By G. Robinson Lees, F. R. G. S. nmp Iff L I B R.A FLY OF THE U N I VERS ITY Of ILLINOIS Received by bequest from Albert H. Lybyer Professor of History University of Illinois 1916-1949 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with fundihg from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/jerusalemillustrOOIees .JERUSALEM FROM THE WEST. PREFACE. ^LTHOUGH many volumes of books have been written on Jerusalem, this is the first that has ever been printed and published in English in the Holy City. The illustrations are photographs carefully selected by the author from his negatives, taken during a residence of several years in Jerusalem, to fairly represent the numerous attractions offered to travellers, and to convey to the minds of those who may never set foot within its walls, a set of views comprehensive enough to include all the most important objects of interest. The descriptive letterpress has been written after careful study, on the spot, of the Bible, the Works of Josephus, the Publications of * the Palestine Exploration Fund and the Pilgrim's Text Society, the Works of Warren, Conder, Wilson, Robinson, Williams, Fergusson, Hayter Lewis, Besant and Palmer, Guy le Strange, and the Guide Books published by Messrs. Cook, Murray, and Baedeker. G. ROBINSON LEES. Jerusalem, January, 1893. PREFACE. 'J'HIS volume is the English edition, revised and considerably enlarged, of an attempt to set before the public pictures of Jerusalem and its people, that first saw the light in the Holy City itself, in the shape of two volumes with the same title (“ Jerusalem Illustrated ”). Each contain twelve half-plate photographs with descriptive letterpress. The demand was greater than the supply, and the number limited. Therefore considering the favourable reception of the photographs, and the evident and increasing desire for informa- tion concerning the Holy City, I have rewritten the letterpress, and added many more chapters as well as pictures (some of which are from photographs by Messrs. Krikorian, of Jerusalem, and Bonfils, of Beyrout, to whom I tender my grateful acknowledgments), in order to more completely illustrate the Holy City. I have not striven for literary excellence, for a reason that is plain to all, but have endeavoured to give, after careful observation and research, some idea of the present state of Jerusalem and the people that daily walk its streets, with reference to the ages that have passed away. G. ROBINSON LEES. Jerusalem, May, 1893. PREFACE BY THE BISHOP. J HAVE much pleasure in recommending the books by Mr. G. Robinson Lees, F.R.G.S., “ Bible Scenes from the Holy Land" and 11 Jerusalem Illustrated" His interesting Preface shows the aim of his work. It is one which will help to meet the growing demand for reliable information concerning the Holy City, in the days when “ God’s servants think upon her stones, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust.” Mr. Lees is by study and by personal tastes qualified for the task he has undertaken. He can well illustrate the subjects touched on in his introduction, which would trace lines of connection between Jerusalem and her people of to-day, and the ancient city and those who thronged its streets in ages that are past. He directs his camera with an artistic eye to groups, and scenes, and ancient buildings. And those who have seen what he describes and depicts will be glad thus to be helped to keep them in their memory; whilst those who have not yet visited Jerusalem will be much attracted towards it by the study of these pleasing volumes. As the first effort of this kind made and published in Jerusalem these works give encouragement to those who have been associated in placing them before the public. G. F. POPHAM BLYTH, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem and the East. £ l ' v- C CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE. I. Jerusalem . . . . . i II. The Walls and Gates .... 13 III. Climate . . . . . . .24 IV. The People . . . . .26 • V. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre . . .44 VI. Jeremiah’s Grotto and Modern Calvary . . 59 VII. The Via Dolorosa . . . . -65 VIII. El Haram esh Sherif — The Temple Area — 1. History to the building of Solomon’s Temple . 67 2. Solomon’s Temple. .... 71 3. From the Restoration to the Temple of Herod . 75 4. The Temple of Herod . . 79 5. Result of Exploration — (1.) Double and Triple Gates . . .82 (2.) Robinson’s Arch and Barclay’s Gate 83 (3.) The Jews’ Wailing Place . . .84 (4.) The Northern Wall and Site of the Tower of Antonia . . 86 (5.) The Eastern Wall . . .88 6. The Golden Gate .... 89 7. From Temple to Mosque . . . 91 8. History and Description of the present Area — ( 1 .) The Dome of the Rock — Kubbet es Sakrah 98 (2.) The Dome of the Chain — Kubbet es Silsileh 107 (3.) The Mosque el Aksa . . . 108 (4.) Cupolas, Fountains, Minarets, &c. . 112 CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE. IX. The Tower of David . . . . .119 X. The Muristan . .- . . . 123 XI. Neby Daud ...... 124 XII. The Kedron Valley . . . .129 XIII. The Garden of Gethsemane and Mount of Olives — 1. The Garden of Gethsemane . . . 136 2. The Tomb of the Virgin Mary . . 137 3. The Mount of Olives . . . .138 XIV. Underground Jerusalem — 1. The Water Supply of Jerusalem — (1.) Pool of Hezekiah . . . 143 (2.) Pool of Siloam .... 145 (3.) Pool of Bethesda . . . 145 2. The Tombs of the City .... 147 Appendix . . . . . . .150 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FULL PAGE I LLU STATIONS. Jerusalem from the West .... facing tUle Jerusalem from the South-East .... 5 Zion Street . . . . . . .7 Jerusalem from the North-West .... 9 Railway Station — Opening Day . . . .11 Neby Moosa Procession ..... 20 Jesusalem in Winter . . . . . 23 The Crowd on the Church, awaiting the Washing of the Feet 54 The Washing of Feet . . . . . . 56 Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives ... 68 The Haram and City from the North-East . . -95 The Dome of the Rock ..... 99 Windows in the Dome of the Rock . . . 104 The Mosque el Aksa ..... 109 The Muristan . . . . . .122 The Kedron flowing . . . . .128 Gethsemane . . . . . . .135 Temple Area (5 plans) .... 154 — 162 SMALL ILLUSTRATIONS. Armenian Cathedral ..... 6 Christian Street . . . . . .8 Native Shop ...... 8 View from Railway Terminus . . . .12 Bethlehem Road . . . . . .15 Jaffa Gate . . . . . . • J 5 Jaffa Road ....... 16 Damascus Gate . . . . . .18 St. Stephen’s Gate ..... 19 Street Scene . . . . . . .26 The Governor of Jerusalem . . . 28 The Government House — Serai . . . .29 A Murderer ...... 30 Turkish Delight Seller . . . . .32 Children of Jerusalem . . . . - 33 A Jew . . . . . . .34 The Hand of Might 35 Young Jew and Bride . . . . *39 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Christ Church (exterior) . 41 Christ Church (interior) — Christmas 41 Street Scene .... • 43 Church of the Holy Sepulchre > • 44 Moslem Guardians . 46 Churchyard Entrance 47 The Stone of Unction . . 48 Calvary .... 49 The Holy Sepulchre . • 50 The Tomb .... 5 i Modern Calvary and Jeremiah’s Grotto • 59 The Via Dolorosa . . 65 Robinson’s Arch . 83 The Jews’ Wailing Place . . 85 Site of the Tower of Antonia . . . 86 Greek Tablet Inscription . 87 The Golden Gate . . 90 The Rotunda . . IOI Iron Screen and Columns . 102 Interior of Dome . 102 The Sakrah .... . 105 Kubbet es Silsileh . 107 The Mosque el Aksa (interior) . no The Summer Pulpit 113 Sabil Kaiat Bey • 115 The Balances and the City IJ 7 The Tower of David . . 119 Citadel from Betlehem Road 120 Neby Daud .... . 124 The Kedron Valley 131 Monuments in the Kedron Valley • 133 Church of the Virgin (interior) 137 Feast of the Virgin . • 137 View from the Mount of Olives — looking east 139 Cisterns in the Haram . 142 The Pool of Hezekiah *44 The Pool of Siloam • H5 The Pool of Bethesda 146 The Tombs of the Kings . 147 ♦ JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. CHAPTER I. JERUSALEM. J ERUSALEM is a name that is known through all the world ; a city whose history can only be written with the history of mankind. Its glories have been dimmed by the tide of time and it now lies humbled in the dust, but still it remains surrounded by its everlasting hills, a memorial of the Almighty God. Its origin is hidden away in the mists of ages, yet it can.be traced ; and though the waves of destruction have ebbed and flowed through twenty-eight sieges, and the cities of David, Solomon, Nehemiah, Herod, Omar, Godfrey, and Saladin, have been buried beneath thirty or forty feet of rubbish, it still stands — on the relics of its former grandeur ; over the streets down which the Saviour peacefully walked : on hallowed spots associated with the grandest and most sacred events of history — the City of Jerusalem. It has survived the many kingdoms that have swayed the world and held it in subjection : and is now a little mountain city on the hills of old Judea, 2,500 feet above the Mediterranean Sea, the capital of a Turkish province, n o JERUSA'tE^ L ILLUSTRATED. governed by a Pasha, and garrisoned by the soldiers of the Sultan. But it is still the load-star of the Jew, and the goal of both Christian and Moslem pilgrims. And in spite of the various vicissitudes through which it has passed it retains the character of an extremely religious city, sacred alike to Moslem, Jew, and Christian. The name by which it is known among the natives, “El Kuds,” i.e. The Holy, sufficiently indicates the estimation in which it is held. Although to a certain extent the four hills on which it is built, Zion, Moriah, Acra, and Bezetha, may still be distin- guished, their actual boundaries cannot be traced. The contour of these hills has been changed by the accumulated debris of past centuries ; even the Tyropeon Valley, the great depression which formerly separated Crusading-Zion from Moriah, is now only perceptible for a short distance before it leaves the city to join the Kedron. With the exception of “El Haram esh Sherif,” i.e. The Noble Sanctuary, which is now universally acknowledged to be the site of the Temples of Solomon and Herod, the traces of the city as it appeared in our Saviour’s day are completely obliterated. It is true that the sites of several old buildings can be traced with tolerable accuracy, but they date from a time long after His death and resurrection. And though they are presumed to stand on the scenes of His earthly life, they give no proof of their true identity, but are simply the outcome of traditions based on super- stitious error. The work of exploration which has been carried on during recent years, and which to some extent is still continued, has done important service in exposing many erroneous ideas regarding these sites, and the world of biblical archaeology is richer and wiser in the knowledge thus obtained. Inscriptions and various other antiquities have revealed to a great extent the condition of the people in past ages, and the change and decay of the city has been exposed by the explorers in laying bare rock founda- tions hitherto unknown. Many of the discoveries will be treated in their respective places, but it might JERUSALEM . 3 perhaps be as well to briefly enumerate a few of them here. The latest, and one at present under investigation, is that of a Church erected by the Crusaders, probably the one dedicated to St. Martin, found in the Jewish Quarter by my friend the Rev. J. E. Hanauer, only a few days ago. When Capt. Warren, now Sir Charles, was at work here on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, he sunk a shaft at the south-east corner of the city wall, and eighty feet below the surface the foundation courses of the wall of the Temple of Solomon were dis- covered. They were built on to the contour of the rock itself with Phoenician mason’s marks on them, showing that they had been hewn in the quarry and prepared read) 7 for placing one upon another, without there being the least necessity for the use of either hammer or chisel, (i Kings, vi. 7.) Near the south-west corner of the Haram enclosure, Dr. Robinson, the famous American biblical scholar and explorer, discovered the spring of an arch which now bears his name. The opposite pier was found by Capt. Warren, after sinking a shaft. He was then not only able to prove that it formed part of the bridge leading from Herod’s Palace to the Temple as described by Josephus, but he actually came upon the very street along the Tyropeon Valley used during our Saviour’s life on earth, and down which He no doubt often walked. Below the southern wall, in the hill opposite the village of Silwan (Siloam) where the old Jebusite stronghold stood that afterwards became the city of David, the famous Siloam inscription was found cut in Hebraic characters of the time of King Hezekiah on the rocky side of the water channel made by this monarch, when he “ turned the upper water course of Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David.” The piece of rock bearing this inscription has recently been removed and broken, but was fortunately recovered, and now rests in the Ottoman Museum at Constantinople. Another inscription of almost equal importance was found at the north west corner of the K Z 4 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Haram enclosure, on a tablet that formerly served as a notice forbidding strangers to enter the Temple Courts on pain of death. Built in the wall over the Double Gate on the south side of the Temple Area is a Latin inscription that originally belonged to a statue of Hadrian. On this the south side of the city but further west, below Neby Daud, where excavations are being carried on at the present time, old Jebusite houses have been brought to light. Other work is in contemplation that will probably settle the position of the city of David and open the tombs of the Kings of Judah. Remains of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built by Constantine have been found and carefully preserved in the Russian hospice adjoining the present structure. And opposite these relics of past ages are extensive ruins known as the Muristan which have yielded much that is interesting of the work of the Knights Hospitallers. There is a portion of the triumphal arch of Hadrian in the school of the Sisters of Sion in the Via Dolorosa, some inscriptions in Latin, and the old pavement of the city with the marks of chariot wheels. In the grounds of the Nicopherieh, a wooded knoll across the valley of Hinnom opposite the Jaffa Gate, a tomb has recently been opened containing two beautiful white marble sarcophagi, one of which is supposed to have held the bones of Mariamne the wife of Herod the Great. Many other tombs have given up inscriptions, and lamps with inscrip- tions, all of great interest. There is still a vast amount of work that remains to be done, before the various controversies can be decided ; but more than enough has been accomplished to prove that the descriptions of Jerusalem in the Bible are perfectly true, and that its position is still practically the same, with this difference, that it has grown considerably on the north-west and left the south-eastern portion in the hands of the farmer and market gardener. “ Thus saith the Lord of hosts : Zion shall be plowed as a field.” — Jer. xxvi. 18. w w m •r #•* JERUSALEM. JERUSALEM FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. 