2.)
[Sidenote: Burnt the house of the Lord, &c.]
"And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the
houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire."
xxv. 9. (pp. 2, 50.)
[Sidenote: Walls of Jerusalem.]
"And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the
guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about." xxv. 10. (p. 2.)
[Sidenote: People that remained.]
"But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be
vinedressers and husbandmen." xxv. 12. (p. 50.)
1 CHRONICLES.
[Sidenote: Castle of Zion. City of David.]
"And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither.
Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David."
xi. 5. (pp. 2, 16.)
"And David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city of
David." xi. 7. (p. 22.)
[Sidenote: Works of David and Joab.]
"And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about: and
Joab repaired the rest of the city." xi. 8. (pp. 23, 24.)
[Sidenote: Ornan the Jebusite.]
"Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David
should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of
Ornan the Jebusite." xxi. 18. (pp. 24, 46.)
"So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by
weight." xxi. 25. (p. 46.)
[Sidenote: David built there an altar, &c.]
"And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered
him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering." xxi. 26. (p.
46.)
2 CHRONICLES.
[Sidenote: Moriah.]
"Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount
Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that
David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite." iii. 1.
(pp. 17, 24.)
[Sidenote: House of God.]
"Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the
building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first
measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits." iii. 3.
(p. 48.)
"And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to
the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty
cubits." iii. 8. (p. 48.)
[Sidenote: Altar of brass.]
"Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof,
and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height
thereof." iv. 1. (p. 49.)
[Sidenote: Solomon buried.]
"And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of
David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead." ix. 31.
(p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Asa buried.]
"And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for
himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled
with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the
apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him." xvi. 14.
(p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Jehoram buried.]
"Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned
in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit
they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the
kings." xxi. 20. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Athaliah.]
"So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the
horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there." xxiii. 15. (p.
26.)
[Sidenote: Joash buried.]
"And they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in
the sepulchres of the kings." xxiv. 25. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Amaziah buried.]
"And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in
the city of Judah." xxv. 28. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Uzziah built towers at the corner gate and valley gate.]
"Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at
the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them."
xxvi. 9. (p. 26.)
[Sidenote: Uzziah buried.]
"So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers
in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said,
He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead." xxvi. 23. (p.
310.)
[Sidenote: Jotham. Ophel.]
"He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of
Ophel he built much." xxvii. 3. (p. 25.)
[Sidenote: Ahaz buried.]
"And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even
in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings
of Israel." xxviii. 27. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Hezekiah stopped the waters of the fountains.]
"He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters
of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him."
xxxii. 3. (pp. 241, 252.)
[Sidenote: The people stopped all the fountains.]
"So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the
fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying,
Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?" xxxii. 4.
(pp. 241, 252.)
[Sidenote: Hezekiah repaired Millo.]
"Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was
broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and
repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in
abundance." xxxii. 5. (pp. 25, 252.)
[Sidenote: Stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon.]
"This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and
brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David." xxxii.
30. (pp. 21, 241, 251, 252.)
[Sidenote: Hezekiah buried.]
"And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David." xxxii. 33. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Manasseh built on the west side of Gihon. Ophel.]
"Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west
side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate,
and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height."
xxxiii. 14. (pp. 2, 17, 21, 26.)
[Sidenote: Manasseh buried.]
"So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own
house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead." xxxiii. 20. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Chaldees burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of
Jerusalem.]
"And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem,
and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the
goodly vessels thereof." xxxvi. 19. (p. 50.)
EZRA.
[Sidenote: House of God. Zerubbabel.]
"But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were
ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this
house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many
shouted aloud for joy." iii. 12. (p. 51.)
[Sidenote: Zerubbabel builds the house of God.]
"Then rose up Zerubbabel, ... and began to build the house of God which
is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them."
v. 2. (p. 51.)
[Sidenote: House of God. Cyrus.]
"In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a
decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be
builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the
foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore
cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits." vi. 3. (p. 51.)
NEHEMIAH.
[Sidenote: Gate of the valley. Dragon well. Dung port.]
"And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the
dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem,
which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire."
ii. 13. (pp. 27, 286.)
[Sidenote: Gate of the fountain. King's pool.]
"Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but
there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass." ii. 14. (p.
286.)
[Sidenote: The sheep gate. Tower Meah. Tower Hananeel.]
"Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests,
and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the
doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the
tower of Hananeel." iii. 1. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Fish gate.]
"But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build." iii. 3. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Old gate repaired.]
"Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and
Meshullam the son of Besodeiah." iii. 6. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: The broad wall.]
"... and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall." iii. 8. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Tower of the furnaces.]
"... repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces." iii. 11.
(p. 27.)
[Sidenote: The valley gate. The dung gate.]
"The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they
built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars
thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate." iii. 13.
(pp. 27, 286.)
[Sidenote: The dung gate.]
"But the dung gate repaired Malchiah." iii. 14. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Gate of the fountain. Pool of Siloah. King's garden. The
stairs, &c.]
"But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun ... he built it ... and
the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs
that go down from the city of David." iii. 15. (pp. 27, 185, 210.)
[Sidenote: Sepulchres of David. Pool that was made.]
"After him repaired Nehemiah ... unto the place over against the
sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made." iii. 16. (pp. 27,
210.)
[Sidenote: Ophel. The water gate.]
"Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the
water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out." iii. 26. (p.
27.)
[Sidenote: Wall of Ophel.]
"After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great
tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Ophel." iii. 27. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: The east gate.]
"... After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper
of the east gate." iii. 29. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Building of the wall.]
"They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those
that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and
with the other hand held a weapon." iv. 17. (p. 285.)
[Sidenote: Building of the wall.]
"For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so
builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me." iv. 18. (p. 285.)
[Sidenote: Wall finished.]
"So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul,
in fifty and two days." vi. 15. (p. 285.)
[Sidenote: Plain country round about Jerusalem.]
"And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of
the plain country round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of
Netophathi." xii. 28. (p. 43.)
[Sidenote: Villages round about Jerusalem.]
"Also from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and
Azmaveth: for the singers had builded them villages round about
Jerusalem." xii. 29. (p. 43.)
[Sidenote: Dung gate.]
"Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two
great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right
hand upon the wall toward the dung gate." xii. 31. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Fountain and Water gates, Stairs, &c.]
"And at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they went up by
the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the
house of David, even unto the water gate eastward." xii. 37. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Tower of the furnaces. Broad wall.]
"And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them,
and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond
the tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall." xii. 38. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Gates, and Tower of Hananeel.]
"And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above
the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even
unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate." xii. 39.
(pp. 27, 144, 286.)
ECCLESIASTES.
[Sidenote: Gardens.]
"I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind
of fruits." ii. 5. (p. 246.)
[Sidenote: Pools.]
"I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth
forth trees." ii. 6. (p. 246.)
ISAIAH.
[Sidenote: Upper pool. Fuller's field.]
"Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and
Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the
highway of the fuller's field." vii. 3. (pp. 241, 251.)
[Sidenote: Waters of Shiloah.]
"Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly,
and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son." viii. 6. (p. 185.)
[Sidenote: Lower pool.]
"Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are
many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool." xxii. 9.
(p. 209.)
[Sidenote: Of the old pool.]
"Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old
pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect
unto him that fashioned it long ago." xxii. 11. (p. 31.)
[Sidenote: Kings of Assyria. Conduit of upper pool. Fuller's field.]
"And the king of Assyria sent Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto
king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the
upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field." xxxvi. 2. (p. 39.)
[Sidenote: People on the wall.]
"Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray
thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it:
and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people
that are on the wall." xxxvi. 11. (p. 252.)
"Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose
early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." xxxvii. 36.
(p. 241.)
JEREMIAH.
[Sidenote: Tophet. Hinnom.]
"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more
be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of
slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place." vii.
32. (pp. 21, 205.)
[Sidenote: Hinnom. East gate.]
"And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the
entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell
thee." xix. 2. (p. 286.)
[Sidenote: Tophet.]
"And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I
break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel,
that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet,
till there be no place to bury." xix. 11. (pp. 21, 205, 206.)
[Sidenote: Gate of Benjamin.]
"Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that
were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord."
xx. 2. (p. 26.)
[Sidenote: Jehoiakim's burial.]
"He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem." xxii. 19. (p. 310.)
[Sidenote: Graves of the common people.]
"And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto
Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body
into the graves of the common people." xxvi. 23. (pp. 39, 168.)
[Sidenote: Gate of the corner. Tower of Hananeel.]
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to
the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner." xxxi.
38. (p. 26.)
[Sidenote: Gareb. Goath.]
"And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill
Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath." xxxi. 39. (p. 18.)
[Sidenote: Valley of the dead bodies, &c.]
[Sidenote: Horse gate.]
"And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the
fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate
toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked
up, nor thrown down any more for ever." xxxi. 40. (p. 26.)
[Sidenote: Jeremiah's dungeon.]
"When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and
Jeremiah had remained there many days." xxxvii. 16. (p. 229.)
[Sidenote: Bakers' street.]
"Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into
the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of
bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were
spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison." xxxvii. 21.
(p. 229.)
[Sidenote: Gate between the two walls. King's garden.]
"Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went
forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two
walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the
city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain." lii. 7. (pp.
26, 188.)
[Sidenote: People carried away captive.]
"This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the
seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty." lii. 28. (p.
50.)
"In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from
Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons." lii. 29. (p. 50.)
"In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzar-adan the
captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred
forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six
hundred." lii. 30. (p. 50.)
EZEKIEL.
[Sidenote: Cubits.]
"And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the
man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand
breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the
height, one reed." xl. 5. (p. 283.)
[Sidenote: Tables of sin offering.]
"And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two
tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin
offering and the trespass offering." xl. 39. (pp. 55, 91.)
[Sidenote: North gate, tables.]
"And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north
gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of
the gate, were two tables." xl. 40. (p. 50, 55, 91.)
[Sidenote: Cubits.]
"I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the
side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits." xli. 8. (p. 283.)
[Sidenote: East Gate.]
"And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate
whose prospect is towards the east." xliii. 4. (p. 27.)
[Sidenote: Carcases of the kings.]
"... shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their
kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their
high places." xliii. 7.
"Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings,
far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever." xliii. 9.
[Sidenote: Cubit.]
"And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is
a cubit and an hand breadth." xliii. 13. (pp. 49, 283.)
[Sidenote: Waters.]
"Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold,
waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for
the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came
down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of
the altar." xlvii. 1. (p. 256.)
JOEL.
[Sidenote: Valley of Jehoshaphat.]
"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the
valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and
for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and
parted my land." iii. 2. (pp. 168, 307.)
[Sidenote: Valley of Jehoshaphat.]
"Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:
for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about." iii. 12.
(pp. 168, 307.)
MICAH.
[Sidenote: Zion a field.]
"Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem
shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of
the forest." iii. 12. (pp. 3, 193.)
ZEPHANIAH.
[Sidenote: Fish gate. Second gate.]
"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall
be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the
second, and a great crashing from the hills." i. 10. (pp. 25, 26.)
S. MATTHEW.
[Sidenote: Fig tree.]
"And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing
thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee
henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away." xxi.
19. (p. 204.)
[Sidenote: Gethsemane.]
"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith
unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder." xxvi. 36.
(p. 177.)
[Sidenote: Jesus prayed.]
"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless
not as I will, but as thou wilt." xxvi. 39. (p. 177.)
[Sidenote: Disciples asleep.]
"And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith
unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?" xxvi. 40. (p.
179.)
[Sidenote: Judas.]
"And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with
him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and
elders of the people." xxvi. 47. (p. 179.)
[Sidenote: Betrayal.]
"Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall
kiss, that same is he: hold him fast." xxvi. 48. (p. 179.)
[Sidenote: Caiaphas.]
"And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high
priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled." xxvi. 57. (p.
220.)
[Sidenote: St. Peter.]
"Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him,
saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee." xxvi. 69. (p. 221.)
[Sidenote: S. Peter's denial.]
"But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest."
xxvi. 70. (p. 221.)
[Sidenote: S. Peter wept bitterly.]
"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the
cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept
bitterly." xxvi. 75. (p. 221.)
[Sidenote: Potter's field.]
"And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury
strangers in." xxvii. 7. (p. 206.)
[Sidenote: Field of Blood.]
"Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day."
xxvii. 8. (p. 206.)
[Sidenote: Crown of thorns.]
"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head,
and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and
mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!" xxvii. 29. (p. 138.)
[Sidenote: Crucify him.]
"And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him,
and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him." xxvii.
31. (p. 138.)
[Sidenote: Cyrenian, Simon by name.]
"And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him
they compelled to bear his cross." xxvii. 32. (p. 142.)
[Sidenote: Golgotha.]
"And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a
place of a skull." xxvii. 33. (pp. 107, 122.)
[Sidenote: Parting the garments.]
"And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots." xxvii.
35.
[Sidenote: Rocks rent.]
"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to
the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent." xxvii. 51.
[Sidenote: Joseph.]
"And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen
cloth," xxvii. 59. (p. 103.)
[Sidenote: New tomb.]
"And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and
he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed."
xxvii. 60. (p. 103.)
[S. Mary Magdalene.]
"And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against
the sepulchre." xxvii. 61. (p. 104.)
[Sidenote: Angel rolled back the stone.]
"And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,
and sat upon it." xxviii. 2. (pp. 116, 118.)
S. MARK.
[Sidenote: Passover.]
"And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The
Master saith, Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover
with my disciples?" xiv. 14. (p. 216.)