6 Looking at the city from the slope of the Mount of Olives, the hills outside the south wall and east of the collection of houses known as Neby Daud appear to be covered with fields and gardens, yet the little excavations that have been made tend to show that they once formed the strongholds of the Jebusites and afterwards the city of David. The most prominent part of this picture of Jerusalem from the south-east is the south-eastern part of the city — The Haram Enclosure — The old Temple Area. It is the largest open space there is to be found, and not only the most interesting but the most beautiful portion of the city ; beyond it, the houses seem crowded together as if there were no streets at all. Just below the large church with its prominent spire towards the horizon, are the two domes of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and to the left of them are two massive square topped towers, the larger of which is known as the Tower of David. This is close to the Jaffa Gate, the principal entrance to the city. David Street, the most important in the city, commences at this gate and runs, after passing the moat of the above mentioned Tower, down some steps until it is lost in the dark vaulted ba- zaars that intersect each other in all directions. Zion street leading to the Zion Gate and “Neby Daud” through the Armenian Quarter, leaves David Street at the Tower of that name, INTERIOR OF ARMENIAN CATHEDRAL. km UE^ffsA JERUSALEM 7 ZION STREET JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. and passes the Protestant Church (Christ Church) and School of the London Jews’ Society on the left, and the principal barracks of the city on the right, before it reaches the Armenian Cathedral of St. James, where tall dark pines bend over the street, supposed to be all that are left of the trees of the garden of Herod the King. Further on the narrow street ends in an open space before the Zion Gate, which was formerly the abode of the lepers, but is now the cattle market of the city'. Christian Street runs 'KRISTIAN STREET. at right angles to David Street before the dark bazaars are reached, and joins the Via Dolorosa or “ Street of Pain ” at the top of the steps that lead to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The last-named street is supposed to be the route by which Christ carried the cross, and is consequently most frequented by pilgrims The fourteen stations of the cross are shown, as it turns and twists on its way towards the St. Stephen’s Gate in the eastern wall of the city. NATIVE SHOP. JERUSALEM 9 JERUSALEM FP.OM THE NORTH-WEST. 10 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. The street leading from the Damascus Gate contains the most characteristic native shops which look like big cup- boards with all the wares exposed for sale to the passer by. It ends in the maze of bazaars occupying the centre of the city. All the streets are narrow and many very dirty. Most of them end in blind alleys that are interesting only for their endless variety of smells. The houses are built close together, and often consist of only one room with a vaulted roof. Several of these cluster round one little courtyard, that sometimes contains a cistern or well of water (the only water supply of the city), which is filled by the winter rains that are collected on the flat and dome shaped roofs. The walls are very thick, and serve to keep out the heat in summer and the cold in winter. There are no chimneys, as only the rich use stoves in which wood is burnt for fuel ; the poor have to be content with a brazier where a little charcoal is burnt to warm the room and serve for cooking purposes. Plants kept in pots and tins relieve the dreadful stony monotony of the courtyards, as there are no gardens. The roofs, even when there is a little dome in the centre, are made for walking on, and enable the people to get a waft of evening air when the summer sun has dropped behind the western hills. Small round earthenware pipes are built horizontally in the walls round many of the roofs to enable the women of the harem to venture on without being seen, while they gaze on the scene around. There is no place of amusement in the Holy City ; and what little business there is closes with the shops at sunset, except during the short and busy tourist and pilgrim season from December to May. Even then a petroleum lamp with its flickering light is the only assistance lent to the tardy purchaser, unless he obeys the laws of the city and carries a light of his own. The chief and perhaps the only industry is the manu- facture of olive wood and other articles as souvenirs for travellers. JERUSALEM. 11 THE RAILWAY STATION— OPENING DAY. 12 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Of late years a rising suburb has sprung up to the north west of the city, and very recently a railway has been opened from Jaffa ; but the station is more than half a mile away from the city, and quite out of sight, but the towers and walls are visible from the terminus. VIEW FliOM RAILWAY TERMINUS. CHAPTER II. THE WALLS AND GATES. T HE present city wall was built by Sulieman the Magnificent in 1536-42 A.D., as is attested by the numerous inscriptions found on the gates. According to local tradition it was the work of two brothers, who com- menced at the Jaffa Gate in opposite directions, and never saw each other again for seven years, finally meeting at the St. Stephen’s Gate in the eastern wall, where they placed their marks — the lions. Another story found in Arabic writings gives the credit of the undertaking to a dream of the Sultan, or its interpretation. It is said his first intention was to raze the city to the ground and utterly destroy it, but in a vision one night he saw two lions fighting, and they so disturbed his rest that he suffered all next day. He called a learned Sheikh and asked him what it meant, feeling sure there was some important event at hand. The wise man replied by asking what work he was contemplating, and the Sultan said, “the destruction of Jerusalem.” “The dream was a warning,” said the scholar, “against such sacrilege. Cease to think of destroying God’s Holy Place or evil will attend you.” The Sultan was so struck with the words of the wise man, that he at once made up his mind not only to 14 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. rebuild the walls but the principal buildings of the city. When his work was finished he ordered the lions to be carved on the Bab el Asbat (St. Stephen’s Gate,) in memory of the dream that led him in the right way. As the remains of the former walls were left as they had been thrown down they were used again, and the same stones were built on the same foundations. Possibly in some places a slight deviation was made, but generally speaking the present wall stands in the line of its immediate predecessors. No regard was paid to the respective marks of former builders as shown in the dressing of the stones. Hence we see the Byzantine above the Crusading, and the stones of Christian masons resting on those of Pagan Rome. It is onlv where foundation courses exist that we can see the different building epochs represented by their respective positions in the structure. And these are infallible proofs of their antiquity, just as much as the intermixture of stones shows the work of the latest builder. The wall as it now stands is 2\ miles in circumference, from 35 to 40 feet high, has 34 towers and 8 gates, one of which is closed. The names of the Gates in order, going east : — 1. The Jaffa Gate. Bab el Khalil, the Gate of the Friend or Hebron. 2. The Zion Gate. Bab en Neby Daud, the Gate of the Prophet David. 3. The Dung Gate. Bab el Mugharibeh, the Gate of the Moors. 4. The Golden Gate. Bab ed Daharyeh, the Eternal Gate. {Closed.) 5. St. Stephen’s Gate. Bab Sitti Maryam, the Gate of the Lady Mary ( Christian ). Bab el Asbat, the Gate of the Tribes ( Moslem name). 6. Herod’s Gate. Bab ez Zahery, the Gate of Flowers. 7. Damascus Gate, Bab el Amud, the Gate of the Column. 8. The New Gate. Bab es Sultan, the Sultan’s Gate — recently opened. THE WALLS AND GATES. 15 The only gates of importance are the Jaffa Gate, the Damascus Gate, and St. Stephen’s Gate. The Golden Gate will be described with the eastern wall of the Haram. THE JAFFA GATE. The Jaffa Gate, “Yafa Gate,” or Bab el Khalil, i.e. the Hebron Gate or Gate of the Friend, is the principal entrance to the city. The roads from Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jaffa meet here, and there is every reason to suppose that a gate always stood in this place. It is supposed to be on the site of, or near the “ Valley Gate ” of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah ii. 13.) ‘‘And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even be- fore the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates there- bethlehem road. of were consumed with lire. “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. 16 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED ‘‘Then I went up in the night by the brook and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the val- le} T , and so returned.” According to the above Nehemiah went eastward, and after passing the Pool of Siloam (“the king’s pool,”) he went “ up by the brook.” The only brook round about Jerusalem was the Kedron,. and the wall he “viewed” must have been the south-eastern wall of the city, which was never utterlv destroved. This account given by Nehemiah is remarkably significant and if the gate out of which he passed stood where we now see the Jaffa Gate, we can clearly trace his midnight ride and recognise the “king’s pool,” “the brook,” and “the wall,” all of which may be seen at the present day. The “gate of the fountain,” “ dragon well,” and “dung port” cannot now be identified, unless the “ dragon well ” is the Virgin’s Fountain in the Kedron Valley, and the natives believe there is a dragon at the bottom. Possibly this belief may have been the same at all times. The “ fountain gate ” might have been somewhere near this, and the “ dung port ” have had some connection with an entrance at the end of the Tyropeon Valley — the meaning of which is the Valley of the Cheesemongers, and “ dung ” has been interpreted by Rabbi Schwartz as “ cheese ” on the supposition that it was the word intended to be used by Nehemiah. The present Dung Gate can have nothing to do with this except by way of coincidence, as it stands on the Tyropeon Valley. It is THE WALLS AND GATES 17 little more than a hole in the wall with a door, altogether out of the line of the ruined wall mentioned by the Prophet of old. The street on the inside of the Jaffa Gate is laid over the valley that runs down David Street into the Tyropeon. The ramparts of the Tower of Hippicus were close to this gate, which no doubt was one of the main entrances to the city in the Herodian period, as it adjoins the towers and citadel erected by Herod, which were occupied by the tenth legion after the conquest of the city in 70 a.d. And ever since that time the citadel and principal barracks of the city have guarded this entrance. The fruit and vegetables, that usually supply the daily wants of the inhabitants, are sold, wholesale along the road on the outside, and retail in the street inside the gate. A tax collector sits in a little shed near by, at the receipt of custom like Matthew of old, while a soldier keeps guard at the entrance, and, if need be, assists the tax gatherer in taking toll for the contraband articles, salt, wine, and tobacco. Within some iron railings at the commencement of the street are two Moslem tombs, said to contain the bones of two valiant soldiers of the Crescent who fell fighting against the Christians (according to the townspeople,) “in the time of Nebuchadnezzar or Saladin ! ” No carriages may pass through the gateway without special permission from the Governor. Several of the other gates are still sometimes closed at night, but this always remains open. THE DAMASCUS GATE. The Damascus Gate, or Bab el Amud, the Gate of the Column, was until very recently the only open gate in the northern wall. Now there are two more — the New Gate, so named by Europeans because it has been lately constructed, near the north-west corner ; and Herod’s Gate, between the Damascus Gate and the north-east corner of the wall. Herod’s Gate is an old portal opened for the convenience of the soldiers, whose parade ground is on the eastern side of c 18 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED the hill over Jere- miah’s Grotto, El Heidemyeh (modern Calvary). The Damascus Gate is supposed to stand on the site of an old gate of the second wall, and the guard houses, built of massive stones, by its side, are brought forward to prove this. In the middle ages it was known by the name of St. Stephen, its full name being “ Porta S. Stephani Septentrionalis.” A very early tradition places the site of the martyrdom of Stephen about 200 yards outside this entrance to the city, and in 460 a.d. the Empress Eudoxia erected a church to his memory. The site is now in the hands of the Dominicans who contemplate rebuilding the church after the same plan and on the same foundations. Many tombs were discovered and some of them were afterwards found to be in a line with the one known as Gordon’s Tomb, and as they were very much alike the natural inference was drawn that they belonged to the same period, shown by a partially obliterated inscription to be the 5th century. A pilgrim house existed near the hill El Heidemyeh during the middle ages, and as there was ample accommoda- tion for animals it was called the Asnerie. When the Moslems took the city they continued to use it as a Khan or inn for travellers. ST. STEPHEN’S GATE. St. Stephen’s Gate is the name of the only open gate there is in the eastern wall of the city. The Crusaders called it the Gate of Jehoshaphat because it led into the valley of that name. It has long been known amongst the THE WALLS AND GATES. 