[Sidenote: Large upper room.]
"And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there
make ready for us." xiv. 15. (p. 216.)
[Sidenote: Sepulchre.]
"And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the
right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted."
xvi. 5. (p. 118.)
S. LUKE.
[Sidenote: The rich man (Dives).]
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day." xvi. 19. (p. 142.)
[Sidenote: Lazarus.]
"And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his
gate, full of sores." xvi. 20. (p. 142.)
[Sidenote: Jesus wept over the city.]
"And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it." xix.
41. (p. 190.)
[Sidenote: Coenaculum.]
"And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready."
xxii. 12. (p. 216.)
[Sidenote: Gethsemane.]
"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." xxii. 44. (p.
177.)
[Sidenote: Herod. Pilate.]
"And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and
arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate." xxiii.
11. (p. 141.)
[Sidenote: Daughters of Jerusalem.]
"But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for
me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children." xxiii. 28. (p.
144.)
[Sidenote: Sepulchre hewn in stone.]
"And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a
sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid."
xxiii. 53. (p. 103.)
[Sidenote: Emmaus.]
"And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus,
which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs." xxiv. 13.
[Sidenote: Bethany.]
"And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands,
and blessed them." xxiv. 50. (p. 191.)
S. JOHN.
[Sidenote: Temple.]
"Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building,
and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" ii. 20. (pp. 53, 55.)
[Sidenote: Bethesda.]
"Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called
in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches." v. 2. (pp. 59, 66.)
"And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and
walked: and on the same day was the sabbath." v. 9. (p. 66.)
[Sidenote: Siloam.]
"And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by
interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came
seeing." ix. 7. (pp. 185, 187.)
[Sidenote: Bethany.]
"Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off." xi.
18. (p. 201.)
[Sidenote: Cave of Lazarus.]
"Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it." xi. 38. (p. 201.)
[Sidenote: Raising of Lazarus.]
"And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth." xi. 43. (p. 201.)
[Sidenote: Cedron. Garden.]
"When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples
over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered,
and his disciples." xviii. 1. (pp. 170, 177.)
[Sidenote: Annas. Caiaphas.]
"And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas,
which was the high priest that same year." xviii. 13. (p. 156.)
[Sidenote: Pilate.]
"Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and
said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?" xviii. 33. (pp. 135, 137,
295.)
[Sidenote: Scourged by Pilate.]
"Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him." xix. 1. (p. 139.)
[Sidenote: Pavement. Gabbatha.]
"When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and
sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement,
but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha." xix. 13. (p. 295.)
[Sidenote: Golgotha.]
"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a
skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha." xix. 17. (pp. 107, 122.)
[Sidenote: Place of Crucifixion.]
"This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was
crucified was nigh to the city: and it was Written in Hebrew, and Greek,
and Latin." xix. 20. (p. 103.)
[Sidenote: Garments of Jesus.]
"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments,
and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the
coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout." xix. 23.
[Sidenote: Garden. New Sepulchre.]
"Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the
garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid." xix. 41. (pp.
32, 103, 104.)
[Sidenote: nigh at hand.]
"There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day;
for the sepulchre was nigh at hand." xix. 42. (p. 104.)
[Sidenote: Gardener.]
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She,
supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him
away." xx. 15.
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
[Sidenote: Ascension.]
"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken
up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." i. 9. (p. 191.)
[Sidenote: Ye men of Galilee.]
"Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." i 11. (p. 191.)
[Sidenote: Sabbath-day's journey.]
"Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which
is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey." i. 12. (pp. 21, 191, 284.)
[Sidenote: Aceldama.]
"And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that
field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The
field of blood." i. 19. (p. 206.)
[Sidenote: Pentecost.]
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place." ii. 1. (p. 217.)
[Sidenote: Sepulchre of David.]
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this
day." ii. 29. (p. 211.)
[Sidenote: Gate of the temple.]
"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they
laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask
alms of them that entered into the temple." iii. 2.
[Sidenote: S. Stephen stoned.]
"And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid
down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." vii. 58.
(pp. 168, 223.)
[Sidenote: S. James martyred.]
"And he killed James the brother of John with the sword." xii. 2. (p.
157.)
PASSAGES FROM JOSEPHUS'S ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS,
TAKEN FROM THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF
WILLIAM WHISTON, A.M.
[Sidenote: King of Salem.]
[Sidenote: King's Dale.]
"So Abram, when he had saved the captive Sodomites, who had been taken
by the Assyrians, and Lot also, his kinsman, returned home in peace. Now
the king of Sodom met him at a certain place, which they called the
King's Dale, where Melchisedec, king of the city Salem, received him.
That name signifies the righteous king; and such he was, without
dispute, insomuch that, on this account, he was made the priest of God:
however, they afterwards called Salem Jerusalem." Book I. chap. X. par.
2.
[Sidenote: King of Jerusalem.]
"But the king of Jerusalem took it to heart, that the Gibeonites had
gone over to Joshua; so he called upon the kings of the neighbouring
nations to join together, and make war against them." V. I. 17.
[Sidenote: The allies, that is, the tribes of Judah and Simeon. The
lower city.]
"And when they had taken the greatest part of them [the cities], they
besieged Jerusalem; and when they had taken the lower city, which was
not under a considerable time, they slew all the inhabitants; but the
upper city was not to be taken without great difficulty, through the
strength of its walls, and the nature of the place." V. II. 2.
[Sidenote: David takes the city by assault.]
"Now the Jebusites, who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and were by
extraction Canaanites, shut their gates, and placed the blind, and the
lame, and all their maimed persons, upon the wall, in way of derision of
the king; and said, that the very lame themselves would hinder his
entrance into it. This they did out of contempt of his power, and as
depending on the strength of their walls. David was hereby enraged, and
began the siege of Jerusalem, and employed his utmost diligence and
alacrity therein, as intending by the taking of this place to
demonstrate his power, and to intimidate all others that might be of the
like [evil] disposition towards him; so he took the lower city by force,
but the citadel held out still; whence it was that the king, knowing
that the proposal of dignities and rewards would encourage the soldiers
to greater actions, promised that he who should first go over the
ditches that were beneath the citadel, and should ascend to the citadel
itself and take it, should have the command of the entire people
conferred upon him. So they all were ambitious to ascend, and thought no
pains too great in order to ascend thither; out of their desire of the
chief command. However, Joab, the son of Zeruiah, prevented the rest;
and as soon as he was got up to the citadel, cried out to the king, and
claimed the chief command." VII. III. 1.
[Sidenote: City of David.]
"When David had cast the Jebusites out of the citadel, he also rebuilt
Jerusalem, and named it, 'The City of David,' and abode there all the
time of his reign." VII. III. 2.
[Sidenote: Hiram, king of Tyre.]
[Sidenote: The lower city united with the upper.]
"Hiram also, the king of the Tyrians, sent ambassadors to him, and made
a league of mutual friendship and assistance with him. He also sent him
presents, cedar-trees and mechanics, and men skilful in building and
architecture, that they might build him a royal palace at Jerusalem. Now
David made buildings round about the lower city: he also joined the
citadel to it, and made it one body; and when he had encompassed all
with walls, he appointed Joab to take care of them. It was David,
therefore, who first cast the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, and called it
by his own name, the City of David: for under our forefather, Abraham,
it was called [Salem or] Solyma." VII. III. 2.
[Sidenote: Araunah the Jebusite is saved by David.]
"I shall now make mention of Araunah, who was a wealthy man among the
Jebusites, but was not slain by David in the siege of Jerusalem, because
of the good-will he bore to the Hebrews, and a particular benignity and
affection which he had to the king himself, which I shall take a more
seasonable opportunity to speak a little of afterwards." VII. III. 3.
[Sidenote: Tomb of Absalom.]
"Joab's armour-bearers stood round about the tree, and pulled down his
dead body, and cast it into a great chasm that was out of sight, and
laid a heap of stones upon him till the cavity was filled up, and had
both the appearance and bigness of a grave." VII. X. 2.
[Sidenote: Absalom's Pillar. King's Dale.]
"Now Absalom had erected for himself a marble pillar in the king's dale,
two furlongs distant from Jerusalem, which he named Absalom's Hand."
VII. X. 3.
[Sidenote: Gibeon forty furlongs from Jerusalem.]
"And when he was come to Gibeon, which is a village forty furlongs
distant from Jerusalem." VII. XI. 7.
[Sidenote: Altar in the threshing floor of Araunah.]
"And sent Gad the prophet to him, and commanded him to go up immediately
to the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite, and build an altar
there to God, and offer sacrifices." VII. XIII. 4.
[Sidenote: Mount Moriah.]
"Now it happened that Abraham came and offered his son Isaac for a
burnt-offering at that very place." VII. XIII. 4.
[Sidenote: Place of the temple.]
"Now when king David saw that God had heard his prayer, and had
graciously accepted of his sacrifice, he resolved to call that entire
place the altar of all the people, and to build a temple to God there."
VII. XIII. 4.
[Sidenote: David buried at Jerusalem.]
"He was buried by his son Solomon, in Jerusalem, with great
magnificence, and with all the other funeral pomp which kings used to be
buried with; moreover, he had great and immense wealth buried with him."
VII. XV. 3.
[Sidenote: Solomon fortifies Jerusalem.]
"He married the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and built the walls
of Jerusalem, much larger and stronger than those that had been before,
and thenceforward he managed public affairs very peaceably." VIII. II.
1.
[Sidenote: Foundations of the temple.]
"Now, therefore, the king laid the foundations of the temple very deep
in the ground, and the materials were strong stones, and such as would
resist the force of time." VIII. III. 2.
[Sidenote: Dimensions of the temple.]
"Now when the king had divided the temple into two parts, he made the
inner house of twenty cubits [every way] to be the most secret chamber,
but he appointed that of forty cubits to be the sanctuary." VIII. III.
3.
[Sidenote: Altar of burnt offerings.]
"Solomon made the altar which he built for the burnt-offerings twenty
cubits long, twenty broad, and ten high." VIII. III. 7.
[Sidenote: Size of the stones.]
"Some of these [houses] Solomon built with stones of ten cubits." VIII.
V. 2.
[Sidenote: Solomon increases the fortifications of Jerusalem.]
"Now when the king saw that the walls of Jerusalem stood in need of
being better secured, and made stronger (for he thought the walls that
encompassed Jerusalem ought to correspond to the dignity of the city),
he both repaired them, and made them higher, with great towers upon
them." VIII. VI. 1.
[Sidenote: Jeroboam.]
"And when Solomon saw that he was of an active and bold disposition, he
made him the curator of the walls which he built round Jerusalem." VIII.
VII. 7.
[Sidenote: Solomon interred at Jerusalem.]
"So Solomon died when he was already an old man, having reigned eighty
years, and lived ninety-four. He was buried in Jerusalem." VIII. VII. 8.
[Sidenote: The Egyptian king Shishak at Jerusalem.]
"So when Shishak had taken the city without fighting, because Rehoboam
was afraid, and received him into it, yet did not Shishak stand to the
covenants he had made, but he spoiled the temple, and emptied the
treasures of God, and those of the king, and carried off innumerable ten
thousands of gold and silver, and left nothing at all behind him." VIII.
X. 3.
[Sidenote: Destruction of Sennacherib's army.]
"Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem,
he found his army, under Rabshakeh his general, in danger [by a plague,
for] God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the
very first night of the siege a hundred fourscore and five thousand,
with their captains and generals, were destroyed." X. I. 5.
[Sidenote: Nebuchadnezzar burns the temple.]
"And when he had carried these off, he set fire to the temple in the
fifth month, the first day of the month, in the eleventh year of the
reign of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar; he also
burnt the King's palace, and overthrew the city. Now the temple was
burnt four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days after it
was built." X. VIII. 5.
[Sidenote: Alexander the Great at Jerusalem.]
"Now Alexander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to go up to
Jerusalem; and Jaddua, the high-priest, when he heard that, was in an
agony and under terror." XI. VIII. 4.
[Sidenote: Sapha.]
"It reached to a place called Sapha, which name, translated into Greek,
signifies a prospect; for you have thence a prospect both of Jerusalem
and of the temple." XI. VIII. 5.
[Sidenote: Ptolemy, son of Lagus, at Jerusalem.]
"Syria, by the means of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, underwent the reverse
of that denomination of Saviour which he then had. He also seized upon
Jerusalem, and for that end made use of deceit and treachery; for he
came into the city on a sabbath-day, as if he would offer sacrifices."
XII. I. 1.
[Sidenote: Antiochus Epiphanes at Jerusalem.]
"King Antiochus returning out of Egypt, for fear of the Romans, made an
expedition against the city Jerusalem; and when he was there, in the
hundred forty and third year of the kingdom of the Seleucidæ, he took
the city without fighting, those of his own party opening the gates to
him. And when he had gotten possession of Jerusalem, he slew many of the
opposite party; and when he had plundered it of a great deal of money,
he returned to Antioch." XII. V. 3.
[Sidenote: Cruelty of Antiochus, who builds the citadel in the lower
part of the city.]
"And when he had pillaged the whole city, some of the inhabitants he
slew, and some he carried captive, together with their wives and
children, so that the multitude of those captives that were taken alive
amounted to about ten thousand. He also burnt down the finest buildings;
and when he had overthrown the city-walls, he built a citadel in the
lower part of the city; for the place was high, and overlooked the
temple, on which account he fortified it with high walls and towers; and
put into it a garrison of Macedonians." XII. V. 4.
[Sidenote: Mattathias.]
"Now this Mattathias lamented to his children the sad state of their
affairs, and the ravage made in the city, and the plundering of the
temple, and the calamities the multitude were under; and he told them
that it was better for them to die for the laws of their country than
to live so ingloriously as they then did." XII. VI. 1.
[Sidenote: Judas repairs the walls of Jerusalem.]
"Judas also rebuilt the walls round about the city, and reared towers of
great height against the incursions of enemies, and set guards therein."
XII. VII. 7.
[Sidenote: Simon, master of the citadel of Jerusalem, razes it with the
ground.]
"He also took the citadel of Jerusalem by siege, and cast it down to the
ground, that it might not be any more a place of refuge to their enemies
when they took it, to do them mischief, as it had been till now. And
when he had done this, he thought it their best way, and most for their
advantage, to level the very mountain itself upon which the citadel
happened to stand, that so the temple might be higher than it." XIII.
VI. 7.
[Sidenote: Hyrcanus opens the tomb of David.]
"But Hyrcanus opened the sepulchre of David, who excelled all other
kings in riches, and took out of it three thousand talents. He was also
the first of the Jews that, relying on his wealth, maintained foreign
troops." XIII. VIII. 4.
[Sidenote: Aristobulus causes the death of Antigonus.]
"Aristobulus yielded to these imputations, but took care both that his
brother should not suspect him, and that he himself might not run the
hazard of his own safety; so he ordered his guards to lie in a certain
place that was underground, and dark, (he himself then lying sick in the
tower which was called Antonia)." XIII. XI. 2.
[Sidenote: Antigonus killed in the tower of Strato.]
"So Antigonus, suspecting no treachery, but depending on the good-will
of his brother, came to Aristobulus armed, as he used to be, with his
entire armour, in order to show it to him; but when he was come to a
place which was called Strato's Tower, where the passage happened to be
exceeding dark, the guards slew him." XIII. XI. 2.
[Sidenote: Pompeius approaches Jerusalem.]
"At this Pompeius was very angry, and put Aristobulus into prison, and
came himself to the city, which was strong on every side, excepting the
north, which was not so well fortified, for there was a broad and deep
ditch that encompassed the city, and included within it the temple,
which was itself encompassed with a very strong stone wall." XIV. IV. 1.
[Sidenote: Pompeius pitches his camp on the north side of the temple.]
"Pompeius pitched his camp within [the wall], on the north part of the
temple, where it was most practicable; but even on that side there were
great towers, and a ditch had been dug, and a deep valley begirt it
round about, for on the parts towards the city were precipices, and the
bridge on which Pompeius had gotten in was broken down." XIV. IV. 2.
[Sidenote: Aristobulus interred in the tomb of the kings.]
"His dead body also lay, for a good while, embalmed in honey, till
Antonius afterward sent it to Judea, and caused him to be buried in the
royal sepulchre." XIV. VII. 4.
[Sidenote: Troops of Herod and Sosius.]
"And they all met together at the walls of Jerusalem, and encamped at
the north wall of the city, being now an army of eleven legions, armed
men on foot, and six thousand horsemen, with other auxiliaries out of
Syria." XIV. XVI. 1.
[Sidenote: Herod's siege.]
"The first wall was taken in forty days, and the second in fifteen more,
when some of the cloisters that were about the temple were burnt, which
Herod gave out to have been burnt by Antigonus, in order to expose him
to the hatred of the Jews. And when the outer court of the temple, and
the lower city, were taken, the Jews fled into the inner court of the
temple, and into the upper city." XIV. XVI. 2.
[Sidenote: Herod's theatre, amphitheatre.]
"He built a theatre at Jerusalem, as also a very great amphitheatre in
the plain." XV. VIII. 1.
[Sidenote: Herod's two fortresses.]
"He had now the city fortified by the palace in which he lived and by
the temple which had a strong fortress by it, called Antonia." XV. VIII.
5.
[Sidenote: Dimensions of Herod's temple.]
"So Herod took away the old foundations, and laid others, and erected
the temple upon them, being in length a hundred cubits, and in height
twenty additional cubits, which [twenty], upon the sinking of their
foundations, fell down; and this part it was that we resolved to raise
again in the days of Nero. Now the temple was built of stones that were
white and strong, and each of their length was twenty-five cubits, their
height was eight, and their breadth about twelve." XV. XI. 3.
[Sidenote: Tower of Baris, afterwards called Antonia.]
"Now on the north side [of the temple] was built a citadel, whose walls
were square, and strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This citadel was
built by the kings of the Asamonean race, who were also high-priests
before Herod, and they called it the Tower." XV. XI. 4.
[Sidenote: Tower Antonia.]
"... when Herod the king of the Jews had fortified it more firmly than
before, in order to secure and guard the temple, he gratified Antonius,
who was his friend and the Roman ruler, and then gave it the name of the
Tower of Antonia." XV. XI. 4.
[Sidenote: Four gates to the north of the temple-enclosure.]
"Now in the western quarters of the enclosure of the temple there were
four gates; the first led to the king's palace, and went to a passage
over the intermediate valley; two more led to the suburbs of the city;
and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into
the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the
ascent; for the city lay over against the temple in the manner of a
theatre, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south
quarter." XV. XI. 5.
[Sidenote: Herod's subterranean gallery from the Antonia tower to the
eastern gate.]
"There was also an occult passage built for the king; it led from
Antonia to the inner temple, at its eastern gate; over which he also
erected for himself a tower, that he might have the opportunity of a
subterraneous ascent to the temple, in order to guard against any
sedition which might be made by the people against their kings." XV. XI.
7.
[Sidenote: Herod opens the tomb of David.]
"... he had a great while an intention to make the attempt; and at this
time he opened that sepulchre by night and went into it, and endeavoured
that it should not be at all known in the city, but took only his most
faithful friends with him. As for any money, he found none, as Hyrcanus
had done, but that furniture of gold, and those precious goods that were
laid up there; all which he took away. However, he had a great desire to
make a more diligent search, and to go farther in, even as far as the
very bodies of David and Solomon; where two of his guards were slain by
a flame that burst out upon those that went in, as the report was. So he
was terribly affrighted, and went out, and built a propitiatory monument
of that fright he had been in; and this of white stone, at the mouth of
the sepulchre, and at a great expense also." XVI. VII. 1.
[Sidenote: Pilate constructs acqueducts.]
"But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to Jerusalem, and did
it with the sacred money, and derived the origin of the stream from the
distance of two hundred furlongs. However, the Jews were not pleased
with what had been done about this water; and many ten thousands of the
people got together and made a clamour against him, and insisted that he
should leave off that design." XVIII. III. 2.
[Sidenote: Jesus Christ.]
"Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to
call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such
men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of
the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when
Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned
him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him;
for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine
prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things
concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not
extinct at this day." XVIII. III. 3.
[Sidenote: King Agrippa begins to fortify Jerusalem, but is prevented
from proceeding by Claudius.]
"As for the walls of Jerusalem, that were adjoining to the new city
[Bezetha], he repaired them at the expense of the public, and built them
wider in breadth, and higher in altitude; and he had made them too
strong for all human power to demolish, unless Marcus, the then
president of Syria, had by letter informed Claudius Cæsar of what he was
doing. And when Claudius had some suspicion of attempts for innovation,
he sent to Agrippa to leave off the building of those walls presently.
So he obeyed; as not thinking it proper to contradict Claudius." XIX.
VII. 2.
[Sidenote: Pyramids of Helena three furlongs from the city.]
"But Monobazus sent her bones, as well as those of Izates, his brother,
to Jerusalem, and gave order that they should be buried at the pyramids
which their mother had erected; they were three in number, and distant
no more than three furlongs from the city of Jerusalem." XX. IV. 3.
[Sidenote: Agrippa's palace, whence could be seen all that passed in the
temple.]
"About the same time king Agrippa built himself a very large dining-room
in the royal palace at Jerusalem, near to the portico. Now this palace
had been erected of old by the children of Asamoneus, and was situated
upon an elevation, and afforded a most delightful prospect to those that
had a mind to take a view of the city, which prospect was desired by the
king; and there he could lie down and eat, and thence observe what was
done in the temple: which thing, when the chief men of Jerusalem saw,
they were very much displeased at it; for it was not agreeable to the
institutions of our country or law, that what was done in the temple
should be viewed by others, especially what belonged to the sacrifices.
They therefore erected a wall upon the uppermost building which belonged
to the inner court of the temple towards the west, which wall, when it
was built, did not only intercept the prospect of the dining-room in the
palace, but also of the western cloisters that belonged to the outer
court of the temple also, where it was that the Romans kept guards for
the temple at the festivals." XX. VIII. 11.
[Sidenote: The younger Ananus, high-priest, puts S. James to death.]
"Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled
the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus,
who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others [or some of
his companions] and when he had formed an accusation against them as
breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned." XX. IX. 1.
[Sidenote: King Agrippa refuses to rebuild the eastern gate of the
temple.]
"... so they [the people] persuaded him to rebuild the eastern
cloisters. These cloisters belonged to the outer court, and were
situated in a deep valley, and had walls that reached four hundred
cubits [in length], and were built of square and very white stones, the
length of each of which stones was twenty cubits, and their height six
cubits. This was the work of king Solomon, who first of all built the
entire temple." XX. IX. 7.
PASSAGES FROM JOSEPHUS'S HISTORY OF THE JEWISH WAR,
TAKEN FROM THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF
ROBERT TRAILL, D.D. M.R.I.A.
[Sidenote: Antiochus Epiphanes at Jerusalem.]
"That monarch, long intent on the enterprise, was prevailed on; and,
pressing forward at the head of a formidable army, he took Jerusalem by
assault, put to the sword vast numbers of those attached to the
interests of Ptolemy, allowed his troops unrestricted pillage, despoiled
the temple in person, and, during three years and six months,
interrupted the course of the daily sacrifices." I. I. 1.
[Sidenote: Judas attacks the garrison at Jerusalem. Purifies the
temple.]
"In the ardour of victory Judas attacked the garrison in the city, which
had not yet been reduced, and having expelled the troops from the upper
town, drove them into the lower, a quarter of the city called Acra.
Being now master of the temple, he purified the place throughout, and
walled it round." I. I. 4.
[Sidenote: Hyrcanus opens David's tomb.]
"Antiochus, enraged by what he had endured at the hands of Simon, led an
army into Judæa, and sitting down before Jerusalem, besieged Hyrcanus;
who, opening the sepulchre of David, the richest of kings, and privately
taking out upwards of three thousand talents in money, both induced
Antiochus, by the payment of three hundred, to raise the siege; and
also, from the remaining surplus, maintained--the first of the Jews to
do so--a mercenary force." I. II. 5.
[Sidenote: Aristobulus. Antigonus. Tower of Baris.]
"Gradually, and with reluctance, Aristobulus credited these
insinuations. Yet careful, at once, to avoid the semblance of suspicion,
and to provide against any covert attempt, he stationed his body-guards
in a dark subterraneous passage--he was himself at the time confined to
bed, in a tower formerly called Baris, but subsequently named
Antonia--with orders to allow Antigonus, if unarmed, to pass; but to
despatch him, should he approach in arms." I. III. 3.
[Sidenote: Strato's Tower.]
"But, on reaching the dark passage, known by the name of Strato's Tower,
he [Antigonus] was killed by the body-guards." I. III. 4.
[Sidenote: Pompeius reconnoitres the city of Jerusalem.]
"Incensed at this, Pompeius committed Aristobulus to custody; and having
advanced to the city, he considered well on what point he should direct
his attack. He found the walls, from their height, of almost impregnable
strength, with a frightful ravine in front of them: while within this
the temple was so strongly fortified, that, even after the capture of
the town, it would afford a second refuge to the enemy." I. VII. 1.
[Sidenote: The bridge broken down by Aristobulus' party.]
"The adherents of Aristobulus, being discomfited in the contest, retired
into the temple, and, breaking down the bridge which connected it with
the city, prepared to hold out to the last." I. VII. 2.
[Sidenote: Pompeius fills up the fosse of the town.]
"The Roman commander now filled up the fosse, and the whole of the
ravine, which lay on the north quarter, the troops collecting materials.
This was an undertaking of difficulty, not only on account of the
prodigious depth of the ravine, but from the impediments of every kind
offered by the Jews from above." I. VII. 3.
[Sidenote: Herod rebuilds the temple.]
[Sidenote: Palaces of Cæsarium and Agrippium.]
"Herod, accordingly, at an incalculable expense, and in a style of
unsurpassed magnificence, in the fifteenth year of his reign, restored
the Temple, and breasted up with a wall the area round it, so as to
enlarge it to twice its former extent. An evidence of its sumptuousness
were the ample colonnades around the holy place, and the fort on its
northern side. The colonnades he reared from the foundation; the fort,
in nothing inferior to a palace, he repaired at an immense cost; and
called it Antonia, in honour of Antonius. He also constructed a
residence for himself in the upper town, containing two very spacious,
and not less beautiful buildings, with which the Temple itself bore no
comparison. These he designated after his friends, the one Cæsarium, the
other Agrippium." I. XXI. 1.
[Sidenote: Pilate constructs acqueducts.]
"He subsequently occasioned another tumult, by expending the sacred
treasure, called Corban, in the construction of an aqueduct. He brought
the water from a distance of four hundred furlongs. Indignant at this
profanation, the populace, on his return to Jerusalem, collected with
loud clamours about his tribunal." II. IX. 4.
[Sidenote: Cestius encamps on Mount Scopus.]