19 native population as “ Bab el Asbat ” i.e ., The Gate of the Tribes, but the one most commonly used is ‘‘ Bab Sitti Maryam ” i.e., The Gate of the Lady Mary, so called because it leads to the supposed tomb of the Mother of Christ, in the Kedron Valley. The same name is given to the street that commences here, until it reaches the Turkish barracks, the site of the Tower of Antonia, and from thence it is known as the “Via Dolorosa” i.e., The Way of Pain. As has been before stated the present Damascus Gate formerly owned the name of St. Stephen, until it was somehow discovered, towards the end of the fourteenth century, that the Bab el Asbat led direct to the scene of the protomartyr’s death, and then the imaginary mistake was rectified. By what means this conclusion was drawn is unknown, and so is the stoning place of St. Stephen. The structure as it now stands with its lions carved in half relief, owes its origin to the builder of the city wall, Sulieman the Great, but older gates have stood on the same foundations. Like all the other entrances to the city it was built in an angle, but has recently been altered to a line with the wall, so that now the street may be seen through its opening. It has for centuries been the great pilgrim gate of the city, through which the Palm Sunday processions used to pass after they were prohibited from passing through the Golden Gate, when the Patriarch, seated on an ass, imitated our Saviour’s triumphal progress, while the people followed with waving palms and shouts of exultation. Pilgrims now 20 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED ’NOISSMDOHtl VNOOIM AtLMK RHA THE WALLS AND 6ATES. who desire to view the scene of their Lord’s Agony, wend their way to the Garden of Gethsemane through the same portal. And the Mohammedans use it for their grand annual procession to their tomb of Moses, as it is con- veniently near the Haram. This pilgrimage is the greatest Moslem Festival of the year. x\ccording to tradition Moses was buried on this side of the Jordan, near the Dead Sea, and when, according to God’s appointment, his life on earth was over he sorrowfully complained of the lonely situation of his burial place, saying no one would visit his tomb. God made answer that He would in after years make known the place and appoint a time of pilgrimage. This Great Festival often follows the Fast of Ramadan and is sometimes even after the Feast of Beiram, and forms with them the principal events in the course of the Mohammedan year. Men, women, and children, rich and poor alike, all dressed in the brightest holiday attire pour into the city from all parts of the country, bringing with them their banners and musical instruments, chiefly drums. Then on the Friday (Moslem Sunday) after prayer in the Haram, they form into a procession headed by a military band and mounted police, who are closely followed by the sacred banners from the Haram, and their guardians. As the cannon booms from the hill outside the gate the procession passes through it and slowly winds round the hill, increasing in size and importance at every step, until after the Garden of Gethsemane is passed ; then the friends and well wishers of the pilgrims, who have no desire to spend five days near the hot shores of the Dead Sea, return and enjoy the feast at home. Tomb visiting seems to be a peculiar feature of the Moslem character, for when the heart is elated or depressed by either fast or festival, it is usually shown by a sort of picnic to the tomb of some relation. Women seem to go every Friday, or whenever they have a little time to spare, and as the principal Moslem Cemetery lies outside the 22 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. St. Stephen’s Gate, all along the Eastern wall, there they may be often seen talking to those who have gone before, in the fond hope that they are eagerly listening to all they say. Moslems say the reason why the cave under the Sakrah was surrounded by a wall was to prevent their women folks from telling the news of the day to the spirits of the departed. THE CLIMATE OF JERUSALEM 23 JERUSALEM IN WINTER. CHAPTER III. THE CLIMATE OF JERUSALEM. LTHOUGH Jerusalem is in the sunny east, and enjoys an uninterrupted summer of seven months, it is also visited by the storms of winter ; and being in a mountain region, 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, snow is not altogether unknown. It is true it falls but seldom, and generally melts as soon as the sun rises high in the heavens, yet it has been known to stay for several days, though the snow in the picture disappeared before noon. The winter is very short, but while it lasts it causes much suffering among the poor, as the fuel, which consists of roots of trees or charcoal, is very scarce and dear. The houses are built with thick walls which to a great extent keep out the cold, but in the country round the Holy City, very little provision is made for stormy weather, and when the snow falls, the roofs, which are often made of mud, become saturated with the wet, and as soon as the sun comes out they dry and crack. The result is then very much like the house mentioned by our Saviour as an illustra- tion of the downfall of a family. “ If a house be divided against itself that house cannot stand.” (Mark iii. 25.) THE CLIMATE OP JERUSALEM. 25 The fissure in the roof and consequent collapse of the walls would vividly portray our Lord’s meaning to the under- standing of His hearers. The climate of Jerusalem is the same now as in the times of the writers of the Old and New Testament. We have “the early and latter rain ” mentioned in James v. 7, as well as the “snow,” “ wintry storm,” and “tempest” of Psalms cxlviii. 8 and lv. 8. The former usually falls about the end of October or the beginning of November, and prepares the ground for ploughing and then the seed. It continues, with intervening periods of changeable weather, of warm bright sunshine or bitter cold wintry blasts, until the end of March, when the latter rains fall to refresh the ripening crops. The average annual rainfall of the last ten years is 28 inches. It is collected by the wells and cisterns that supply the wants of the city through the long dry summer. Towards the close of the hot season the value of the water in a moderate sized well will be from £ 20 to £30 ; and if sold in the ordinary way, by the skinful, i.e. goat skin made into a bag, it will fetch considerably more, as the price of each “ kerby,” or skin, often goes up to three piastres (about sixpence). Fevers are very prevalent in the summer ; but the city, “ beautiful for situation,” is eminently fitted by its position as a health resort, and if the sanitary arrangements were as perfect as those of a European city, the health of its inhabitants would leave nothing to be desired. CHAPTER IV. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM. T HERE is a strange intermixture of races and creeds in the Holy City. The gaily attired native with long flowing robes and turbaned head jostles the western stranger in a garb of more sombre hue. Peasants push their way through the crowded streets, followed by their camels or donkeys, join- ing the motley collection drawn from all parts of the world. The swarthy Bedawy with his kerchief head-dress, and the dark- er skinned African ; the pale faced Jew with his long love locks and dirty coarse garments ; the picturesque Greek and Albanian : the sleek Arme- nian : the Circassian from A STUKKT SCKNK. THE PEOPLE OP JERUSALEM. 27 the Hauran ; ragged soldiers, priests and pilgrims add to the crowd that daily throngs the streets. European dress and manners have of late introduced a new element into the picture, and little by little the young natives are adopting the style and fashions of the Franks. They retain the Tarboosh or Fez as a distinguishing feature in their costume, but the rest of their outfit has been made by a western tailor. Very few native women, with the exception of the peasants who bring their produce to the market, are found in the open streets, and then their faces are covered with thin veils, and their figures enveloped in white or many coloured sheets, or mantles of no particular shape. Every sect in the Christian Church is represented, besides Jews and Moslems. The number and variety of the languages and dialects spoken are marvellous, especially during the tourist and pilgrim season, (then supposed to be about forty) and this curiously enough recalls the state of the assembled multitude on the First Day of Pentecost long long ago. Acts li. 9 — 11. Arabic is the vernacular, but there are very many schools belonging to the different nationalities diligently propagating the language of the people that support them, English, German, French, Italian, Greek, Armenian, and others. As many as 75,000 persons, or even more, are collected in the city in the early part of the year, but of these less than 60,000 are permanent residents. The population is very difficult to estimate, and with the exception of the Moslems no accurate idea can possibly be formed of the number of the people, for many reasons, chiefly official. The following may be regarded as approximately correct : — 1. Christians — Greek Orthodox - 4,000 Latin Catholic - 3,800 (Roman Catholics.) Armenian - - 600 Protestant - - 400 (Including Jewish Christians.) P"orward - 8,800 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED 2 * Christians ( continued ) - 8,800 Greek Catholic IOO Coptic IOO Abyssinian 50 Syriac 40 Total - 9,090 2. Moslems - 8.000 3. Jews .... - 40,000 Total - 57.090 Jerusalem enjoys the distinction of having three Sundays: Friday for Moslems, Saturday for Jews, and the day following for Christians. The most devout close their shops and keep their respective Sabbaths on the days appointed, and some that are very much less religious keep all three : while others wish for none at all. There is no Day of Rest for man and beast; and that peaceful quiet that distinguishes the Lord’s Day in England and America is altogether unknown. For hundreds of years, the Holy City, the Cradle of Christianity, has been under Moslem rule. It is governed by a Pasha who is styled Mutaserif and appointed by the Sultan. H e is assisted, to a certain extent, that is as far as he is inclined, by a Municipal Council (Megliss) composed of nine Moslems, one Christ- ian. and one Jew — a feeble imitation of the government of European cities, but its power is very limited, and it practically amounts to a the governor of JERUSALEM, social gathering for business purposes, where affairs relating to streets and buildings are discussed over cigarettes and THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM. 29 coffee. The actual governing power is vested in the Mutaserif; while all military arrangements are in the hands of a general in the army, who has under his authority not only the city garri- son, but the Bashi Bazouks, irregular cavalry, or a kind of mounted military police, paid by the Megliss, and all reserves ; and he is responsible for the order not only of the city but the province of El Kuds (Jerusalem) which includes all southern Pal- estine on this side of the Jordan and Dead Sea. The city police (Zaptiehs) are supposed to be THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE— SERAI. under the control oi the 1 own Council (Megliss) before mentioned. Their principal duty is to patrol the streets at night, and they may often be found sitting in the warm nooks and corners in winter, or snoozing in the lanes of the suburbs in summer. Tradesmen usually employ their own watchmen —dark skinned Africans from the borders of the Soudan — one being looked upon as sufficient protection for three or four shops. His shrill whistle may be heard at intervals all through the night, as a warning to evil doers that he is awake, and a friendly call to his brethren. The army, of which the city garrison forms a part, number- ing usually about 800 and sometimes even as many as 1,500 men, is entirely composed of conscript soldiers, “the Sultan s children.” At first they are very much averse to adoption into his numerous family, but after being collected by the Bashi Bazouks when the conscription is over, and brought into the city tied together with a long rope, they settle down to their five or seven years service with mild resignation, and serve the Commander of the Faithful with a commendable zeal, worth at any rate more than two medgidiehs (six and eight- pence) a year, unpaid. 30 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Jews and Christians, who are Ottoman subjects, in lieu of military service pay a poll tax of about ten shillings per head. Justice is administered by the Kadi and his assistants somewhat irregularly. The former is usually recalled after three years’ service, as he has then saved enough of his “earn- ings ” to keep him in retirement, or to buy a better berth. Very little regard is ever paid to the liberty of the subject, and many a man is cast into prison for some imaginary offence against a superior in position, and as often released before he appears before a judge. There is a saying amongst the peasantry that “a man is not a man until he has been in prison.” Criminals are often kept a considerable length of time without trial, and the longest sentence ever given, and that for murder, is fifteen years. When a murderer has been caught red handed, and given over to the Bashi Bazouk (mounted police), or surrenders himself for fear of the conse- quences ; ( — retribution will soon follow in the strong arm of an avenging relative, as the Arabic proverb “ Dam butlub dam,” i.e., “ Blood calls for blood” still keeps alive the spirit of revenge — ) ; he is often allow- ed to sit in some quiet street with his wrists fastened in a long piece of wood and receive alms a mcrdeekk. from the passers by. He is thus enabled through the pity and sympathy of others, though no one is allowed to stand and stare at him, to procure enough food, which in addition to the scanty fare allowed him, will keep body and soul together until his trial and final incarceration. When all is over and he is on his way to a penal settlement to suffer for his deed, he is taken through the streets and exhibited with a placard on his THE PEOPLE OE JERUSALEM. 31 breast giving details of his crime to the gaping crowd. Many return to their homes before their term of imprison- ment has expired, especially if enough money is found by relatives to satisfy the Governor or prison authorities. One of the peasants of Liftah, a village near Jerusalem, has committed five murders and served his time for each. Civil litigants, often weary of waiting, settle their cases out of court with the aid of some mutual friend or friends, regretting exceedingly they ever took them in. And often when the court decides, it is usually in favour of the man with the longest purse. False witnesses are attached to every court as the necessary appendage of Turkish justice, and no petition is ever received without some outlay on the part of the supplicant . Nothing can be done without bribery. If a contract is made by the Government, e.g., road making or repairing, the greater part of the money is swallowed by the officials, so that very little remains for actual labour and the road is never properly finished . THE MOSLEMS. The native M oslems of J erusalem are all of aristocratic origin , having descended from the relations or intimate friends of the Prophet, who came over with the Conqueror, Omar, in the early part of the seventh century. They are divided into families or factions, the chief of which areHusseini, Khaldi, Jawani, Jaral- lah, Ersasi, Dijani, El Jabery, El Kelamy, and Denaf (the serv- ants of the Haram). Very few are rich and many poor, but all are proud, and look upon the Christians with disdain and the Jews with contempt. They are chiefly employed by the govern- ment, though some are tradesmen and think it not derogatory to keep a shop. The last named have a firm belief in the provi- dential care of the Almighty, and when they open their shops in the early morning, invoke the blessing of God on the business of the day before them, saying : — “Ya Fattahh, va Haleem, Ya Razak, ya Kareem.” “ O, Opener of the Day, O, Gracious One, O, Restorer of Property, O, Bountiful One.” 32 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. This use of figurative language is common in everyday life, and the street cries abound in many forms of expression that are altogether unknown in a western city. “ Ya Atshaneen,” “ Oh, ye thirsty ones,” cries the vendor of sherbet and lemonade. “ Ya Zeitun iklib lemun,” “O, olives turn into lemons,” is the chant of the olive sellers. “ Hasherah beidah, ya belash,” “ Eggs (and cakes) for ten paras, O, for nothing.” “Yaawlad il Halal was salah ala Muhammed, wa ili shaf ihmar agwar wa halwano medgidie.” “ O, children of right dealing (good people), let prayers be said to Moham- med, whoever saw (i.e. knows anything about) a one-eyed donkey (lost) his reward shall be a medgidie (3/4).” The call of a town crier after a lost donkey. “ Ya belash, ala una, ala due, medgidie wa ruba, ya belash." “ O, for nothing, going, going,” (fresh offer,) a tukkish delight selleb. “ a medgidie and a quarter. Going for nothing." Cry of itinerant auctioneer. According to the precepts of their religion they must observe the “ five pillars or foundations of Moslem practices,” viz. : — I. The recital of the creed or kalimah daily : — “There is no God but God. and Mohammed is the Apostle of God." II. Salat, the five daily periods of prayer, viz. : — 1 From dawn to sunrise. 