"Cestius, seeing that these intestine dissensions afforded him a
favourable opportunity for attack, led out his entire force, routed the
Jews, and pursued them to the gates of Jerusalem. Encamping at a place
called The Scopus, distant seven furlongs from the city, he for three
days suspended his operations against it." II. XIX. 4.
[Sidenote: Cestius encamps opposite the royal palace.]
"Cestius, on entering, set fire to Bezetha, so named, the Coenopolis,
and the place called the Timber Market; and, proceeding to the upper
town, encamped opposite the royal residence." II. XIX. 4.
[Sidenote: Number of the troops of Titus engaged in the siege of
Jerusalem.]
"For Titus, having drawn together part of his troops to himself, and
sent orders to the others to meet him at Jerusalem, broke up from
Cæsarea. There were the three legions which, under the command of his
father, had before ravaged Judæa, and the twelfth, that had formerly
been defeated with Cestius, and which, remarkable at all times for its
valour, on this occasion, from a recollection of what had befallen it,
advanced with greater alacrity to revenge. Of these, he directed the
fifth to join him by the route of Ammaus, and the tenth to go up by that
of Jericho; while he himself moved forward with the remainder, attended,
beside these, by the contingents from the allied sovereigns, all in
increased force, and by a considerable body of Syrian auxiliaries.
"Detachments having been drafted by Vespasian from the four legions, and
sent with Mucianus into Italy, their places were filled up from among
the troops that had come with Titus. For two thousand men, selected from
among the forces of Alexandria, and three thousand of the guards from
the Euphrates, accompanied him; and with them, Tiberius Alexander." V.
I. 6.
[Sidenote: Titus with 600 cavalry reconnoitres Jerusalem.]
"Leading on his forces in orderly array, according to Roman usage, Titus
marched through Samaria to Gophna, which had been previously taken by
his father, and was then garrisoned. Here he rested for the night, and,
setting forward early in the morning, advanced a day's march, and
encamped in the valley, which is called by the Jews, in their native
tongue, 'The Valley of Thorns,' adjacent to a village named Gabath-Saul,
which signifies 'Saul's Hill,' distant from Jerusalem about thirty
furlongs. From hence, accompanied by about six hundred picked horsemen,
he rode forward to reconnoitre the strength of the city, and ascertain
the disposition of the Jews, whether, on seeing him, they would be
terrified into a surrender previous to any actual conflict." V. II. 1.
[Sidenote: Titus attacked by the Jews by the monument of Helena.]
[Sidenote: The Women's Towers.]
"While he continued to ride along the direct route which led to the
wall, no one appeared before the gates; but on his filing off from the
road towards the tower Psephinus, and taking an oblique direction with
his squadron, the Jews suddenly rushed out in immense numbers at a spot
called 'The Women's Towers,' through the gate opposite the monuments of
Helena. They broke through his ranks, and placing themselves in front of
the troops who were still advancing along the road, prevented them from
joining their comrades, who had filed off, and thus intercepted Titus
with only a handful of men. For him to move forward was impossible; as
the entire space was intersected by transverse walls and numerous
fences, and separated from the ramparts by dykes made for gardening
purposes." V. II. 2.
[Sidenote: Titus encamps at Scopus, seven furlongs from Jerusalem.]
[Sidenote: The tenth legion upon the Mount of Olives.]
"Cæsar, being joined during the night by the legion from Ammaus, moved
the next day from thence, and advanced to Scopus, as it is called, the
place from which the city first became visible, and the stately pile of
the sanctuary shone forth; whence it is that this spot--a flat adjoining
the northern quarter of the town--is appropriately called Scopus (the
Prospect). When at the distance of seven furlongs from the city, Titus
ordered a camp to be formed for two of the legions together; the fifth
he stationed three furlongs in rear of them: thinking that, as they had
been fatigued with their march during the night, they required to be
covered, that they might throw up their entrenchments with less
apprehension. Scarcely had they commenced their operations, when the
tenth legion arrived. It had advanced through Jericho, where a party of
soldiers had lain to guard the pass formerly taken possession of by
Vespasian. These troops had received orders to encamp at the distance of
six furlongs from Jerusalem, at the Mount of Olives, so called, which
lies over against the city on the east, and is separated from it by a
deep intervening ravine, which bears the name of Kedron." V. II. 3.
[Sidenote: Titus levels the ground between Scopus and Jerusalem.]
[Sidenote: Tomb of Herod. Serpents' Pool.]
"Titus intending to break up from Scopus, and encamp nearer to the city,
stationed a body of picked men, horse and foot, in such force as he
deemed sufficient to check the sallies of the enemy, and employed the
main body of his army in levelling the intervening ground as far as the
walls. All the fences and hedges, with which the inhabitants had
enclosed their gardens and orchards, being accordingly swept away, and
the fruit trees in the whole of the intermediate distance felled, the
hollows and chasms of the place were filled up, and the rocky eminences
removed with iron implements; and thus the whole space from Scopus to
the monuments of Herod, adjacent to what is called 'The Serpents' Pool,'
was reduced to a level." V. III. 2.
[Sidenote: Tomb of Helena. Sortie of the Jews.]
"Accordingly, after maintaining a long contest with their spears, and
receiving many wounds from their opponents, but inflicting not fewer in
return, they eventually drove back the party who had surrounded them.
The Jews, however, as soon as they began to retire, pursued them as far
as the monuments of Helena, annoying them with missiles." V. III. 3.
[Sidenote: Titus encamps opposite the Tower of Psephinus.]
[Sidenote: Another division opposite the Tower of Hippicus, and the
tenth legion upon the Mount of Olives.]
"In four days, the interval between his post and the walls having been
levelled, Titus, anxious to forward in safety the baggage and the
followers of the army, ranged the flower of his troops opposite the wall
on the northern quarter of the city, and extending towards the west, the
phalanx being drawn up seven deep. The infantry were disposed in front,
and the cavalry in rear, each in three ranks; the archers, who formed
the seventh, being in the middle.
"The sallies of the Jews being checked by such an array, the beasts of
burthen belonging to the three legions, with the camp followers, passed
on in safety. Titus himself encamped about two furlongs from the
ramparts, at the corner opposite the tower called Psephinus, where the
circuit of the wall, in its advance along the north side, bends with a
western aspect. The other division of the army was entrenched opposite
to the tower named Hippicus, distant, in like manner, two furlongs from
the city. The tenth legion continued to occupy its position on the Mount
of Olives, as it is called." V. III. 5.
* * * * *
_Description of the walls of Jerusalem._
"Jerusalem, fortified by three walls--except where it was encompassed by
its impassable ravines, for there it had but a single rampart--was
built, the one division fronting the other, on two hills, separated by
an intervening valley, at which the rows of houses terminated. Of these
hills, that on which the upper town was situated is much higher and
straighter in its length. Accordingly, on account of its strength, it
was styled the Fortress by king David, the father of Solomon, by whom
the temple was originally erected; but by us the Upper Market-place. The
other, which bears the name of Acra, and supports the lower town, is of
a gibbous form. Opposite to this was a third hill, naturally lower than
Acra, and formerly severed from it by another broad ravine. Afterwards,
however, the Asmonæans, during their reign, filled up the ravine, with
the intention of uniting the city to the temple; and, levelling the
summit of Acra, they reduced its elevation, so that the temple might be
conspicuous above other objects in this quarter also. The Valley of the
Cheese-makers, as it was designated, which divided, as we have said, the
hill of the upper town from that of the lower, extended as far as
Siloam, as we call it, a fountain whose waters are at once sweet and
copious. On the exterior, the two hills on which the city stood were
skirted by deep ravines, so precipitous on either side that the town was
nowhere accessible." V. IV. 1.
"Of the three walls, the most ancient, as well from the ravines which
surrounded it, as from the hill above them on which it was erected, was
almost impregnable. But, besides the advantages of its situation, it was
also strongly built; David and Solomon, as well as their successors on
the throne, having devoted much attention to the work.
[Sidenote: First Wall.]
"Beginning on the north at the tower called Hippicus, and extending to
what was termed the Xystus, it then formed a junction with the
council-house, and terminated at the western colonnade of the temple. On
the other side, towards the west, beginning at the same tower, it
stretched through Bethso, as it was styled, to the gate of the Essenes.
It then turned, and advanced with a southern aspect above the fountain
of Siloam, whence it again inclined, facing the east, towards Solomon's
reservoir, and extending to a certain spot, designated Ophla, it joined
the eastern colonnade of the temple.
[Sidenote: Second Wall.]
[Sidenote: Third Wall.]
[Sidenote: King Agrippa commences the third Wall.]
"The second had its beginning at the gate which they called Gennath,
belonging to the first wall. It reached to the Antonia, and encircled
only the northern quarter of the town. The tower Hippicus formed the
commencement of the third wall, which stretched from thence towards the
northern quarter, as far as the tower Psephinus, and then passing
opposite the monuments of Helena, Queen of Adiabene, and mother of king
Izates, and extending through the royal caverns, was inflected at the
corner tower near to the spot known by the appellation of the Fuller's
Tomb; and, connecting itself with the old wall, terminated at the valley
called Kedron. This wall Agrippa had thrown round the new-built town,
which was quite unprotected; for the city, overflowing with inhabitants,
gradually crept beyond the ramparts; and the people, incorporating with
the city the quarter north of the temple close to the hill, made a
considerable advance, insomuch that a fourth hill, which is called
Bezetha, was also surrounded with habitations. It lay over against the
Antonia, from which it was separated by a deep fosse, purposely
excavated to cut off the communication between the foundations of the
Antonia and the hill, that they might be at once less easy of access and
more elevated. Thus the depth of the trench materially increased the
altitude of the towers.
"The quarter most recently built was called, in our language, Bezetha,
which, if translated into the Greek tongue, would be Cænopolis
(New-town). Those who resided there requiring defence, the father of the
present sovereign, and of the same name, Agrippa, commenced the wall we
have mentioned. But, apprehending that Claudius Cæsar might suspect from
the magnitude of the structure that he entertained some designs of
innovation and insurrection, he desisted when he had merely laid the
foundations. For, indeed, had he completed that wall upon the scale on
which it was begun, the city would have been impregnable. It was
constructed of stones twenty cubits long and ten broad, fitted into each
other in such a manner that they could scarcely have been undermined
with iron, or shaken by engines. The wall itself was ten cubits in
breadth; and it would probably have attained a greater height than it
did, had not the enterprising spirit of its founder met with a check;
but, subsequently, though the work was carried on with ardour by the
Jews, it only rose to the height of twenty cubits; while, crowning this,
were battlements of two cubits, upon parapets of three cubits in
altitude, so that it attained in its entire elevation twenty-five
cubits." V. IV. 2.
[Sidenote: Description of the third Wall.]
[Sidenote: Ninety towers in the third Wall.]
"On this wall were erected towers, twenty cubits in breadth, and the
same in height, square, and solid as the wall itself. In the joining and
beauty of the stones, they were nowise inferior to the temple. Over the
solid altitude of the towers, which was twenty cubits, were sumptuous
apartments; and above these, again, upper rooms, and numerous cisterns
therein to receive the rain-water, and to each room wide staircases. Of
such towers the third wall had ninety, disposed at intervals of two
hundred cubits.
[Sidenote: The middle Wall had fourteen towers, the ancient sixty.]
[Sidenote: The Psephinus tower.]
"The middle wall was divided into fourteen towers, and the ancient one
into sixty. Of the city the entire circuit was thirty-three furlongs.
But admirable as was the third wall throughout, still more so was the
tower Psephinus, which rose up at the north-west angle, and opposite to
which Titus encamped. Being seventy cubits high, it afforded at sunrise
a prospect of Arabia, and of the limits of the Hebrew territories as far
as the sea; it was octagonal in form.
[Sidenote: Hippicus.]
"Over against this was the tower Hippicus, and near to it two others,
all erected by king Herod in the ancient wall, which in magnitude,
beauty and strength, exceeded all that the world could produce." V. IV.
3.
[Sidenote: Hippicus' Tower.]
"Hippicus, so called from his friend, was quadrangular, its length and
breadth being each twenty-five cubits, and to the height of thirty
cubits it was solid throughout. Above this solid part, which was
constructed of stones formed into one compact mass, was a reservoir to
receive the rain, twenty cubits deep, over which was a house of two
stories, twenty-five cubits high, and divided into various apartments.
Above this were battlements of two cubits in height, mounted upon
parapets of three; so that the entire altitude amounted to eighty
cubits.
[Sidenote: Phasaëlus.]
"The second tower, which he named Phasaëlus, from his brother, was of
equal length and breadth, forty cubits each, and the same in solid
height. Over this, and embracing the whole of the structure, was a
gallery, ten cubits high, defended by breast-work and battlements....
[Sidenote: Mariamne.]
"The third tower, Mariamne--for such was the queen's name--was solid to
the height of twenty cubits; its breadth, also, being twenty cubits, and
its length the same." V. IV. 3.
"Of this the entire elevation was fifty-five cubits." V. IV. 3.
[Sidenote: Site of the three towers.]
"But while such was the actual magnitude of these three towers, their
site added much to their apparent dimensions. For the ancient wall in
which they stood was itself built on a lofty hill; and higher still rose
up in front, to the height of thirty cubits, a kind of crest of the
hill; on this the towers rested, and thus acquired a much greater
altitude....
"To these towers, which lay northward, was attached on the inner side
the royal residence, which exceeded all description....
"The conflagration began at Antonia, passed onward to the palace, and
consumed the roofs of the three towers." V. IV. 4.
[Sidenote: The Temple.]
"The temple, as I have said, was seated on a strong hill. Originally,
the level space on its summit scarcely sufficed for the sanctuary and
the altar, the ground about being abrupt and steep. But king Solomon,
who built the sanctuary, having completely walled up the eastern side, a
colonnade was built upon the embankment. On the other sides, the
sanctuary remained exposed. In process of time, however, as the people
were constantly adding to the embankment, the hill became level and
broader. They also threw down the northern wall, and enclosed as much
ground as the circuit of the temple at large subsequently occupied." V.
V. 1.
[Sidenote: Circuit of the Temple six furlongs.]
"The colonnades were thirty cubits broad, and their entire circuit,
including the Antonia, measured six furlongs." V. V. 2.
[Sidenote: Dimensions of the Temple.]
"Advancing within, the lower story of the sanctuary received you. This
was sixty cubits in height, and the same in length, while its breadth
was twenty cubits. These sixty cubits of length were again divided. The
first part partitioned off at forty cubits." V. V. 5.
[Sidenote: Dimensions relative to the Temple.]
"The innermost recess of the temple measured twenty cubits, and was
separated in like manner from the outer by a veil. In this, nothing
whatever was deposited. Unapproachable, inviolable, and to be seen by
none, it was called the Holy of the Holy." V. V. 5.
[Sidenote: Position of the Antonia Tower.]
"The Antonia lay at the angle formed by two colonnades, the western and
the northern, of the first court of the temple. It was built upon a rock
fifty cubits high, and on every side precipitous. It was a work of king
Herod, in which he particularly evinced the natural greatness of his
mind. For, first, the rock was covered from the base upwards with smooth
stone flags, as well for ornament, as that any one who attempted to
ascend or descend might slip off. Next, and in front of the edifice
itself, there was a wall of three cubits; and within this the entire
space occupied by the Antonia rose to an altitude of forty cubits.
[Sidenote: Citadel in the upper town. Bezetha, north of the Temple.]
"... The upper town had its own fortress--Herod's palace. The hill
Bezetha was detached, as I have mentioned, from the Antonia. It was the
highest of the three, and was joined on to part of the new town forming
northward the only obstruction to the view of the temple." V. V. 8.
[Sidenote: Forces of the besieged in Jerusalem.]
"The whole number of fighting men and insurgents in the city was as
follows. Attached to Simon were ten thousand men, irrespective of the
Idumæans. Over these were fifty officers, Simon himself acting as
Commander-in-chief. The Idumæans who joined his ranks, five thousand in
number, had ten leaders, of whom James, the son of Sosas, and Simon, the
son of Cathlas, were reputed to be the foremost. John, who had seized on
the temple, had under his orders six thousand men-at-arms, commanded by
twenty officers. The Zealots, also, had now laid aside their differences
and gone over to him, to the number of two thousand four hundred, led by
Eleazar, their former general, and Simon, son of Ari." V. VI. 1.
[Sidenote: Position occupied by Simon.]
[Sidenote: Position occupied by John.]
"Simon occupied the upper town and the great wall, as far as the Kedron,
with as much of the old wall as, bending eastward from Siloam, descended
to the palace of Monobazus, king of Adiabene, beyond the Euphrates. He
held, likewise, the fountain and the Acra, which was the lower town,
with the interval as far as the palace of Helena, the mother of
Monobazus. John occupied the temple, and the parts about it to a
considerable distance, with Ophla, and the valley called Kedron." V. VI.
1.
[Sidenote: Titus examines the Walls.]
[Sidenote: Monument of the high priest John.]
"While affairs in the city were in this posture, Titus, with a select
detachment of horse, rode round the wall, in order to ascertain against
what quarter he should direct his attack. Utterly at a loss on what side
to assail them, there being no access at any point through the ravines,
while on the other side, the first wall appeared too firm for the
engines, he determined to make the assault opposite to the monument of
John, the high priest, for at this point the outer bulwark was lower,
and the second was not connected, the builders having neglected to
fortify those places where the new town was thinly inhabited; but there
was easy access to the third wall, through which he designed to capture
the upper town, and through the Antonia, the temple." V. VI. 2.
[Sidenote: Suburbs.]
"He at once gave the legions permission to lay waste the suburbs, and
ordered them to collect the timber together for the construction of
mounds." V. VI. 2.
[Sidenote: Taking of the first Wall.]
"... The Romans having mounted where Nico had effected a breach, they
all abandoned their posts, and retreated to the second wall; when those
who had scaled the ramparts opened the gates, and admitted the entire
army. The Romans having thus, on the fifteenth day, which was the
seventh of the month Artemisius, become masters of the first wall, laid
a great part of it in ruins, as they did the northern quarters of the
city, which Cestius had formerly demolished." V. VII. 2.
[Sidenote: Titus occupies the space between the camp of the Assyrians
and the Kedron.]
[Sidenote: Gate of the aqueducts.]
"Titus now transferred his camp to a place within the wall, styled the
Camp of the Assyrians, occupying the entire interval as far as the
Kedron, but keeping at such a distance from the second rampart as to be
out of range of the missiles, and immediately commenced the attack. The
Jews, dividing their forces, made a vigorous defence from the wall; John
and his party fighting from the Antonia, from the north colonnade of the
temple, and in front of the monuments of king Alexander; while Simon's
band, intercepting the assault near John's monument, manned the
intervening space as far as the gate through which the water was
introduced to the tower Hippicus." V. VII. 3.
[Sidenote: Titus makes himself master of the second Wall.]
"On the fifth day after the reduction of the first wall Cæsar stormed
the second at this point; and as the Jews fled from it, he entered with
a thousand men, and the select band which he retained about his person,
at that part of the new town where were the wool-marts, the braziers'
shops, and the clothes market, and where the streets led obliquely to
the ramparts." V. VIII. 1.
[Sidenote: Titus exhibits his troops.]
"The cessation he employed for his own purposes. The stated day for
distributing pay among the troops having arrived, he directed the
officers to draw out the force, and count out the money to each man in
view of the enemy." V. IX. 1.
[Sidenote: The Jews see the review of the troops Titus.]
"And nothing could be more gratifying to the Romans, or more terrifying
to the enemy than that spectacle. The whole of the ancient wall and the
northern quarter of the temple were crowded with spectators, and the
houses were to be seen filled with people on the look-out; nor was there
a spot in the city which was not covered with multitudes." V. IX. 1.
[Sidenote: The Idumæans.]
"Those at work beside the monument, the Idumæans, and the troops of
Simon, impeded by repeated sallies; while those before the Antonia were
obstructed by John and his associates, in conjunction with the Zealots."
V. IX. 2.
[Sidenote: Mounds and their positions. Struthios reservoir.]
[Sidenote: Amygdalon.]
"One of those at the Antonia was thrown up by the fifth legion, opposite
to the middle of the reservoir, called Struthios; and the other by the
twelfth legion at the distance of about twenty cubits. The tenth legion,
which was considerably apart from these, was occupied on the northern
quarter, and by the reservoir designated Amygdalon, and about thirty
cubits from thence the fifteenth legion, at the high-priest's monument."
V. XI. 4.
[Sidenote: The assailants make the wall of circumvallation.]
"Commencing at the camp of the Assyrians, where his own tent was
pitched, he drew the wall to the lower Cænopolis, and thence through the
Kedron to the Mount of Olives. Then bending back towards the south, he
encompassed the mount as far as the rock called Peristereon, and the
adjoining hill, which overhangs the ravine near Siloam. Thence inclining
towards the west, he went down into the valley of the Fountain, beyond
which he ascended by the monument of the high-priest Ananus, and, taking
in the mount where Pompey encamped, turned to the north, proceeding as
far as a hamlet, called 'The house of Erebinths:' passing which, he
enclosed Herod's monument, and on the east once more united it to his
own camp at the point whence it commenced.
"The wall was in length forty furlongs, wanting one. Attached to it on
the outside were thirteen forts, whose united circumferences measured
ten furlongs." V. XII. 2.
[Sidenote: Number of the dead.]
"Mannæus, the son of Lazarus, who at this period took refuge with Titus,
declared that, from the fourteenth of the month of Xanthicus, the day on
which the Romans encamped before the walls, until the new moon of
Panemus, there were carried through that one gate which had been
entrusted to him, a hundred and fifteen thousand eight hundred and
eighty corpses." V. XIII. 7.
[Sidenote: Number of the dead.]
"After him many of the higher ranks escaped; and they brought word that
full six hundred thousand of the humbler classes had been thrown out
through the gates. Of the others it was impossible to ascertain the
number." V. XIII. 7.
[Sidenote: Excavations in Jerusalem.]
"The Jews fled into the temple; the Romans also making their way in
through the mine which John had excavated under their mounds." VI. I. 7.
[Sidenote: Titus destroys the Tower Antonia.]
"Titus now ordered his troops to raze the foundations of the Antonia,
and prepare an easy ascent for his whole force." VI. II. 1.
[Sidenote: Titus enters the outer court of the Temple.]
"In the meantime, the remainder of the Roman force, having in seven days
overturned the foundation of the Antonia, had prepared a wide ascent as
far as the temple. The legions now approached the first wall, and
commenced their mounds--one opposite the north-west angle of the inner
temple, a second at the northern chamber, which was between the two
gates, and of the remaining two, one at the western colonnade of the
outer court of the temple, the other without, at the northern." VI. II.
7.
[Sidenote: Titus takes the Temple.]
"Titus now withdrew into the Antonia, determined on the following
morning about daybreak to attack with his whole force and invest the
temple. That edifice God had, indeed, long since destined to the flames;
but now in revolving years had arrived the fated day, the tenth of the
month Lous, the very day on which the former temple had been burned by
the king of Babylon." VI. IV. 5.
[Sidenote: Bridge of Xystus.]
"Titus took his stand on the western side of the outer court of the
temple; there being a gate in that quarter beyond the Xystus, and a
bridge which connected the upper town with the temple, and which then
intervened between the tyrants and Cæsar." VI. VI. 2.
[Sidenote: Titus gives up the city to pillage.]
"Orders were then issued to the troops to plunder and burn the city. On
that day, however, nothing was done; but on the following day they set
fire to the residence of the magistrates, the Acra, the council chamber,
and the place called Ophla, the flames spreading as far as the palace of
queen Helena, which was in the centre of the Acra. The streets also were
consumed." VI. VI. 3.
[Sidenote: The Romans in the lower town.]
"On the ensuing day the Romans, having driven the brigands from the
lower town, burned all, as far as Siloam." VI. VII. 2.
[Sidenote: Titus attacks the upper city.]
"The works of the four legions were raised on the western side of the
city, opposite to the royal palace, while the auxiliaries and the rest
of the force laboured in the region of the Xystus, the bridge, and the
tower which Simon, during his contest with John, had built as a fortress
for himself." VI. VIII. 1.
[Sidenote: Destruction of the city.]
"And when, at a later period, he destroyed the remainder of the city,
and razed the walls, he allowed these towers to stand as a memorial of
the favour of fortune, by whose cooperation he had become master of
those strongholds, which could never have been reduced by force of
arms." VI. IX. 1.
[Sidenote: Number of Jews killed and taken prisoners.]
"The whole number of prisoners taken during the entire course of the war
was calculated at ninety-seven thousand; while those who perished in the
siege, from its commencement to its close, amounted to one million one
hundred thousand. Of these the greater part were of Jewish blood, though
not natives of the place. Having assembled from the whole country for
the feast of unleavened bread, they were suddenly hemmed in by the war;
so that their confined situation caused at first a pestilential disease,
and afterwards famine also, still more rapid in its effects." VI. IX. 3.
[Sidenote: Final destruction of Jerusalem.]
"Cæsar ordered the whole of the city and the sanctuary to be razed to
the foundations, leaving the three loftiest towers, Phasaëlus, Hippicus,
and Mariamne, and that portion of the wall which enclosed the town on
the west; the latter as an encampment for those who should remain there
in garrison; the towers, to indicate to future times how splendid and
how strong a city had yielded to Roman valour. All the rest of the wall
that encompassed the city was so completely levelled with the ground
that there was no longer anything to lead those who visited the spot to
believe that it had ever been inhabited. So fell Jerusalem, a victim of
revolutionary frenzy: a magnificent city, and celebrated throughout the
world." VII. I. 1.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Population of Jerusalem indicated by Hecatæus of Abdera.]
"There are many strong places and villages in the country of Judæa, but
one strong city there is, about fifty furlongs in circumference, which
is inhabited by a hundred and twenty thousand men or thereabout."
(Against Apion, I. 22.)
INDEX.
A.
Abraham, Mount Moriah the scene of his sacrifice, 46, 47.
Abraham, S., Greek Convent of, 111.
Absalom, his tomb examined, 181.
Abyssinians in Jerusalem, their number, 13.
Aceldama, description of, 206;
its curious legend tested, 207.
Acra, the hill of, identified, 17, 18, 20;
levelled under the Maccabees, 52.
Adam, Chapel of, 106, 113.
Adamnanus, his account of the Mosque of Omar, 58.
Adoration of the Cross, Chapel of, in the Church of the
Resurrection, 122.
Ælia Capitolina, Jerusalem so named by Hadrian, 2, 3, 6, 43.
Agony, Chapel of the, 112;
Grotto of, 177, Note X. 309.
Agrippa's Walls, 35, 37, 41.
Altar in Chapel of the Crucifixion, 122.
Altar of burnt-offerings, its position and dimensions, 54;
its site proved to be on the Sacred Rock, 89;
the cisterns beneath it examined, 97.
See Araunah.