2 Noon. 3 Middle of afternoon. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM. 33 4 Sunset. 5 One and a half hours after sunset. III. Thirty days fast of Ramadan. IV. Almsgiving. V. Hadj : — Pilgrimage to Mecca. At the time for prayer the Muezzin calls to the four winds of heaven from a minaret or house-top, with a loud voice, and those who are unable to repair to the Mosque throw down their cloak or carpet in the most convenient place, often the house-top. Mohammedans object very strongly to bells as a call to worship, and prefer the voice that God gave them. The Christians were at first compelled to use gongs, made in some cases of wood, like wooden planks sus- pended by cords and beaten with sticks. These may be seen at the present day in the Armenian Convent. The Jews are the most numerous of all, though mostly immigrants, drawn to their own city, by a laudable desire, on the part of some, to seek a resting place in the land of their forefathers, while others wish to share in the Haluka, the alms sent by their brethren in Europe for the support of the poor communities in the Holy City. They are divided into the following sects : — i Askenazim, i.e., German, including Jews from Russia, Roumania and the Balkan States, besides other European countries. They are the most numerous, and very often a dirty, thriftless lot, brightened D CHILDREN OF JERUSALEM. THE JEWS. 34 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. only by a few who have learned the ways of western Europe and the manners of educated people. 2 The Sephardim, or Spanish-speaking Jews, are really the only natives, and have descended from the refugees that were driven hither by the persecutions in Spain during the 14th and succeeding centuries. They are usually tidy in appearance and much more respectable looking than their brethren from the west. It is true many are poor, but they have long learned the art of living on small means. Some of them are very thrifty and have saved money, after providing for the wants of a family on a sum equivalent to eight shillings per week. They are much superior in both manners and morals to the Askenazim, but not so enter- prising. 3 The Persian Jews are very ignorant and fanatical, miserably poor, with one or two exceptions, and very much lower in the scale of civilisation than the others. 4 The Yemen Jews are a swarthy set of people from Arabia, who hold by the traditions of their fore- fathers, and declare they are descended from the tribe of Gad, and have lived in Arabia since the captivity. They are very poor, and totally unacquainted with the many “ tricks of trade ” so well practised by their more enterprising brethren from Europe. 5 The Karaim are Jews forming a very small community that differs very materially from all the rest. They A JEW. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM, 35 refuse to believe in the Talmud, and are con- sequently looked upon with a degree of suspicion, amounting almost to disdain, by the other Jews. They originally came from Bagdad, but their chief settlement has been for a considerable time in the south of Russia. Their manner of worship is very much superior to that of the Talmudists. Taken as a body, the Jews have sunk to a degrading depth of superstition. Their worship is altogether unlike that which is laid down for them in the Bible. So low have they descended that their sacrifice on the Day of Atonement is a subject of ridicule for the whole city, and the day is known amongst the people as “ The Feast of the Chickens,” “ Aed el Jaj,” when they twist the necks of young fowls and deem it a fitting substitute for the sin offering and the cleansing of the hearts of the people, as set forth in Leviticus, chapter xvi. The revolting parody on the religion of the Children of Israel, according to the Old Testament teaching, is carried still further. On the eve of the Day of Atonement the “whip of scourging” is brought into play, the most strict Jews prostrating themselves on the floor of the synagogue, in turn, while others administer with a whip or leather thong to each of them, “ forty stripes save one.” Purim, the festival kept in commemoration of the discomfiture of Haman and aggrandisement of Mordecai, is a delightful time. The Talmud says, and it is a greater authority to Jews than the Bible, that every man must drink so much wine that he cannot distinguish between the Jew and the Persian. It might not perhaps be out of place to mention here the remarkable fact, and one that might with advantage be brought before the notice of the various “ Temperance Societies,” that it is utterly impossible for a man to be a religious Jew and a “total abstainer.” According to their law they must have wine on the Sabbath, the Feast of Passover, and as much as possible at the Festival above mentioned. The children also enjoy them- D 2 36 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. selves at this feast, as all kinds of sweetmeats are made in the shape of shoes, slippers, hats, etc., and distributed amongst them as presents. And in the synagogue, when the “Book of Esther” is read, and the name of Haman occurs, and the congregation stamp their feet and shout “ Let his name be blotted out,” they shake rattles provided by their parents and knock against the walls with wooden hammers. The only feast kept in anything like its primitive simplicity is the “ Feast of Tabernacles,” when booths made of reeds and branches of trees are erected on the roofs of houses, balconies, and even in gardens, and decorated with fruit, according to the directions given in Nehemiah viii. 16. But it is more in the daily life of the people that superstition runs riot. Even the English belief regarding the days on which it is lucky or unluck}’ to pare one’s nails seems to be of Jewish origin. The very order in which the nails should be cut is detailed in one of their Rabbinical books, and Thursday and Friday are entirely forbidden in order that the nails may not break the law by beginning to grow on the Sabbath. The nail parings are to be burnt or hidden away, and not thrown on the ground, as some mischance may happen to a woman if she steps over them. The Jewesses are said to put them into puddings intended for their husbands in order to increase their affection towards them. The “ Hand of Might ” is a mark often found on Jewish houses, sometimes so large that it covers all the front, but generally THE HAND OF MIGHT. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM. 37 it is a rude representation of five fingers about a yard long, whitewashed. It brings good luck to the house. The Jewish wedding ring is in the form of a hand, and small glass hands are worn as charms both by Jews and Mohammedans. Many charms worn by Persian Jews are invocations to the “ Mighty Hand ” for protection against the “ evil eye.” The “M’zuza” scroll is a small piece of parchment fastened, in a case of metal or wood, to the door post of the house, upon which are written in Hebrew the following passages of the Law: — Deut. vi. 4-9, and xi. 13-21. On the back of the parchment must be written the word “ Shaddai ” (Almighty) which must be visible through a hole in the case, and each time of passing in or out, devout Jews kiss or touch this word. The Jews believe in a sort of moon worship, or as they call it, the blessing of the moon. It must only take place when the moon is seven days old, and in the open air. The worshipper must stand with one foot on the other, look at the moon and say : — “ Blessed be thy Former, blessed be thy Maker, blessed be thy Possessor, blessed be thy Creator.” Then he must skip three times pronouncing the words “ Fear and dread shall fall upon them, by the greatness of thy arm they shall be as still as a stone,” repeated thrice and thrice backwards, then he pronounces loudly “ David the King of Israel liveth and existeth,” and then he salutes his neighbour. They also believe in all kinds of charms, some of which are most wonderful in their conception of deceit and witchcraft. They are both suspended in houses, painted on walls, and worn on the person. Some contain passages from the Psalms and Prophets, but more often from the Talmud ; while others are invocations to the names of Angels found in many of the Rabbinical writings, and are supposed to avert the “ evil eye,” disease, misfortune, and death. Most of the charms are concealed in cases made of leather, tin, or wood, while others are in the form of medals, 38 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. on one side of which is the name of God, and on the other a prayer for protection against the spirits of evil. The missionaries working amongst the Jews meet with an extensive variety. Little children wear them constantly, and not long ago I remember a woman coming to beg a medgidie from me, in order that she might go to Hebron, where a notorious charm writer resides, and purchase one to tie round her son's lame leg. The Doctors here are constantly troubled with the interference of old women, who with divers incantations profess to cure all diseases, and generally succeed in undoing the little that has already been accomplished towards the recovery of a patient. The Angel of Death is a constant source of dread, and manj’ are the devices formed to cheat or propitiate him. The following case of devil worship is authentic. It came under the separate notice of two well known residents in Jerusalem. A Jew had had six wives all of whom had died at the birth of their first child. When about to marry for the seventh time he bought a cow, and tied it outside his window. The marriage ceremony was performed between him and the cow and he placed a ring on its horn. The contract was even drawn up mentioning the cow. At the close of this peculiar ceremony the cow was killed and its flesh distributed amongst the poor, and the rite of marriage again performed with the girl who became his seventh wife. He felt quite satisfied that all would be well as his sacrifice to the Angel of Death was in place of his wife. She lived and bore him many children. Another method of settling with this dreadful spirit is by cheating. When children die one after another and only one is left, or where there is an only son, the parents make a pretence of selling their offspring to a friend. The child then becomes the foster son, and wears one ear-ring to distinguish him as such. Of course the sale differs from other business transactions but it is supposed to be enough for the purpose required. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM . SO The laws regulating marriage amongst the Jews in Jerusalem are made by the Rabbis. Under certain circum- stances a Jew may have two wives, and the present Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem sets the example. At the time the marriage contract is signed it is possible to take out a paper of divorcement, and for the two together discount is allowed. Although there are many peculiarities attached to divorce proceedings, there are no difficulties. A shrew or a slattern has but short shrift, and if a man is so minded a badly cooked dinner is a fit and proper excuse for getting rid of his wife. He gives her the paper bought from the Rabbi for a few francs, and tells her to go. If he agreed to pay her anything he must keep his word, or the divorce is not complete. As pecuniary details enter into every marriage contract, hearts are seldom broken, but the weaker sex usually gets the worst of it. And no wonder, when a pious Jew thanks God every day that he is not a woman. Marriages are usually made very early in life, in some cases when the contracting parties are little more than children. It is a sin for a young man to remain unmarried, and poverty is no excuse. Friends and relations settle all business matters concerning the youth- ful pair, and board and lodging are often thrown in as dowry by the bride’s parents, and when every obstacle is thus removed the nuptial knot is easily tied. Regrets grow with the maturer years of the bride- groom, and a fruitful source of sorrow and trouble brings with the increasing cares of married life the inevitable divorce. The Jews have indeed wandered far from the right A YOUNG JEW AND BRIDE. 40 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. track, and require all the aid that can be given in bringing them into the communion of the Church of Christ, where it has been shown by the examples of past years they can occupy the same position as any other Christians, and compare so well with them, that no difference whatever can be seen in their lives and conduct. THE CHRISTIANS. The native Christians have, to some extent, and that on account of their intercourse with European priests, and their education in the schools provided by the different sects, improved their condition, but they still retain many of their old time ideas. It is a difficult matter to totally eradicate the superstitious beliefs of many generations, and more especially so, amongst a people entirely in the hands of a priesthood whose sole desire is to mould them according to their own will. The religion of Christ, as practised by the priests, is in itself superstitious, and so full of dogmatic theology that the truth is concealed by a mass of teaching quite foreign to the precepts and practices of Christ and His Apostles. The worship of images, and the strange idolatrous veneration of particular places, are but other forms of superstition, and admirably suited to the native mind as being but a variation of the feelings engendered in a race highly capable of deep religious sentiment. Those of the native population that have become emancipated and joined the Protestant Community, or have left the city for Europe and America, and returned fresh from lands of freedom of thought and speech, are a very different set of men. The Protestant Christians may be divided into two communities, in both of which natives are included, viz : — The English and German. These two nations, that formerly joined together in supporting the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, have for many years carried on a work of considerable usefulness by means of schools, hospitals, and other missionary agencies. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM. 41 The Societies supported by English speaking people are the “ London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews ” (known also as the London Jews’ Society), for work amongst God’s ancient people, as the name implies, and the “ Church Missionary Society ” engaged in spreading Christ’s Kingdom in the hearts of the native population. CHRIST CHURCH. The Bishop, the Right Reverend G. F. Popham Blyth, D.D., has also a fund derived from Church workers in all parts of the world, which is used for the same purpose as the means provided by the Societies above mentioned. The first named Society owns the English church (Christ Church), opposite the Tower of David, built in 1848, where the Bishop has his seat. The minister is the Reverend A. Hastings Kelk, M.A., who is also the Head of the Mission. Adjoining the church is the Society’s Boys’ School, where Jewish child- ren are boarded and educated. The Girls’ School is a fine new building outside the city. A Home for Enquiring Jews, and a House of Industry for young men, with workshops attached, where young Jews interior of CHRIST church— CHRISTMAS. 