Americans, their wanton destruction of monuments, 233.
Amygdalon pool, probably Hezekiah's, 32;
identified from the Bible, 252;
the cisterns filled from it, 259.
Ananus, Monument of, its site, 40.
Angel, Chapel of the, in Holy Sepulchre, 116.
Angels, the Holy, Church of, 156.
Annas, the High Priest, traditionary site of his house, 156.
Ann, S., Church of, its present state, 144;
its history and vicissitudes, 145; Notes II. III. 306.
Ann, S., pretended tomb of, 175.
Antiochus Epiphanes despoils the second temple, 51.
Antonia, tower of, 17, 18, 19, 55, 137;
its supposed site, 32;
its site in the N.W. angle of the Haram, 59, 64.
Antoninus of Piacenza, his account of Justinian's Basilica, 79; Note
XXXIV. 295.
Aqueduct from Etham, its skilful construction, 249;
subsequent history, 250.
Arabs, the number of, in Jerusalem, 11;
their position, 273.
Araunah, threshing-floor of, 24;
its history and description, 47;
cisterns beneath it, 47;
it survives the destruction of Solomon's temple, 50;
Mosque built over it by Omar, 57;
identical with the Sacred Rock, 88;
and the Altar of burnt-offerings, 89;
cisterns beneath it examined, 97; Notes IV. 291, and XVI. 292.
Arch of the Ecce Homo investigated, 60, 140, Note I. 306.
Arch, remarkable fragment of one, in S.W. angle of the Haram, 70.
Arculf, his account of Christ's Tomb, 116;
his description of the Holy places, Note IV. 299.
Armenians, their numbers and position in Jerusalem, 12;
their Convents, 16, 164;
their prospects, 162;
their charitable institutions, 278.
Ascension, the Mount of, its site on the Mount of Olives, 191;
grand panorama from its summit, 193;
its traditionary spots examined, 194;
successive Churches built upon it, _ib._;
the present Mosque, 196;
Tomb of S. Pelagia, 197.
B.
Babylas, S., ruins of Church of, 242.
Baris Castle on Moriah, 52;
restored as Antonia Tower by Herod, 55;
pontifical robes kept in it, Note XI. 292.
Barrack in the Haram, 20;
the rock near it the site of Antonia Tower, 59, 64.
Bathsheba, traditionary pool of, 259.
Bazaar of the Haram gate, 54.
Bazaars of Jerusalem, 78.
Benjamin, high gate of, its doubtful site, 26.
Bethany, its site incontestable, 200;
proofs of this, 201;
Tomb and house of Lazarus there, 202.
Bethesda, pool of, 15, 20, 59;
its history and present state, 65;
its connection with the temple sacrifices, 92;
its masonry examined, 260.
Bethphage, site of, 199.
Bethsura, fortress of, 22.
Betrayal, the, traditionary site of, 179.
Bezetha, position of, 18.
Bible, the Holy, passages from it bearing upon the statements in this
work, 315.
Bird of Solomon, 86;
legend of, Note XXXVII. 296.
Bir Eyub, see Joab, well of.
Birket es-Sultan (Prince's pool), 15;
account of, 96, 209.
Bishops of Jerusalem, list of, Note II. 297.
Bordeaux, Pilgrim of, his description of Jerusalem, Note XI. 287.
Breydenbach, his account of Christ's Tomb, 117.
Bridge between Moriah and Sion, 70;
supposed site of that mentioned by Josephus, 71, 74.
Bridge (invisible), of Mohammed, its position and legend, 76.
Broad wall, its supposed site, 27.
Buildings, modern, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 5.
Buildings of Saracenic period in Jerusalem, 153.
Burial-places of Kings of Judah, Note XVI. 310.
C.
Cadytis of Herodotus, possibly Jerusalem, 2.
Caiaphas, site of his house on Sion, 220.
Calvary, Chapel of the, 105.
Calvary, position of, 103;
its site questionable, 105;
its present appearance, 122.
Camp of the Assyrians, its site, 40.
Caverns, the Royal, account of, 226;
method of quarrying them, 227;
danger in exploring them, 228.
Chamber of the Cradle of Jesus, 77.
Chosroes II. destroys the Basilica of Constantine, 108.
Christ, His Tomb described, 116.
Christian quarter of Jerusalem, 9.
Chronological summary of the history of Jerusalem, 311.
Cistern beneath the supposed site of Eudoxia's Church, 169.
Cisterns for water and grain described, 47;
their necessity for the Temple services, 49;
they survive the destruction of Solomon's temple, 50;
examination of those beneath the Haram, 90;
conclusions drawn from this, 100;
their number in Jerusalem, 261.
Climate of Jerusalem, 10.
Coenaculum, traditions connected with it, 216;
the buildings on its site, 217;
its present state, 219; Note XVII. 310.
Coins found in the Kidron, 170.
Column, gate of the, 6.
See Damascus gate.
Columns of proof, 81.
Commerce of Jerusalem, 265.
Constantine the Great destroys the Temple of Jupiter on the site of
the Temple, 57;
his Basilica on the true site of the Holy Sepulchre, 105;
description of, by Eusebius, Note III. 297;
destruction of this by Chosroes II. 108.
Constantine, S., Greek Convent of, 12, 111, 163.
Copts, their numbers in Jerusalem, 13;
their Convent, 126, 165;
their charitable institutions, 269.
Corner-gate, its supposed site, 21.
Cotton Merchants' gate, 74.
Court of the Gentiles in the Temple, 53.
Court of the Israelites, or Priests, 54.
Cradle of Jesus, Chamber containing it, 77.
Crassus plunders the Second Temple, 52.
Crosses on Calvary, their probable position, 106.
Cross, Invention of the, Chapel of, in the Church of the
Resurrection, 121.
Cross, S., Greek Convent of, its history and traditions, 242;
the Church described, 243, Note III. 306.
Crucifixion, Chapel of, in the Church of the Resurrection, 122.
Crusaders, their works at Jerusalem, 43;
they consecrate the Mosque of Omar as a Christian church, 59;
their various positions during the siege of Jerusalem, 241;
the architectural characteristics of their walls, Note V. 286.
Cubit measure, its relative value, Note II. 282.
Cyril, S., on the Tomb of Christ, 118.
Cyrus permits the rebuilding of the Temple, 50.
D.
Damascus Gate, 6, 8, 15, 36;
Cufic inscription on it, 223.
Daughters of Sion, Convent of, excavations beneath it, 60;
discovery of a spring there, 63;
its course traced, 258;
the Convent described, 162.
David, the Castle of, 6;
its present state, 159.
David, the City of, identified from Josephus, 16;
its wall discovered, 23.
David, King, his purchase of the threshing floor of Araunah, 46;
his hydraulic works at Jerusalem, 245;
the architectural characteristics of his walls, Note V. 285;
traditionary site of his judgement-seat, 86, Note XXXVI. 295.
David, Millo of, its site discussed, 23-25.
David, Sepulchres of, their site, 27.
David, street of, 9, 15.
David, street of the Castle of, 16.
David, the Tomb of, the authenticity of its site proved, 210;
the sarcophagus fictitious, 214;
the vault near it the probable Sepulchre of the Jewish Kings, 215.
Dead Sea, where visible from Jerusalem, 35.
Dervishes, various orders of, at Jerusalem, 165.
Dives, Palace of, fictitious site of, 142.
Divisions of Jerusalem, 8.
Dome of the Holy Sepulchre, 114.
Dome of the Rock, its position on Moriah, 45;
date of its erection, 58;
detailed description of, 85;
the cisterns beneath it examined, 97;
see Omar, Mosque of, Rock, the Sacred.
Dragon Well, its supposed site, 27.
Drainage system of Jerusalem, its divisions, Note I. 281.
Dung Gate, the, 7, 15, 27;
false tradition concerning it, 70, Note XXXI. 295.
E.
East Gate, the, its supposed site, 27;
the site of the present Golden Gate, 69.
Ecce Homo, the arch of, 60, 140, Note I. 306.
El-Aksa Mosque, originally Justinian's Basilica, 57;
this proved by history, 59;
gateway beneath it, 69;
its architectural history, 78;
description of it, 80;
monolith in its vaults, 82;
this taken from the royal caverns, 227.
England, Church of, cause of its unpopularity with the Jews, 158;
its mission houses at Jerusalem, 165.
Environs of Jerusalem, account of, 5;
the numerous ancient remains there, Notes III. IV. 284-5.
Ephraim, Gate of, its supposed site, 26;
its exact site, 143;
when so called, 144.
Erebinthi, house of, its site, 41.
Essenes, Gate of, its site unknown, 31.
Etham, the source of the water supply of Jerusalem, 14, 50, 73, 91,
95, 100;
its pools described, 246;
reasons for assigning them to Solomon, 249;
their advantages in supplying Jerusalem, 250;
ruins of the Castle there, 246.
Eudoxia, Empress, supposed site of her Church, 169;
her Church dedicated to S. Stephen, 224.
Evil Counsel, Hill of, 4;
its site identified, 21;
its legend and account of the tombs there, 205;
the ruins on its summit, 208.
Extent of Jerusalem northward examined, 39.
F.
Fish Gate, its supposed site, 26, 27.
Flagellation, the, Chapel of, 139.
Food, the supply of, at Jerusalem, 264.
Fortress of the Jebusites, its probable position, 16, 22.
Fountain Gate, its supposed site, 27.
Fountain of the Virgin, 15, 91;
description of it, 184;
its water system examined, 254;
cause of its intermittent flow, 257.
Franciscan Convent in the Church of the Resurrection, 120, 160,
Notes IV. V. 307;
the Good Friday service there, Note XV. 305.
Fuller's Monument, its supposed site, 39.
Fuller's Pool, 241.
Furnaces, tower of the, supposed site, 27.
G.
Gardens, Gate of, 7;
see Herod, Gate of.
Gareb, Hill of, 18.
Gate between two walls, its probable site, 26.
Gates of Jerusalem at the present time, 6;
before the Captivity, 26;
as rebuilt by Nehemiah, 27;
as described by Josephus, 28;
M. Munk's enumeration of them, Note VII. 286;
Arabic inscriptions above them, Note IV. 281;
regulations for closing them, Note V. _ib._
Gennath Gate, its probable site, 32.
Gethsemane, its site indubitable, 177;
its present state, 178.
Gihon, Mount, 4;
its site identified, 21.
Gihon, Upper Pool of, see Mamillah.
Gihon, Valley of, 4, 17;
examination of it, 208.
Giles, S., supposed Church of, 153.
Golden Gate, the, 7, 27;
its architecture, and present condition, 67;
the view from its top, 76;
Mohammedan tradition concerning it, _ib._;
legends connected with it, Notes XXIX. XXX. 294, XXXIII. 295.
Golgotha, its identity questionable, 107;
its present appearance, 122.
Golgotha, the Cistern of, 260.
Good Friday, Franciscan Service upon, Note XV. 305.
Greeks, their number and position in Jerusalem, 12;
their chapel in the Church of the Resurrection, 120;
their convents in Jerusalem, 163, Note VI. 307;
their nunneries, 164;
their charitable institutions, 278;
the accommodation for their pilgrims, _ib._
Greek Catholics, their Convent at Jerusalem, 162.
Grotto of the Agony, account of, 177, Note X. 309.
H.
Hadrian rebuilds Jerusalem, 3, 6;
its form and size unaltered, 43;
builds a temple to Jupiter on the site of the Temple, 57.
Hammam-es-Shefa, 15, 91, 257.
Haram es-Sherîf, 18;
its history, 57;
proved to be Mount Moriah, 59;
north side examined, 63;
Antonia Tower in north-west angle, 64;
the east side, 65;
the foundation of the east wall the work of Solomon, 66;
the south wall examined, 69;
the west side, 70;
remarkable arch in south-west angle, _ib._;
its interior described, 75;
its three elevations examined, 88;
its water system and subterranean works investigated, 90;
conclusion arrived at, 100;
regulations and difficulties of admission to it, Notes I. II. 290.
Hebron, Gate of, 8;
see Jaffa Gate.
Helena of Adiabene, her monument, 223.
Helena, S., Tomb of, its probable site, 37;
Chapel of, 111, 121;
throne of, 112;
Abyssinian Church of, 125;
the so-called cistern of, 126, 260;
her traditionary hospital, 150;
her churches on the Mount of Ascension, 194, 197;
her work at the Tomb of the Virgin, 170, Note IV. 308;
at Aceldama, 207;
her church near the Grotto of Jeremiah, 228;
Justinian's Basilica wrongly ascribed to her, Note XV. 292.
Herod Antipas, site of his palace, 141.
Herod, Gate of, 7, 39.
Herod the Great, his splendid additions to Jerusalem, 3;
his monument, 41;
its suggested site, 242;
he builds the third Temple, 52;
description of his masonry, 67;
a portion of his wall described by De Saulcy, 72.
Herodian Walls, their architectural characteristics, Note V. 286.
Herods, the, Jerusalem under their sway, 28.
Hezekiah, his pool, 14;
the supposed Millo of David, 24, 25, 32;
traces of his wall, 25.
Hierosolyma, derivation of by Lysimachus, 2.
Hinnom, Valley of, 4, 17, 22;
its course examined, 204;
origin of the name, Note XV. 309.
Hippicus tower, its supposed site, 28.
Holy Fire, Greek Festival of, account of, Note XIV. 304.
Holy Sabbath, Armenian festival, account of, Note XIV. 305.