42 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. are taught trades to fit them for a career of usefulness, are only- a short distance away. Near to these is the Hospital of the same Society, soon to be replaced, it is hoped, by a new building near the Girls’ School, under Drs. Wheeler and Masterman and a staff of nurses. The “ Church Missionary Society ” has a church (unconsecrated) some distance from the city walls, day schools in the city, and the Bishop Gobat schools for boys and youths, under the superintendence of the Rev. J. Zeller and Mr. F. T. Ellis, near to Neby Daud, and close to the Protestant Cemetery on the slope of Mount Zion, where many of the missionaries have been laid to rest. On the opposite hill, across the valley of Hinnom, is the British Ophthalmic Hospital in charge of Dr. W. E. Cant, where the various eye diseases so prevalent in this country are carefully attended to. Over the next hill is the Railway Station, and the German Colony, near to which is the Moravian Leper Hospital. A Young Men’s Christian Association connected with the parent Society at Exeter Hall, Strand, London, has recently been organised ; and is composed of young men belonging to the Agencies above mentioned. Mr. C. A. Hornstein is Hon. Sec. There is also an Association for Young Women. These different Societies have all a great claim on Englishmen generally, and not merely those who are interested in the spread of the truth of Christ’s Gospel, but all those who have the wellbeing of their nation at heart ; for their Agents are extending the influence of their country, by teaching its language and the principles that have made it great and honoured. And whatever may be the encouragement given by those who live quietly at home, it is well deserved, for an. Englishman’s word is so respected in the Holy City that the natives, who never sell without bargaining, use the phrase “ Kelim Inglese,” — “ the English word ” when they wish it to be known that their word is unchangeable and sure. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM . 43 The English community amuses itself in a very mild sort of way, except a little riding, the only relaxation is tennis, a club having been formed by some of the residents who have a lingering recollection of the sports and pastimes of the homeland. It is a source of wonderment to the native mind, and affords those who ever get a chance of looking on very much amusement. Pic-nics seem to be by far the most popular means of enjoyment, and the favourite place is the “Convent of the Cross” — an old monastery built by the Georgians on the place where the wood that formed the Cross is supposed to have grown — in the “Valley of Roses.” The Germans have two large orphanages for native children, outside, and a hospital in the city. Being well supported from the Fatherland they are at present busily engaged in the erection of a new hospital, and contemplate building a new church. Their present place of worship is the old dining hall of the Knights’ Hospitallers, now the Muristan. They form a fairly large community, and by their industrious habits set a good example to the rest of the citizens of Jerusalem. CHAPTER V. THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. T HE fine Gothic fa9ade, in the picture, of this Cathedral Church, that has for centuries been the seat of the grossest superstitious prac- tices, conveys but a poor impres- sion of its supreme importance to the Christian world. The first building erected for Christ- ian worship on this site has long ago departed, though some of its remains probably exist in the old walls carefully preserved in the Russian hospice close by. It was destroyed by the Persian invader Chosroes II. and his allies the Jews in 614 a.d., along with the other large buildings of the Holy City ; but as soon as he had gone, the Christians, under Modestus, reared another edifice on the same spot, which was finished before Omar con- THE CH ™ CH OF THE HOLY THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 45 quered the city in 637 a.d., and remained unmolested for many years after. Arculf, a pilgrim of the 7th century, took away with him a plan, which is still in existence, of the different chapels as they stood when he visited the Holy City. In 1010 a.d., the mad Khalif Hakem, the founder of the sect of the Druzes, destroyed the Chapels of Calvary (Martyrion) and the Resurrection (Anastasis) but failed to demolish the tomb. Thirty years later the Emperor Monomachus granted the Patriarch Nicephorous permission to restore the ruined fane to its former grandeur ; and when the Crusaders appeared soon after, they greatly increased its dimensions and united all the chapels into one large Cathedral Church. A disastrous fire in 1808 a.d., destroyed the central portion of the great church, and the present structure is what has been erected since that time. Although there are many relics of former buildings still existing, its extent is very much diminished. The people who raised these buildings one after the other, and those who visited them, were alike convinced that they were erected over the site of the crucifixion and resurrection of our Saviour ; and amidst all the changes of war, pestilence, and famine, their faith in its sublime truth has for over fifteen hundred years continued with unwavering fidelity. Ever since Constantine miraculously discovered, or created, the site of our Lord’s death and burial, in 335 a.d., and proceeded to erect a church thereon as an everlasting memorial, the eyes of all Christendom have ever turned to this monument of the Christian F'aith. In the “brave days of old” knights and squires of high degree fought and bled for its preservation ; while their followers assisted them in their endeavour to wrest it from the hands of the infidel, or at least gain a free pass for the poor pilgrim. Thousands and thousands of lives have been lost in the hundreds of years that have elapsed since the establishment of this place of worship ; and yet nowhere on the face of the earth is Christianity now disgraced to such an extent as in this building. The greatest fraud of 40 JER USA LEM ILLUSTRA TED. all time is perpetrated annually within its walls, and carried to a successful issue by the very bishops and priests themselves. Nowhere in all the world is blind superstitious folly and sectarian hatred so diligently engaged in distorting the truth of Christ’s teaching. How can any one possibly believe, however much he is inclined to, that all that is degrading, disgusting, and untrue, should still be associated with the last earthly resting place of the Saviour of Mankind ? Surely the blasphemous and idolatrous practices of ages are enough in themselves to show that there can be no truth in the alleged site that marks the place of suffering of our Great Redeemer. No wonder that travellers are filled with horror, and shud- der at the barefaced impos- tures of the priests of a so called Christian -Church. Even the Moslems, who keep the keys of the church and sit in the vestibule with cigarettes and coffee, look on with contemptuous indifference until rank dis- order endangers life, and then the soldiers of the Sultan are called in to secure peace and quiet. mosiiem guardians. And yet no one can forget the impressive sight of kneeling pilgrims in the dimly lighted interior, into whose hearts not a shred of the wicked deceptions of the priests has entered. How eagerly they kiss the stones set before them as representing the particular events of the last hours of the Crucified Saviour, and how devoutly they fall before the tomb of the Lamb of God ! Year after year has rolled by since the English knight who signed the Magna Charta, Philip D’Aubigny, was laid to rest at the entrance to the THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 47 church, or since the gallant Crusader wielded the sword and wore the spurs exhibited in one of the chapels. Yet one can feel the influence of the past when the thoughts fly back to the brave King Godfrey who refused to be crowned where he thought his Lord was crucified ; or the mailed warriors who knelt in tears on the pavement after many a hard fought battle, where the proudest chivalry of Europe with bared heads bowed in humble supplication and the meanest peasant knelt in prayer to God. All drawn by the same irresistible tie that knits mankind in one. The principal entrance to the church is now on the south side and is approached by an open court which is filled during the pilgrim season with a miscellaneous crowd of “all sorts and conditions of men.” Relics, crosses, incense, olive wood articles, mother of pearl shells engraved with the churchyard entbance. scriptural subjects, and other wares are here offered for sale by pedlars, while beggars frequent the courtyard in rags and tatters soliciting alms. Pillars built in the wall on the left hand side, and the bases of former columns, are the remains of a porch erected during the Crusading period. Only three stories of the Bell Tower are left of the five seen by the pilgrims of the 17th century. At the base of this tower are several chapels, the most important being that now in use as the parish church of the Greeks, called the Church of the Forty Martyrs and the Church of the Ointment Bearers. It stands on the site of the old monastery of the Trinity where the Patriarchs of Jerusalem were formerly buried In a 48 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. line with this is the Chapel of St. John, one dedicated to St. James the brother of Christ, and a third to Mary Magdalene, which marks the spot where Christ appeared to her the third time. There are two doorways to the church, one of which is now walled up. The columns adjoining the portals are of fine marble with Byzantine capitals. They are surmounted by beautifully sculptured mouldings representing different events of our Saviour’s life, viz. : — The Raising of Lazarus, His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and the Last Supper. To the right of the walled up doorway is a flight of steps leading to the Chapel orf Calvary, and below on the pavement is the tomb of the English knight before mentioned. The interior, which is dim and dirty, contains the various chapels and altars of the differ- ent Christian Sects, including Greek, Latin, Armenian, Syr- ian, Coptic, and Abyssinian, all of whom possess some little hole or corner decorated with lamps and candles. The most noticeable feature on entering is the comfortable Moslem custodian, with his friends that form the guard, on the left hand side of the vestibule. Facing the en- trance is the first of the Holy Places that are so thickly crowded together : — The Stone of Unction, where the body of our Lord was anointed and prepared for burial, over which hang lamps and candel- abra belonging to the Greeks, Latins, Armenians, and Copts. This portion of the Church is owned by the Armenians, but the stone itself, which is in reality invisible, having been THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 49 placed under the marble slab to preserve it from the wear and tear of the lips of pilgrims, who used to take its measure for their own shrouds, has changed owners several times, as well as places. Before it occupied this position it was purchased by the Latins from the needy Georgians for about £ 50 . On the right hand side are the Chapels of Melchizedek, and our common ancestor, Adam. An old tradition states that the cross was erected over the tomb of the “ father of the human race,” and when the blood and water flowed from the Saviour’s side it trickled over his bones and he came to life again ; and this is why a skull is usually represented as lying at the foot of the cross. The ^remains of Godfrey de Bouillon and his brother Baldwin were originally deposited here, but were dispersed in the 15th century, though the sepulchral monuments were left until the great fire of 1808, and although they escaped the general conflagration they were ultimately destroyed by the Greeks because they were the memorials of Latin kings. At the top of the steps over these, chapels is Golgotha, or Mount Calvary, divided now into two chapels and many altars. The place where the cross stood may be seen through a hole ornamented with silver, and four-and- a-half feet away is the “ Cleft of the mount calvary. Rock ” which is supposed to reach the centre of the earth. It has never closed up again since the rocks were rent asunder when Jesus “yielded up the Ghost.” (Matt, xxvii., 50, 51.) Adjoining this is the Chapel of the Nailing to the Cross, the exact spot is marked by stones let in the ground. And E 50 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. separated from the Chapel of Calvary belonging to the Latins, by an iron grating, is the Chapel of the Agony, where Christ is represented in a picture as sitting on His mother’s knee. Proceeding from the Stone of Unction to the left, the place where Mary watched the anointing is met with, covered by a stone : and bevond this on the south is the entrance to the principal Armenian chapel. The Rotunda under the Great Dome, in the centre of which is the Holy Sepulchre, is the next object of interest. The Holy Sepulchre as it now stands is a lofty building, profuselv decorated with pictures and candles, composed of Santa Croce marble, blackened by the smoke of the Holy Fire near the holes at the sides. It is twenty-six feet long and eighteen feet broad, and con- sists of two chapels. The first The Angel’s Chapel, in the centre of which is the stone that was rolled away, approached by a low doorway, on the sides of which are tall candles, is really the vestibule leading to the Sepulchre itself. The tomb is a small chapel six feet by seven, and half of this area is occupied by a marble slab that covers the actual burial place. It is lit by forty-three gold and silver lamps that are kept constantly burning. As the whole is encased in marble no rock is anywhere visible. At the back of the Sepulchre is a small chapel owned by the Copts since the 1 6th century. Its tawdry finery fitly depicts the poverty and taste of its possessors. The vaulted aisle running along the western side of the Rotunda is portioned out to THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 51 the different sects. That part in the possession of the Syrians, close to the above-mentioned Oratory of the Copts, contains two Kokim, and other places for the reception of dead bodies, hollowed out in the floor. These tombs, which are commonly known as the burial places of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, are usually brought forward to support this locality as the Holy Sepulchre site. They are undoubt- edly old Jewish tombs, but they belong to a period long anterior to the birth of our Saviour, and have no connection whatever, beyond their proximity, with His supposed Sep- ulchre. Major Conder thinks they may be the tombs of some of the kings of Judah, and that they existed long before the second wall was built. The Rotunda is sixty- seven feet in diameter, and sixty-eight feet high. It is supported by eighteen piers, and was formerly THE TOMB. . open to the sky, but in 1868 it was restored and covered in. Two galleries run round the interior, which are connected in various ways with the other parts of the building. Their chief use seems to be to provide spectators with good places for watching the scenes below, and the} 7 are crowded to excess when the Holy Fire business is carried on. From the Rotunda the principal Latin church is reached by ascending three steps and passing through the Chapel of the Apparition, where Jesus appeared to Mary after His resurrection. Over the altar of the Church there is a hole where the Column of Scourging may be touched with a stick, which is usually kissed by the pilgrims when withdrawn. E 2 H OF ILL UR. JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. 