Holy Sepulchre; the question of its site examined, 102;
its traditionary history traced, 103;
Eusebius's account of it, 105;
the monument described, 115;
its interior and the tomb examined, 116;
proofs of its genuineness, 117;
stones said to have closed it, 220; Notes XI. XII. 303-4;
Arculf's description of it, Note IV. 299.
Horse Gate, its supposed site, 26.
Hosea, supposed tomb of, 184.
House of Erebinthi, its site, 41.
House of the Prince, 126.
Houses in Jerusalem, their present state, 266.
Huldah, Gate of, 7, 70, 82.
Huldah Prophetess, her tomb on Mount Ascension, 197.
I.
Ibrahim, Mosque of, 127.
Inhabitants of Jerusalem, 268.
Inspector's Gate, 75;
legend connected with it, 295.
Invention of the Cross, Chapel of, in the Church of the
Resurrection, 121.
Iron Gate, 74.
Isaiah, tradition as to his death and tomb, 187.
Israel, minaret of, 75.
J.
Jacob's Dream: Mount Moriah possibly the scene of it, 46.
Jadagat el-Ahel, Grotto of the "store of food," 38;
tradition concerning it, 236.
Jaffa Gate, 8, 26, 27;
regulations for closing it, Note V. 281.
Jaffa, port of, its accommodation for travellers, 262.
James, S., the Great, Church of, its history and description, 157;
tomb of described, 183.
James, S., the Less, Church of, 158.
Jebusites, their connection with Jerusalem, 1, 2;
situation of their fortress, 16, 22;
condition of Jerusalem in their time, 22;
the architectural characteristics of their walls, Note V. 285.
Jehoshaphat, Gate of, 7.
Jehoshaphat, Tomb of, explored, 180.
Jehoshaphat, Valley of, explored, 167;
its dreary solemnity, 179;
its monuments examined, 180;
conclusions regarding them, 184;
belief connected with it, 168; Note V. 307.
Jehovah-jireh, the probable equivalent of Moriah, 17.
Jeremiah, Grotto of, described, 228;
its tradition examined, 229.
Jerome, S., on the residence of Melchizedek, 1.
Jesus, the chamber of His cradle, 77;
His tomb described, 116;
the spot where He was crowned with thorns, 138;
scourged, 139;
shewn by Pilate, 140;
the Station of His first fall in the Via Dolorosa, 141;
place of the meeting with His mother, _ib._;
with Simon the Cyrenian, 142;
His second fall, 143;
meeting with the Daughters of Jerusalem, 144;
His third fall, _ib._;
the tree to which He was bound, 156;
the site of His betrayal, 179;
spot where He wept over the city, 190;
the scene of His Ascension, 191, 193;
prints of His feet on Mount Ascension, 197.
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, 9.
Jews of Jerusalem, their social habits, 9;
their numbers and sectarian divisions, 10;
their objection to enter the Temple enclosure, 154;
their Synagogues, 155;
cause of their dislike to the Church of England, 158;
their cemetery in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, 180;
their hospice in the Valley of Gihon, 208;
their degraded condition in Jerusalem, 271;
their charitable institutions there, 277.
Jews' Wailing place, 72, 154.
Joab, the well of, visited, 188;
detailed account of, 253;
curious legend concerning it, 254.
Joachim, S., pretended tomb of, 175.
John, S., of Jerusalem, Hospital of, its history, 129;
state of its remains, 131;
its original position, 133; Notes XVI. XVIII. 306.
Joseph of Arimathea, his tomb, 119.
Joseph, S., his pretended tomb, 175.
Joseph, S., sisters of, their convent, 162.
Josephus, his account of the city of David verified, 16;
identification of his "New City," 18;
of the Tyropoeon, 19;
of Ophel and Mount Olivet, 21;
Mount Shafat, 22;
his account of the city of the Herods our sole authority, 28;
his exaggeration of the population of Jerusalem, 41;
the passages from his Antiquities of the Jews illustrating this
work, 323;
ditto from the Jewish War, 327.
Jotham, his wall on Ophel, 25.
Judah, kings of, their burial places, Note XVI. 310.
Judgement Gate, legend of, 143.
Judges, the tombs of, described, 239.
Julian the Apostate attempts to rebuild the Temple, 57;
the so-called miracle which prevented this, Note XIV. 292.
Jupiter, Temple to, on the site of the Temple built and destroyed, 57.
Justinian, his Basilica near the site of the Temple, 57;
converted into a mosque, _ib._;
into a dwelling-house, 59;
its ruins, 70;
its history and description, 78;
Antoninus of Piacenza's account of it, Note XXXIV. 295.
K.
Kerm es-Sheikh (ancient Arab house), curious tradition concerning
it, 230.
Kidron torrent, its present state, 169;
coins found in its bed, 170;
the pool forming its source, 283.
Kidron, pool of, 14; account of it, 256.
Kidron Valley, 4, 5, 18;
exploration of it, 167;
the site of the King's dale, 182, Note II. 308.
King's garden, the, identified, 27.
Kings, Jewish, their Tombs on Mount Sion, 215;
their burial places as mentioned in the Bible, Note XVI. 310.
Kings, Latin, their tombs, 113;
Inscriptions on them, Note XI. 303.
Knights Hospitaler, account of, 129.
Knights Templar, their stables in the vaults of the Haram, 78.
Kubbet es-Sakharah, see Dome of the Rock; Omar, Mosque of.
L.
Land proprietors at Jerusalem, 268.
Latin Kings, their tombs, 113;
Inscriptions on them, Note XI. 303.
Latin Patriarchate, the, 152.
Latins, their chapel in the Church of the Resurrection, 120;
their charitable institutions at Jerusalem, 278.
Lazarus (the beggar), fictitious site of his house, 142.
Lazarus, his tomb in Bethany, 202;
ruins of his convent and house there, 203.
Lepers, their houses and miserable appearance, 221.
"Lower City" of the Jebusites, its position, 22.
"Lower pool" of Isaiah, see Birket es-Sultan, Prince's Pool.
Lysimachus, his derivation of Hierosolyma, 2.
M.
Maccabees, the, recover the second Temple, 52.
Magdalene, Church of the, its history and remains, 148.
Mamillah, pool of, 5, 14;
identified as the "Upper pool," 241;
description of it, 251;
identified from the Bible, 252.
Manasseh, traces of his wall, 26.
Mariamne Tower, its supposed site, 28.
Mariti (Abbé), on the position of the three Crosses, 106;
on the arch of the Ecce Homo, 140.
Mark, S., traditional site of his house, 158.
Mary, S., of Egypt, Oratory of, 112.
Mary, S., the Virgin, tradition, &c. of her birth-place, 145, 6, 7;
Chapel of her Nativity, 150;
her tomb, 148;
erected by S. Helena, 170;
enquiries as to the Church built over it, 171;
its present state, 175;
site of her house on Sion, 219; Notes III. to XII. 308-9.
Mary, S., the Great, ruins of Church of, 125;
its history, 128;
present state of its remains, 130.
Mary, S., the Less, Church of, its history, 129;
its present state, 130.
Mary, S., Gate of, 78.
Mary, Lady, Pool of the bath of, 7, 14, 167.
Masonry of east wall of Haram, 66;
Solomon's and Herod's compared, 67; Note V. 286.
Meah, tower of, its site, 27.
Measures, Hebrew, their relative value, Note II. 282.
Mekhemeh, or Mohammedan Court of Justice, 73.
Melchizedek, his residence according to S. Jerome, 1.
Milisendis, Queen, her Convent of S. Lazarus at Bethany, 203.
Millo of David, its probable site, 24.
Millo of Solomon, 25.
Mislin, M., his account of the so-called tomb of David, 212.
Mogarabins, the, gate and wall of, 72;
Mosque of, 85.
Mohammedan quarter of Jerusalem, 9.
Mohammedans, they capture Jerusalem, 57;
their number and position there, 11;
their charitable institutions, 277.
Mohammed's invisible bridge, its position and legend, 76.
Moloch, account of the worship of, Note XV. 309.
Monks dwelling in the Church of the Resurrection, remarks on, 122;
disputes among them, 124.
Monolith in the vaults of El-Aksa, 82;
this taken from the royal caverns, 227.
Montefiore, Sir M., his Hospice for Jews, 208.
Moriah, Mount, identified, 17, 18;
added to the city by Solomon, 24;
its site unquestionable, 41;
the author's opportunities of exploring it, 46;
its history, _ib._;
its appearance changed by the Temple, 49;
fortified by Simon Maccabeus, 52;
proved to be the present Haram es-Sherîf, 59.
Mosaic work in the Dome of the Rock, 87; Note XXXVIII. 296.
Moses, chapel of, 99.
Mountains round Jerusalem, 4, 21;
within the city, 16.
Munk, on the Babylonish Captivity, Note VII. 291.
N.
Name of Jerusalem, its origin and meaning, 1.
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem, 2,
and Solomon's Temple, 50.
Neby Samwîl village, position of, 4; Note II. 281.
Nehemiah completes the rebuilding of Jerusalem, 3;
aspect of the city in his time, 27;
characteristics of his masonry, Note V. 285;
tradition attached to his well, 188.
"New City" of Josephus identified, 18.
Nicanor's Gate in the Temple, 54;
tradition regarding its doors, Note X. 292.
Nicodemus, his tomb, 119.
Nicoforus, Archimandrite, his agricultural improvements in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 5, 208, 244.
Northern extent of Jerusalem examined, 39.
North Gate of Josephus, its site, 36.
O.
Offence, Mount of, its position indisputable, 21;
its present state, 189;
forms the third summit of Mount Olivet, 191.
Old Gate, its supposed site, 27.
Olivet, Mount, 4;
Panoramic view from its summit, 8, 16;
its position indisputable, 21;
its points of interest examined, 190;
its three summits, 191;
histories attached to these, 192.
Olive-tree, traditionary, to which our Saviour was bound, 156;
those remaining in the garden of Gethsemane, 178; Note XIII. 309.
Omar, Mosque of, built over the threshing-floor of Araunah, 57;
this proved by history, 58, 59; Notes XVI-XXIV. XXVI. 292-4;
see Dome of the Rock.
Omar, Mosque of, the octagonal monument so called, 81, 130;
Note VI. 286.
Omar, remains of his boys' school and hospital, 153.
Onuphrius, chapel of, on the Hill of Evil Counsel, 206.
Ophel, the hill of 18;
its site identified, 21;
works of defence on, 25, 26.
Oratory near the Haram barrack, 75.
P.
Palace of the Council, its supposed site, 30;
of Dives, its fictitious site, 142;
of Herod Antipas, its site, 141.
Panorama of Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, 8.
Passages from the Holy Bible bearing on the statements in this
work, 315.
Patriarch's Pool, 241.
Pelagia, S., her tomb on Mount Ascension, 197.
Peristerion, the supposed site of, 40.
Peter, S., Church of, 150.
Peter's, S. prison, traditional site of, 158
Peter, S. at the Cock-crow, ruins of Church of, 221.
Phasaëlus Tower, its supposed site, 28.
Pilate, conduit of, 14.
Pilgrims, the numbers of, visiting Jerusalem, 10;
their unseemly conduct at the Holy Sepulchre, 123;
the different communities of, at Jerusalem, 274.
Pilgrim's Pool, 7, 14;
account of it, and its traditions, 229.
Pisans, castle of the, 159;
Adrichomius' account of, Note VIII. 286.
Place of the Ashes, 50;
its probable position, 89, 91, 100.
Pompeius the Great captures the second Temple, 52.
Pools of Jerusalem, 14, 27.
"Pool that was made," the, (Birket es-Sultan), 27, 96.
Population of Jerusalem, 10;
compared with its size, 14;
at the time of Alexander the Great, 41;
exaggerated by Josephus, _ib._
Postal system at Jerusalem, 264.
Potter's field, the site of, 206.
Prætorium, the, situated in the Antonia Tower, 55, 64;
its position identified, 137.
Prince's Pool, (Birket es-Sultan), 15, 96, 209.
Procopius, his account of the Basilica of Justinian, 78, 83.
Prophets, the tombs of, 198;
their authenticity considered, 199.
Proselytism at Jerusalem, its failure, 273, 4.
Protestants, their number in Jerusalem, 13.
Protestant Missions at Jerusalem, their ill success, 172;
their charitable institutions, 278.
Provisions, supply of, at Jerusalem, 264.
Prussian Mission-house at Jerusalem, 165.
Psephinus tower, its supposed site, 35.
Q.
Quarries used for the Temple and walls, 38; see Royal Caverns.
Quarries of red breccia, 243.
R.
Ramah identified with Neby Samwîl, Note II. 281.
Ramleh, its accommodation for travellers, 262.
Religious communities in Jerusalem, 10, 13.
Resurrection, Church of the, its history, 108;
its present dangerous condition, 110;
its exterior described, _ib._;
its interior, 113;
the great Dome, 114;
state of the Monks living there, 122;
Pilgrims visiting it, 123;
account of its neighbourhood, 125; Notes III.-XIII. 299-304;
see Holy Sepulchre.
Retreat of the Apostles, see James, S. tomb of.
Road of the Capture, 182.
Robinson, Dr, his opinion of the Tyropoeon disputed, 19.
Rock near the Haram barrack, site of the Tower Antonia, 59, 64.
Rock, the Sacred, description of, 87;
proved to be the site of the threshing-floor of Araunah, 88;
and the Altar of burnt-offerings, 89;
legends and traditions connected with it, Notes III. IV. XXXIX.
XL. 291, 296.
Rogel, its supposed site, 188;
Fountain of, see Joab, Fountain of.
Roman Catholics, their number and position in Jerusalem, 12.
Roman inscription on El-Aksa gateway, 69.
Roman Walls, the characteristics of their masonry, Note V. 286.
Rossellane the Sultana, her munificence, 59;
description of her hospital, 151;
view from its roof, 152.
Royal Caverns of Josephus, their supposed site, 38;
description of them, 226.
Russia, her position in Jerusalem, 13.
Russians, their conventual buildings in Jerusalem, 13, 240;
their charitable institutions, 279.
S.
Sæwulf, his account of the Holy Places, Note V. 300.
Saladin's school, fragment of, 74;
his hospice, 127;
his generosity to the Christians, Note XXV. 294.
Salem and Jerusalem distinct places, 1.
Sanhedrim, hall of, in the Temple, 54.
Sanitary condition of Jerusalem, 9, 15, 261.
Saracenic buildings in Jerusalem, 153;
the characteristics of their masonry, Note V. 286.
Saviour, S. Church of, on Mount Sion, 220;
Convent of, 160.
Scala Sancta, the, in Via Dolorosa, 138.
Scopus, Mount, 4;
Note from Josephus upon, Note III. 281;
see Shafat.
Sea of Bronze, its dimensions, 49; Note VI. 291.
Sects, Christian, at Jerusalem, their animosity to each other, 269;
their property, &c. 270.
Sennacherib, spot of his encampment, 241.
Sepulchre, the Holy; see Holy Sepulchre.
Sepulchre, vertical, near the Tombs of the Kings, 236.
Sepulchres, Mount of the, 4, 205.
Serai, the, Minaret of, 75.
Serpents' pool, 241.
Sewer discovered near the Convent of the daughters of Sion, 62.
Sewers of Jerusalem, 15, 19.
Shafat, mountain of, 4;
its site identified, 22.
Shaveh, the valley of, 1.
Sheep-gate, its supposed site, 27.
Shefa, Bath of, 15, 16, 91.
Sheikh Jerrah, Arab building, 236.
Siloam, fountain of, its undoubted site, 31.
Siloam, gardens of, 4, 5.
Siloam, pool of, 8, 15;
its site identified, 8, 16;
reverence attached to it, 185;
its history, 186;
its present appearance, 187.
Siloam, village of, described, 189;
ancient Egyptian monument there, 190.
Simon the Cyrenian, spot of his meeting with Jesus in Via
Dolorosa, 142.
Simon the Just, Tomb of, 237.
Simon the Pharisee, traditionary site of his house, 148, 9.
Sion gate, 7, 8.
Sion, Mount, 6, 16, 17;
excavations there, 23;
examination of it, 209;
the tomb of David, 210;
Tombs of the Jewish Kings, 215;
the Coenaculum, 216;
the house of the Virgin, 219;
of Caiaphas, 220;
remains of antiquity found there, Note III. 284.
Slaughter, valley of, 22.
Society in Jerusalem, its present state, 268.
Soil of the environs of Jerusalem, 5.
Solomon, the Conduit of, 14;
his additions to the city of David, 24;
situation of his "Millo" and house, 25;
excavations in his pool, 31;
its present state, 187;
masonry of his wall described, 66; Note V. 285, XXVIII. 294;
traditional site of his throne, 76;
his hydraulic works at Jerusalem, 245, 6.
Solomon's Temple; see Temple.
Solyman the Magnificent restores the walls of Jerusalem, 6;
leaving their form unchanged, 44.
Sources of water supply of Jerusalem, 14.
Spring discovered near the Daughters of Sion Convent, 63;
great sensation caused by this, Note XXVII. 294.
Springs in Jerusalem, 257.
Stables of the Templars in the vaults of the Haram, 78.
Stairs from the city of David, site of, 27.
State of Jerusalem and its environs, 267.
Station of the first fall in Via Dolorosa, 141;
of the second, 143;
of the third, 144.
Stephen, S. gate of, 7.
Stephen, S. pretended site of his martyrdom, 168;
the genuine site on the north of the city, 223;
the Empress Eudoxia's Church there, 224.
Stone, the, of Unction, 114, 122.
Stones of largest size in Solomon's walls, Note XXVIII. 294.
Strato's Tower on Moriah, 52;
its site discovered, 62.
Streets of Jerusalem, 8, 10;
their present state, 266;
the principal ones enumerated, Note VI. 282.
Struthium pool, its supposed site, 64, 65.
Syrian Convent, the, 164.
Summary of the history of Jerusalem, 2.
---- chronological, of ditto, 311.
T.
Tacitus, his description of Jerusalem, Note X. 287.
Temple of Solomon, its site, 17;
stone quarries used for it, 38;
account of its building, 48;
its exact description impossible, _ib._;
its ground plan, 49;
water supply necessary for its services, _ib._;
its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, 50;
its position fixed by the Sacred Rock, 88;
Rabbinical plan of, 90;
the principal modern accounts of it, Note V. 291.
Temple, the Second, as rebuilt by Zerubbabel, 51;
its history, _ib._;
taken by Antiochus Epiphanes, _ib._;
recovered by the Maccabees, 52;
its subsequent history, _ib._;
its height according to Josephus, 51; Note VIII. 291.
Temple, the third, as built by Herod the Great, 52;
its ground plan, _ib._;
dimensions, 54;
the scene of our Saviour's ministry, 55;
its destruction by Titus, 56;
subsequent history of its site, 57;
various writers upon it, Note IX. 292.
Temple, dates of its burnings, Note XII. 292.
Terrace roofs in the East, Note XLII. 297.
Threshing-floors, ancient, description of, 47.
Throne of Solomon, its traditional site, 76.
Titus destroys Jerusalem and Herod's Temple, 3, 56;
the city at his time, 28;
his wall of circumvallation, 40;
the site of his head-quarters, 241.
Tomb of the Lord's Body; see Holy Sepulchre.
Tombs in the environs of Jerusalem, 5.
Tombs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat examined, 180;
conclusions regarding them, 184.
Tombs, Mount of the, 4, 205.
Tombs of the Judges, account of, 239.
Tombs of the Jewish Kings on Sion, 215.
Tombs of the Kings examined; the vestibule, 232;
the sepulchral chambers, 233;
controversies as to their origin and use, 235.
Tombs of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem, 113;
the inscriptions on them, Note XI. 303.
Tombs of the Prophets, 198;
their authenticity considered, 199.
Tophet in the Valley of Hinnom, 204;
probably the Hill of Evil Counsel, 21;
origin of the name, Note XV. 309.
Tradesmen of Jerusalem, their extortion, 264.
Traditions of the East, their unvarying character, Note IX. 286.
Travellers at Jerusalem, advice to, 263, 266.
Tree, traditionary, to which our Saviour was bound, 156.
Turks in Jerusalem, their numbers, 11;
their extortion, 273.
Tyre, William of, his account of the Mosque of Omar, 58; Note
XVII. 292;
of the Church of the Resurrection, Note VI. 301.
Tyropoeon, the, identified with the central valley, 19.
U.
"Upper Pool;" see Mamillah.
Uzza, garden of, its supposed site, 184.
V.
Valley Gate, its supposed site, 26, 27, 69.
Valleys round Jerusalem, 4;
within the city, 16, 19, 20, 62.
Vault, immense one discovered beneath the Convent of the Daughters of
Sion, 61;
the supposed site of Strato's Tower, 62;
its purpose and architectural history, 77;
converted into stables for the Templars, 78.
Vaults under the site of Antonia Tower, 64; under El-Aksa, 81;
the mosque Abu Bekr, 84;
the tomb of David, the sepulchre of the Jewish Kings, 215.
Veronica, S. house of, in the Via Dolorosa, 143.
Via Dolorosa, 8, 9;
account of its fourteen stations, 135;
summary of the evidence of its identity, 144.
Virgin, Fountain of the, see Fountain.
Virgin, Tomb of, see Mary S.
Virgin's swoon, the, chapel of, in Via Dolorosa, 141.
Viri Galilæi, the north summit of Mount Olivet, 192.
W.
Walls of Jerusalem, now surrounding it, 6;
remains of that built by the Jebusites, 22;
by David, 23;
by Solomon, 24;
by Jotham and Hezekiah, 25;
by Manasseh, 26;
under Nehemiah, 27;
the Herods and Titus, 28;
the Agrippas, 35, 37;
the course of the first wall explored, 28;
of the second, 31;
of the third, 34;
the wall of Titus, 40;
of Solyman the Magnificent, 44;
their different architectural characteristics, Note V. 285;
the largest stones remaining in that of Solomon, Note XXVIII. 294.
Wandering Jew, the imaginary house of, in the Via Dolorosa, 143.
Water Gate, its supposed site, 27.
Water supply of Jerusalem, 14;
a good supply required for the Temple services, 49.
Waters of the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 245;
inside the city, 257.
Wezn, or invisible balance, Mohammedan legend of, Note XLI. 296.
Willibrand of Oldenburg, his account of Christ's Tomb, 117.
Window of Judgment, its position and legend, 76.
X.
Xystus, the, its supposed site, 30.
Z.
Zacharias, Tomb of, 183.
Zerubbabel rebuilds the Temple, 51.
Cambridge:
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Obvious typesetting errors have been corrected. Questionable or archaic
spelling has been left as printed in the original publication.
Variations in spelling have been left as printed, unless otherwise noted
in the following.
Corrections to printing errors supplied in the "CORRIGENDA ET ADDENDA",
immediately following the Table of Contents, have been applied in this
transcription.
Inconsistencies in abbreviations frequently used have been regularized.
The formation of references to works frequently cited have
been regularized. E.g., for all instances like "Jewish War, V. 4, § 1."
commas have been inserted, if missing, after War and before the "§"
symbol.
All instances of "Sherif" have been normalized to "Sherîf".
Alternate spellings of Phasælus/Phasaelus/Phasaëlus Tower have been
regularized to Phasaëlus.
Alternate spellings of Neby Samwil/Samwîl have been regularized to
Samwîl.
Alternate spellings of Arimathæa/Arimathea have been regularized to
Arimathea.
Varying formats of the abbreviation "A.D." have been regularized in this
transcription to appear in upper case letters.
Page 26: Transcribed "fellahin" as "fellahîn". As originally printed:
"The answers given to me by the _fellahin_...."
Page 38: Transcribed "them" as "they". As originally printed: "with the
old level of the north gate, and found them correspond".
Page 48: Supplied the word "in" (shown in brackets here) to the
following phrase: "those found [in] 1 Kings vi. 7 and 2 Chron. iii.
and iv. are very incomplete, and often hard to reconcile".
Page 49: Supplied the word "in" (shown in brackets here) to the
following phrase: "The inner is mentioned [in] 1 Kings vi. 36".
Page 58: Supplied a quotation mark missing in the original publication,
as follows, immediately preceding "but": 'He says (speaking of the
mosque) "but on that celebrated spot...'.
Page 58: Supplied a quotation mark missing in the original publication
at the close of the following: "May God render illustrious the great
king, son of Meruan, who enlarged this majestic temple, and grant him
mercy."
Page 128: Transcribed "Harun er-Rashid" as "Harûn er-Rashîd". As
originally printed: "The amicable relations between Harun er-Rashid...."
Page 138: Two footnote markers on this page in the original publication,
both numbered 1, reference one footnote. The markers have been numbered
470 and 471 and footnote 471 has been added as "Ibid."
Page 140 (footnote 477): Corrected "Jérus" to "Jésus."
Page 210: Footnote 4 on this page references non-existant Note "XXII."
Number was corrected to "Note XIV."
Page 212: Supplied the word "it" (shown in brackets here) to the
following phrase: "some however less anxiously cautious, say that [it]
is on the site...".
Page 229: Footnote 7 on this page was marked in the text, but the note
at the bottom of the page, referring internally to "Page 14", had no
note number associated with it. The footnote has been numbered and
appears in this transcription as footnote 826.
Page 270 (footnote 898): Transcribed "pamplet" as "pamphlet". As
originally printed: "the following account published in a pamplet...."
In the table showing Spanish Reals sent to the Holy Land, the individual
contributions by country in this transcription match the figures in
the original publication; however, the total Reals stated in the
original publication (239,737,060) does not match the sum of the
countries' contributions (239,927,060).
Page 275: In the table showing pilgrims visits to Jerusalem and lengths
of stays, the annual totals in this transcription match the figures in
the original publication; however, the total of days stated in the
original publication (229,346) does not match the sum of the annual
totals (229,266).
Pages 283-4: Endnotes marked in the original publication with numerical
references (1 to 7) have been transcribed as notes A to G and appear as
endnotes to Note II of Chapter II.
Page 295: A reference to the Itinerary of Antoninus of Piacenza printed
as "Anton. Placent. Itin. Sect. 23" in the original publication has been
left as printed, a likely typesetting error in which an L was
substituted for the I in Piacen(t)za.
Pages 304: Endnotes to Note XIV of Chapter IV., marked in the original
publication as (a) and (b), have been transcribed as footnotes that appear
at the end of the notes for Chapter IV.
Page 311: Transcribed "Adonizedec" (king of Jerusalem) as "Adonizedek".
As originally printed: "1451 Adonizedec king of Jerusalem".
Page 314: Alternate spellings of Al-Mostander-Billah/Al-Mostanser-Billah
have been regularized to Al-Mostanser-Billah.
Page 331: Possibly incomplete phrase in sidenote has been left as
printed in the original publication: "The Jews see the review of the
troops Titus."
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Jerusalem Explored, Volume I—Text - Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City, with Numerous Illustrations Consisting of Views, Ground Plans and Sections" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.