52 But the most interesting part of this church is the Sacristy where the sword and spurs of Godfrey de Bouillon, the first king of Jerusalem, are kept. The sword was formerly used for girding the newly created knight of the order of St. John when this church was the place of investiture. It is now used in the ceremony of receiving knights into the order of the Sepulchre, an order of no great importance although it has existed for several hundred years. Near to this chapel is an altar under which are two holes called the Bonds of Christ, and close by is a small chamber called the Prison of Christ. A little further away to the left is an altar in an apse dedicated to St. Longinus, the centurion who pierced the Saviour’s side. He had a blind eye, and when the water and blood from the side of Jesus spurted into it he recovered his sight, and then became a Christian. The Chapel of the Division of the Vestments owned by the Armenians, is at the back of the choir of the Latin Church. Near the staircase leading to the Chapel of St. Helena is the Chapel of Derision belonging to the Greeks, in the centre of which is a kind of box containing the Column of Derision, at present a light grey piece of stone about a foot high, which has constantly changed its size and colour, according to the hands through which it has passed, since it was first mentioned in 1384, a.d. From the Prison of Christ across the northern aisle the Greek church is reached by a side door, or better still, from the Rotunda itself, where the western side of the church commences. It occupies the nave of the great cathedral and is larger and more gorgeously decorated than any of the chapels belonging to the other sects. The screen and panelling of the sides are very fine. A small column under the large chandelier in the middle, according to a tradition dating from the 8th century, marks the centre of the world. The earth from which Adam was made is supposed to have come from this spot. The last two chapels of importance that remain to be noticed are those connected with the legend of Helena, THE CHURCH OE THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 53 which gave to the world the fabulous story that has caused so much bloodshed in preserving the sites so miraculously discovered. Down twenty-nine steps of the staircase near the Chapel of Derision, before mentioned, and sixteen feet below the level of the Rotunda, is the Chapel of St. Helena. Here, according to monkish legend the Empress sat and superintended the digging that brought to the light of day the three crosses, crown of thorns, and the various other relics of the crucifixion. In order to ascertain which was the cross of Christ, the three were taken to the bedside of a sick lady afflicted with an incurable disease. After passing them before her, the third established its true identity by miraculously restoring her to health and strength. This chapel is owned by the Abyssinians, who have a convent over it, but, being poor, they allow the Armenians to use it in their stead, and for this service they receive a trifling sum for rent. Besides an altar dedicated to St. Helena, and another to St. Dinas, the penitent thief, there is the chair in which the Empress sat. It is true it has been renewed several times on account of the anxiety of pilgrims to possess a piece ^of this priceless relic, but that matters very little and it is still looked upon as the genuine article. This is no wonder, when the pilgrims in the middle ages believed that the columns in this chapel shed tears. A descent of thirteen more steps brings the visitor to the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross. It is a huge cavern, and suggests the idea of an old city cistern. There is a little chapel over the Chapel of Calvary, sometimes used by members of the Church of England, dedicated to Abraham. It is reached by stairs from the right hand side of the open court. The “Holy Places” above mentioned, together with several more of less importance that are pointed out in the interior of the building, marked by chapels, altars, or stones let in the ground, were not instituted all at once, but 54 jfER USA LEM ILL USER A TED . THE CROWD OX THE CHURCH AWAITING “THE WASHING OF THE FEET.” THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. DO were added gradually, one by one, according to circum- stances. At first they served to remind the pilgrim of the incidents connected with the crucifixion, but as the credulity of the visitors increased, they were presented as memorials, erected on the very spots upon which the different events happened. Prior to the advent of the Crusaders, the Sepulchre and Calvary practically stood alone, but the number of pilgrims necessitated a development equal to the requirements of the priestly coffers. When the attractions grew in number the fees collected from the pilgrims increased accordingly, and now a considerable revenue is derived from the credulous crowd that annually visits these scenes, in the sincere and earnest hope of a future reward in the everlast- ing kingdom. An endless variety of ceremonies, like the many acts of a long play, are reproduced year after year, with all the accessories that pomp and pageantry can display, for the benefit of the pilgrims, and the dear delight of the actors themselves. The most imposing is that of the “ Washing of the Feet,” which takes place in the open air in the courtyard of the entrance. Every accessible spot, and some, to all appear- ance, unapproachable, are occupied by an eager crowd. In gorgeous robes, that ill accord with the act of humility they wish to portray, the patriarch and bishops endeavour to represent to the people the gracious act of our Saviour when He taught His disciples how to be “ meek and lowly in heart.” But the crowning imposture of all is the “ Holy Fire.” Admission to the galleries round the Rotunda can be easily obtained through the different consuls, each of whom has a box allotted to him, and then, like the Romans of old, who gazed on the combats in the arena, the spectators may comfortably watch the fray below. Pilgrims anxious to light their candles at the holy flame, seek their places hours and even days before the event, which takes place on the 56 JER USA LEM ILL USTRA TED THE WASHING OF THE FEE THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 57 eve- of the Greek Easter. A strong guard of Moslem soldiers, with rifles and side arms, are early placed in the church, while another company from the garrison is stationed in the courtyard of the entrance, and a third is kept in reserve, under arms, in the nearest barracks. Every pre- caution is thus taken by the city authorities to quell any disturbance that may possibly arise from what they consider a terrible and unmitigated nuisance. Before noon the church is full of a motley crowd of all nations anxiously awaiting the miraculous sign of God’s continued favour. They are quiet enough at first, and patiently listen for the first sound of the coming of the ecclesiastic who will hold communion with God. But with that familiarity that often breeds contempt, the native Greek Christians amuse themselves at the expense of their brethren from other lands. And this often brings upon them the well merited chastisement of the officers of the Moslem guard who strive to keep the mass of men, women, and children, from treading each other under foot. To beguile their weary waiting they crack coarse jokes or chant in their peculiar native monotone the following words : — “ Hatha Kuber Said-na, Hatha Kuber Said-na,” “ This is the tomb of our Lord ; ” and “ Sabt en Nar wa Aed-na Wa hatha Kuber Said-na,” “ The Seventh day is the Fire and our Feast, And this is the tomb of our Lord.” Many are by this means worked into a frenzy and the surging crowd rises and falls like the waves of the sea. When the dignitaries of the Church appear all gorgeously arrayed in their robes of silver and gold, the confused mass of people is pushed back to open a space wide enough for the procession to march round the tomb. After this has been done three times amidst the wildest enthusiasm the patriarch enters the Holy Sepulchre and a torch soon issues 5 $ JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED from the hole in the side. It is instantly grasped by a stalwart bystander purposely waiting to carry it to Beth- lehem. In his endeavours to reach the door on the shoulders of friends a scene of the greatest confusion arises. Flame after flame comes forth from the tomb, and a forest of outstretched arms mingled with fire and smoke creates a spectacle that beggars adl description. This with the screams of the women and children, curses of the men, and cries of the injured are without parallel in the history of mankind. Viewed from the boxes in the galleries above, the sight is sickening in the extreme, and no one who has ever witnessed the scene once will ever want to see it again. And this is the act of a Christian Church ! - Jeremiah’s grotto and modern calvary. T HE native name of the hill over Jeremiah's Grotto is El Heidemyeh. It is separated from the city by the road that runs alongside the northern wall. An old tradition dating from the year 136 a.d., as record- ed in a Christian Apocalypse, “ The rest of the words of Baruch," a part of which is read every year by the Greek Church when it commemorates the destruction of Jeru- salem, says that modern calvary and Jeremiah’s grotto. Jeremiah wrote his Book of Lamentations in this grotto, but there is no mention of it as a place of crucifixion. El Heidemyeh means the place of Heidem (myeh being the common Arabic termination for place), and Moslems 60 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. assert that he was a member of a princely house, or the head of a sect, or both, and was buried on this hill, which has since been known by his name, and used as a cemetery. Whereas the native Christians say that Arabic writers of the 15th century wrote the name El Heiremyeh, which means Jeremiah, and agrees with their tradition. This little knoll has, in recent years, assumed a position of the highest importance in controversial matters connected with the sites of Holy Places. The position in the centre of the city of Jerusalem of the traditional site of Calvary and the Sepulchre of our Saviour, has appeared to many intelligent observers to require more substantial confirmation than mere ecclesiastical tradition. It is a source of wonderment to all, how the present church can possibly stand over the hill on which Christ was crucified, and which, according to Holy Scripture, must have been outside the walls of the city at the time of His death, unless the position of the walls has entirely changed. The attention of explorers has naturally been drawn to this important particular, in order to provide the necessary evidence for proving or disproving the reality of the present traditional site. Portions of the old wall have been found under the Grand New Hotel, Frere’s School, and near the Damascus Gate, which satisfactorily prove the existence of a wall that must have enclosed it at some remote period. Whether these courses all belong to the second or third wall it is difficult to say, but there is every reason to suppose from the drafting of the stones, and their position, that they formed part of the wall in existence during Christ's lifetime, which seems to have run from the Frere’s School to the Damascus Gate in a line with the present northen wall, and from thence to the Tower of Antonia. The traditions that have been brought forward to support either site are of little value ; and only tend to bring them both into disrepute. In order to prove the city site, tradition says that Hadrian erected a statue of Venus over Calvary, and this was removed by Constantine when JEREMIAH'S GROTTO AND MODERN CALVARY. 61 he wanted to build his great church ; and only recently the stone that was found in the new Russian Hospice close by with I M P C E on it, was made out to be a votive tablet of that emperor as a further proof. This speaks for itself. In proof of El Heidemyeh it is argued, that the Jews have recognised this hill as the “ Place of Stoning ” (where all criminals were executed in our Lord’s day) spoken of in the Talmud, and that they look upon it as a place accursed; that it is connected with Jeremiah as before mentioned ; and that it resembles a skull in shape and answers to the place called Golgotha. When the Christians escaped to Pella, across the Jordan, before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., they no doubt knew the true site of Calvary perfectly well, but the Jews who were left behind cared very little about it, and besides they had enough trouble with their Roman masters to drive all thoughts of it out of their heads. The few Christians that returned after the destruction found a very different Jerusalem. It had suffered a terrible siege and was well nigh destroyed, but still they might like to see the place again and seek out the sacred spot of the “ World’s Redemption.” Although we find no mention of either the place of crucifixion or the Sepulchre in the Acts of the Apostles ; and in the Epistles, Christians are in no way enjoined to visit or care for holy places. Therefore it is extremely likely that the site was lost in the desolation ; while the sublime fact itself was felt and cherished in the hearts of the believers as all sufficient. In 135 a.d. another great calamity befel the city. The false Messiah, Barcochab, revolted with the Jews, and they were annihilated and driven out of the city. And for two hundred years, until the coming of Constantine and the establishment of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, they were not allowed to return. During Barcochab’s insurrection the Christians took special pains to inform Hadrian that they had no connection with the insurgent Jews. And in order to emphasise the 02 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED fact assisted him in his efforts to put an end to the rebellion. Whether at this time the Christians knew the sites of the crucifixion and resurrection we cannot say, but we know there is no record either of their having built churches on them or even of their regarding them as holy places. And why Hadrian should desecrate these sites (if they were known) by a heathen temple as is asserted by more than one Christian writer of a later day, no one can understand, as his quarrel was solely with the Jews, and it would have pleased them to have heard of any such act. Besides, according to both Constantine and his historian no one ever pointed out either the site of Calvary or that of the Holy Sepulchre. They were both found by accident. Eusebius the historian says : “ Contrary to all expectation/’ and Constantine in a letter writes: “ No power of language seems worthy to describe the present wonder. For that the token of that most Holy Passion long ago buried under ground, should have remained unknown for so many cycles of years, until it should shine forth to His servants — truly transcends all marvel — for the nature of the wonder as far transcends all capacity of man’s reason as divine things surpass in permanence those which are human.” (Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society — “The Churches of Constantine,” PP- 3, 4-) Constantine was either cognisant of the fraud he perpetrated, or firmly believed that he was led to the sites he so miraculously’ discovered by Divine intuition. But there is neither anything in his character, nor in that of the Christians that followed him, to lead us to suppose that God for some wise purpose specially pointed out the site. The top of the knoll El Heidemy’eh is a Moslem Cemetery, and as such must remain exactly as it is as long as Turkish dominion lasts, whether it is proved to be Calvary or not : and if it should be conclusively proved that the Saviour suffered there, its preservation from sentimental degradation is as certain as that of the Temple Area. JEREMIAH'S GROTTO AND MODERN CALVARY 03 Some attempt has been made to regard a small Christian tomb adjoining the hill as the Holy Sepulchre, but in this reason has o’erleaped itself, for if the hill was the place of public execution (House of Stoning) round which a gaping crowd of idle vagabonds viewed the ghastly sights, a rich Jew’s tomb must have been in a loathsome place ; a place that is held accursed even at the present day, according to the supporters of the tradition. We cannot ignore the fact that “ 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.” — John xix. 41 ; but this seems to point clearly to the crucifixion having taken place in an unusual spot and one not in general use as a place of execution, although it was known as Golgotha. The place now regarded as Calvary can gain no favour from either tradition, or the name of the place of a skull. It must be only from its topographical position and prominence as a landmark. According to the Scriptural narrative : “ The place where Jesus was crucified was nigh unto the city.” John xix. 20. “ Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate.” — Heb. xiii. 12. “ And led him away to crucify him. And as they came out .... and when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull.” — Mat. xxvii. 31-33. “ They that passed by reviled him.” — Mat. xxvii. 39. “ And many women were there beholding afar off.” — Matt, xxvii. 55. This part of the country was within the third wall of a . d . 41, but outside the city at the time of the Saviour’s crucifixion. When that event took place this hill was between two roads that left the city and intersected each other near the so-called Tombs of the Kings. The first led from or near the Damascus Gate, and along the present road to the north. The other came from the Tower of Antonia, left the city close to the present Bab ez Z ahery, 64 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. and formed the military road to Caesarea, then the Roman capital of the country. This was probably the road by which our Saviour made His last journey, to the hill which occupied a conspicuous position outside, yet nigh unto the city. What the little green hill with its square cut tomb- stones was like before the military operations of Titus we cannot say. If it was at that time shaped like a skull, all the changes of succeeding generations of battles and sieges, winter storms and earthquakes, must have altered its appearance. History tells us of the wars in and around the Holy City ; Arabic writers describe the ravages made by earthquakes in the gth and ioth centuries, and according to St. Matt, xxvii. 51, “ the earth did quake and the rocks rent ” when Christ yielded up the ghost. The position of this rocky knoll “ without the gate ” “ nigh unto the city ” which can be seen “ afar off” between two main roads near enough for the passers by to “ revile ” the Crucified, has more reason to be regarded as the true site of Calvary than any other at present known. And the best of all is, that should the controversy ever be settled in its favour, there is no fear of that place worship and adoration of stones and earth that dishonours the Almighty, and teaches people to forget that “ God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” CHAPTER VII. THE VIA DOLOROSA. T HE Via Dolorosa, or the “ Street of Pain,” is a continuation of the Tarik Bab Sitti Maryam i.e. The Street of the Lady Mary. Hundreds of pilgrims every year, slowly and tenderly linger over its stones as they follow its zigzag course to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, firmly believing it to have been the way our Saviour walked to suffer an ignominious death for our redemption. It really con- sists of four streets, which exhibit every characteristic form of the streets of the city ; the narrow arched passage, the open way with the latticed windows, and the steps that show the rise and fall of the hills on which the city is built. Fourteen stations mark the various episodes that are the via dolorosa supposed to have distin- guished the painfu journey of our Lord, commencing with the traditional ‘‘Palace of Pilate ” now the Serai, the place from 66 JER USA LEM ILL USTRA TED . which the photograph is taken. The so called holy steps Scala Sancta, from the Judgment Hall, were removed to the Church of St. John Lateran at Rome, where they may now be seen. The “ Ecce Homo Arch ” in the picture, according to monkish legend, marks the spot where Pilate said “ Behold the man.” It is part of a triumphal arch of Hadrian, and near to that part of it built in the School of the Sisters of Zion on the right hand side, are some curious stone cylinders of solid rock, of undoubted antiquity, on which the town crier used to stand when proclaiming the loss of certain articles, or announcing some particular event of public interest. Through the arch, the street passes the Austrian Hospice at the bottom of the hill, then crosses another street at an angle, leaving the “ House of Dives and Lazarus ” on the left hand, and ascends the next hill through arches and a vaulted passage, crossing the street from the Damascus Gate before it reaches the German Hospice, then mounting step by step higher up the hill, to turn at right angles through the vaulted roof of a prolongation of Christian Street where an old entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stood. Various crosses and other religious emblems serve to remind the pilgrim of the sacred spots along the route ; the place where Christ sank under the cross, and where Simon of Cyrene was called upon to bear it ; where Jesus leaned against the wall for support ; where Veronica wiped the sweat from His brow and His features became imprinted on her handker- chief ; and the many other holy places that are annually kissed and wept over. But it was not until the fourteenth century that these sacred sites became known, and there is no historical evidence whatever to prove their identity. The church seen through the arch is the Cathedral Church of St. Salvador, a fine new building belonging to the Latin Church occupying a very prominent position on the north-west of the city. CHAPTER VIII. EL HARAM ESH SHERIF — THE NOBLE SANCTUARY. THE TEMPLE AREA. W HILE the site of the Holy Sepulchre, which for fifteen hundred years has been the goal of the way-worn pilgrim, is being openly questioned, and topographical arguments are being advanced against that of Calvary, that of the Temple, where our Saviour tarried, and where the Presence of His Almighty Father was manifested in the Holy of Holies, has of late years received such confirmatory support, that its position is now fully assured. It is a four walled enclosure occupying the south-eastern portion of the city overlooked by the Mount of Olives, thirty-five acres in extent, or one sixth of the total area of the city within the walls. This enclosure, the most beautiful and perhaps the only beautiful part of the city, is surrounded by a wall 1601 feet long on the west, 1530 feet on the east, 1024 feet on the north, and 922 feet on the south, with entrances only on the two sides towards the city, eight gates being on the west and three on the north. It is the only part of the city where freedom of access is seriously . F 2 68 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. THE TEMPLE AREA. 69 curtailed, a permit, signed by the Pasha, the governor of the city, being necessary for the admission of all but the followers of Mohammed. This must be obtained through a consul, and then accompanied by his official servant (Kawass) and a native policeman (Zaptieh), the traveller may enter the Noble Sanctuary, i.e. El Haram esh Sherif. The whole area is looked upon by its guardians as holy, just as much as any place of worship in England or America, and their feelings ought to be respected by the visitor for a very obvious reason, that should commend itself to all. Near the centre of a platform, five acres in extent, and fifteen feet above the surrounding area, is a magnificent building with a dome, commonly, but erroneously, called the Mosque of Omar, the proper name of which is Kubbet es Sakrah, i.e. The Dome of the Rock. This dome is built over the most sacred part of Jerusalem, the special object of attraction from remote antiquity, and around which cling many remarkable traditions. On account of its exquisite and manifold variety of decoration, symmetry of form, and the mystery of the great rock over which it stands, this building is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and occupies a position of unique interest. On this site were erected the Temples of Solomon and Herod, the bare mention of which is enough to conjure up thoughts of admiration mingled with wonder at the remarkable fact that this hill should have been the scene of so much grandeur. For countless ages this spot has been set apart for adoration, and is now revered alike by Moslem, Jew, and Christian. No wonder it is watched so carefully, and guarded so jealously, for no other part of the world has such a glorious history. In their feelings of extravagant rapture the followers of Mohammed say that Jerusalem (El Kuds, i.e. The Holy,) was built by angels, who came as pilgrims to the sacred rock over which the present dome is built, two thousand years before Adam. According to their traditions Noah’s ark rested here, and the dove brought the olive leaf from the Mount of Olives near by. 70 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. When Abraham wandered forth at God’s command to sacrifice his son, it was a bold and rocky summit sufficiently conspicuous as a natural altar to attract his attention. Here he heard the voice of the Almighty, who stayed his hand and saved his son. (Gen. xxii.) Jacob used this hill, so runs the Moslem story, as a resting place for the night, when he went away from home, from his father’s tent, to seek his fortune among strangers in a far off land. While his head lay on the sacred rock, he beheld the vision of ascending and descending angels on the ladder that reached from earth to heaven. According to the ideas of the story teller only this spot could be the house of God, . that Bethel of which Jacob spoke when he said “ this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen. xxviii. 17.) Moses is also believed to have been here according to the Arab historian. “Of the rock itself Nasir gives the following account : This stone of the Sakrah, is that which God — be He exalted and glorified ! — commanded Moses to institute as the Kiblah (or direction to be faced at prayer). After this command had come down, and Moses had instituted the Sakrah as Kiblah : he himself lived but a brief time, for of a sudden was his life cut short.” (“ Palestine under the Moslems,” — p. 129.) On this same Mount Moriah was the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite where God in His mercy stayed His angel who was smiting the people with the plague that followed David’s sin of numbering them. (II. Sam. xxiv. 16). Similar threshing floors may be seen on the neighbouring hilltops, positions of necessary prominence that the wind may carry away the chaff. But this one belonging to Araunah or Oman as he is also called had a hiding place near. (“ And Oman turned back and saw the angel ; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Oman was threshing wheat. And as David came to Oman, Oman looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor.” * I. C'hron. xxi. 20, 21.) It was evidently very different to THE TEMPLE AREA. 71 others of its kind, and that was the reason why God had pointed it out to David as an altar, and why he wished to purchase it. “ So David bought the threshing floor and oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” (II. Sam. xxiv. 24.) The cave under the Sakrah, if that was the threshing floor or even part of it, could well have been the hiding place of the old Jebusite chief. Associated with the Sakrah as a threshing floor is a beautiful Moslem legend of two brothers who are said to have owned it. After the division of corn, when both were sleeping there, as is the custom in this country, the elder who was married awoke and reasoned thus. “ After such a plentiful harvest I am indeed rich, having not only wife and children, but more than enough of corn to supply their needs ; whereas my poor brother has neither wife nor child to cheer his loneliness. I must make it up for him in some other way. At least I can give him a bigger share of corn,” and so he removed a quantity from his own heap to that of his brother. When the younger awoke soon after and looked at his share of corn, he said to himself, “what shall I do with all this wheat, I have no one to help me to eat it, and there is more than enough for me. My brother has a wife and family and ought therefore to have a larger share, but if I suggested it, he would refuse, so I will give him some of mine now.” In the morning both were surprised to see their corn as they had left it the night before, but later on a prophet appeared who told them what had passed in the night, and that God, who knew of their kindly brotherly feeling, had decided to make their threshing floor the place of prayer for all the world. Solomon’s temple. With the assistance of Hiram, king of Tyre, his father’s friend, (1 Kings v.) Solomon erected a temple (1 Kings vi.) which surpassed in grandeur all the structures of his contemporaries, and was of such unparalleled beauty that its description has been handed down to the present day. n JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Twenty-one courses of the stones on which this Temple was built, one stone weighing over ioo tons, have actually been found by Captain Warren (now Sir Charles,) at the south- east corner of the Sanctuary, seventy-nine feet three inches below the surface, where the present wall is seventy-seven feet above the ground. On these stones were found masons’ marks made by the Phoenician workmen who quarried them, very likely in order to indicate their proper places, as they are fitted on to the contour of the rock itself. The late Emanuel Deutsch, an official of the British Museum, in a lengthy report on them to the Palestine Exploration Fund says: “I have come to the following conclusions : First. — The signs cut or painted were on the stones when they were first laid in their present places. Secondly. — They do not represent any inscription. Thirdly. — They are Phoenician. I consider them to be partly letters, and partly numerals, and partly special masons’ quarry signs.” A small jar and some jar handles were found near, which prove also to be Phoenician, (see Memoirs of Palestine Exploration Fund, by Sir Charles Warren and Major Conder, R.E.) To some this may seem incredible when they remember the words of our Saviour, “ not one stone shall be left upon another,” but this was spoken of the buildings of the Temple and not of the enclosure walls, (see Matt. xxvi. i, 2,) “and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple.” That the above prophecy was literally fulfilled subsequent events have proved, for in 135 a.d. the Temple area was ploughed as a field, by order of Rufus, Hadrian’s Governor of Jerusalem, after the defeat of Simon Barchocab. The substructures that remain show only where the Temple stood, and it is not likely that the very foundations of the walls were removed, as I have shown from the evidence already given of Solomon’s work, and the present wall gives ample proof of earlier structures in the various THE TEMPLE AREA 73 kinds of stones of which it is composed. This use of old material in the different parts of the present city wall, including that of the Haram enclosure, indicates to a certain extent the position of the former walls, especially where foundation courses exist. A comparative survey of the various kinds, and sizes of stones, will convey to the mind of the reader clearly what I have stated above, and for further proof I would suggest that visitors should inspect the remains under the Freres’ School and Damascus Gate. Five different kinds of masonry, each representing a distinct period, may also be seen built in the south-west corner of the Haram wall. In 333 a.d. when the Temple area was in the ruined state predicted, and the walls heaps of ruins, it was visited by the Bordeaux pilgrim whose record, as translated by Aubrey Stewart, M.A., for the Pilgrims’ Text Society, is as follows : — “ Here is also the corner of an exceeding high tower, where our Lord ascended and the tempter said to Him, ‘ If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence.’ And the Lord answered, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, but him only shalt thou serve.’ There is a great corner stone of which it is said ‘ The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner.’ Under the pinnacle (pinna) of the tower are many rooms and here was Solomon’s palace. There is also the chamber in which he sat and wrote the (Book of) Wisdom, this chamber is covered with a single stone.” The above mentioned corner of the wall was seen one hundred years later by another Pilgrim, Eucherius, 440 a.d. who has left us a very important piece of evidence, he says (Aubrey Stewart, M.A., Pilgrims’ Text Society) : “ The Temple was situated in the lower part of the city, near the city wall on the east side, and was splendidly built, was once a world’s wonder, but out of its ruins there stands only the pinnacle of one wall, the rest being destroyed to their very foundation.” 74 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. The remains at this corner, although of immense importance, are not the only proof of the identity of the site of the Haram esh Sherif with that of the Jewish Temples. All round the present wall of the enclosure, north, south, east, and west, many remains of old structures have been brought to light, which, when taken together, prove so satisfactorily the genuineness of the site, that all authorities are now agreed that the Temples of Solomon and Herod stood somewhere fn the Haram area, although the precise spot cannot yet be accurately determined. However, the difference of opinion is chiefly confined to the position held by the sacred rock under *the Dome, for while some say it formed the base of the Altar of Burnt Offerings, others think it is the site of the Holy of Holies. The former view to my mind is more admissible, and has more to recommend it than the other, which appears to rest for its chief support upon a passage in the Talmud. Herr Baurath Schick, an architect who has resided here nearly fifty years, has made the buildings of the different periods of the city his special study and knows as much about the buried cities of Jerusalem as anyone. He is the agent of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and all who read the Quarterly Statements of that Society will understand that he is rightly considered one of the highest authorities. I do not think I can quote any better source of information, as he has been connected with all the officers of the Fund in their various works in Jerusalem, and he has himself told me how he constructed his model repre- senting the different buildings in the Temple area, as they were erected one after another, on the same rocky hill-top, and with the same foundation as Solomon’s Temple. He indulged in no flights of imagination, but worked to scale from his great knowledge of the rock levels, and his intimate acquaintance with the Bible, works of Josephus, and the Talmud. Only by placing the Altar of Burnt Offerings on the present Sakrah could he make the different structures fall naturally into the positions ascribed to them in ancient writings. In his model he locates the Holy of Holies immediately to the west of this rock. THE TEMPLE AREA. 75 He first shows the rock levels and cisterns according to the plan of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and then fits on Solomon’s Temple, and after it that of Herod, which he again replaces with the present Haram buildings. This model is being exhibited in England, but pictures, with a description of it, will be found in the appendix. The principle on which he worked will be clearly understood when we bear in mind the fact that the ruins of Solomon’s Temple were plainly seen by Zerubbabel on his return from the captivity, and that both he and Nehemiah only rebuilt and repaired, and the result of this was apparent when Herod commenced his great work. FROM THE RESTORATION TO HEROD’S TEMPLE. After the destruction of the first Temple, the Jews spent seventy years in captivity, after which Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, allowed them to return ; but only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and some priests and Levites, numbering 42,360, availed themselves of the opportunity offered, the remainder preferring to stay “ by the waters of Babylon.” “ And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and budded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer up burnt offerings thereon.” (Ezra iii. 1, 2.) “Now in the seventh month after they were departed out of Babylon, both Jeshua the high priest, and Zorobabel the governor sent messengers every way round about, and gathered those that were in the country together to Jerusalem universally, who came very gladly thither. He then built an altar on the same place it had formerly been built, that they might offer the appointed sacrifices upon it to God.” (Josephus Ant. Book xi. chap, iv.) The Talmud says that Zerubbabel and Nehemiah in order to rebuild the Temple brought with them three very old priests ; one to testify to the site of the Altar of Burnt 76 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Offerings and other Holy Places, another to give the accurate measurements, and a third to offer up sacrifices on the Altar of Burnt Offerings while the Temple was being reconstructed. When the principal inhabitants were carried away captive, the peasantry were left by the conquerors to till the soil, and no doubt, as at the present day the wandering Jew returns to kiss the time honoured relics forming part of the present Haram wall, so at that time the remains of their glorious Temple would be visited by the forlorn sons of Israel, and its site preserved, for we find in Nehemiah iii., that the Temple walls were rebuilt and repaired. In fifty-eight years after the return of the first captives, Ezra appeared with priests, Levites, and servants of the Temple, numbering 1777 souls, and was followed twelve years later by Nehemiah, who, with the assistance of the whole population, rebuilt the walls in spite of the formidable opposition of the surrounding people. (See Nehemiah iii. and iv.) When Nehemiah ceased to rule the city, it was left a prey to the discords of intriguing priests, one of whom fell by the hands of an assassin. The son of another married the daughter of Sanballat, the builder of the Temple on Mount Gerizim, and became the High Priest of the. Samar- itans. While Jaddua, his brother, was High Priest at Jerusalem, Alexander the Great visited the city, which he spared on account of a dream that foretold his conquest of Persia. The High Priest took full advantage of Alexander’s pacific intentions, and further enhanced the value of the dream by pointing out confirmatory prophecies in the book of Daniel, that gave such complete satisfaction to the credulous mind of the great monarch that he released the Jews from their tribute to the Persian king, and conferred numerous privileges upon them. At his death his kingdom was divided amongst four of his generals, Seleucus Nicanor taking Syria, whilst Ptolemy Lagus appropriated Egypt. Between these two kings and their descendants the Jews had a lively, if disagreeable time. THE TEMPLE AREA. 77 When one was not invading the country and persecuting its inhabitants, the other was busy with this undesirable addition to the miseries of the people. Philadelphus, the son of Ptolemy Lagus, seems to have been the most peaceably inclined. His admiration for the Jews and their religion prompted him to order the translation of their scriptures into Greek, which has since been known as the Septuagint version. It was placed in the public library at Alexandria, and caused a greater interest to be taken in the Temple at Jerusalem, which was shown by the number of offerings sent for its services. Of all the enemies of the Jews, Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, proved himself the worst ; not content with robbing the temple of all its treasures, he sacrificed a pig upon the Altar of Burnt Offerings, and after dedicating the Temple to Jupiter Olympus, placed a statue of that false deity there. His hatred to the Jewish religion was so deep and bitter, that he ordered it to be abolished altogether, substituting in its place the idolatry of the Greeks. He sent teachers to instruct the people in the new worship, and condemned to death or torture all who refused to listen to the new doctrine and forsake the service of the God of their fathers. They were neither allowed to offer sacrifices, nor keep the Sabbath ; and even the rite of circumcision was refused. In this most terrible emergency God raised up a deliverer in the form of a venerable priest of the Asmonean family named Mattathias, who with his five sons surnamed the Maccabees resisted successfully the persecutions of the tyrant and his followers. Each in his turn on the death of father and brothers, added to the victories already obtained, until Simon the last survivor had practically gained the independence for which so many had valiantly fought and died. He was succeeded by his son, John Hyrcanus I, who completely freed his people, and established their indepen- dence. Aristobulus, his son, and grandson of the noble Simon, assumed the title of king in addition to that of priest, 78 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. the first since the Babylonian captivity. He was followed by his brother, Alexander Jannaeus, who left the kingdom to his wife Alexandra, and sons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus; the former with the office of High Priest, and the latter with the command of the army. On the death of their mother they quarrelled, and Aristobulus succeeded in gaining possession of both throne and priestly office, and establishing himself in Jerusalem ; and when he found that his brother Hyrcanus was receiving help from Antipater of Idumea, and Aretas, king of Arabia, in order to retain possession of the kingdom, by bribes and promises of further treasure, he called to his aid Pompey the Great, the commander of the Roman armies in Asia. Hyrcanus promptly laid his case before this formidable visitor, who decided to consider the claims of the two brothers and give judgment accordingly. Whether from fear of the result, or impatient of delay, Aristobulus quietly prepared for war and took possession of the Temple. This so enraged Pompey that he marched to the Holy City, B.c. 63, and was admitted by the followers of Hyrcanus. The partisans of Aristobulus bravely resisted the repeated onslaughts of Pompey’s soldiers, but their superstitious regard for the Sabbath brought them defeat. Although they were allowed by a decree promulgated during the Maccabean revolt to defend themselves on a holy day, they refused to take advantage of it, until the Romans, after scaling the wall, had entered the Temple courts and were butchering the priests in the act of worship. The instinct of self-preservation caused a fierce and stubborn resistance to be made, but it was too late, the city was already half won, and the Romans soon obtained complete possession, on the very day when the Jews were commemorating the taking of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, by a solemn fast. “ Pompey, like all its former conquerors, was curious to examine the interior of the Temple, and penetrated into the sanctuary in company with several of his officers. Unlike his predecessors, however, he respected the sanctity of the place, and commanded that the sacrifices and other services THE TEMPLE AREA. 79 should be resumed.” (History of the Jewish Nation, Palmer.) But the Roman General provided against any further struggle being made by the Jews to regain their freedom. He destroyed the city walls, and freed all the cities that had been tributary to them. The independence so bravely and nobly won by the united action of the Maccabean heroes was now lost for ever by the dissensions caused by their descendants. Not only did the Romans take good care to remain when once in the country, but they kept alive the different discords that immediately followed their occupation, until their protege , Antipater, who had during this time been looking well to the interests of his family, was poisoned. Herod, the most notorious of his sons, fled to Rome, where he pleaded so well with Mark Antony, who was then at the summit of his power, that he was created king of Judea. To establish himself in this new dignity he was assisted by the Roman General Sosius, and in b.c. 37, they besieged Jerusalem and he took possession of the throne. He commenced his reign by murdering the remainder of the Asmonean race, even the beautiful Mariamne, whom he had married, fell a victim to his insane jealousy. Then he turned his attention to the infliction of numerous cruelties on his people. His contempt for the Jewish religion and race was openly shown, but this he found alienated the feelings of his subjects and threatened him with dire disaster ; so he set about conciliating the people, and gratifying his own ambition at the same time, by rebuilding the Temple, which had fared so badly in the last two sieges that it was little more than a heap of ruins, on a scale of magnificence hitherto unknown. THE TEMPLE OF HEROD. Josephus says (Bellum Juddicum, book 1, chapter 21, Traill’s translation): “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 around it, so as to enlarge it to twice 80 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. 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 Antony.” According to the same writer the temple itself was completed in a year and a half, but as fresh additions were constantly being made during the succeeding years, the phrase “ in forty and six years ” (St. John ii. 20) used at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, on his first visit to Jerusalem, is undoubtedly correct, as Josephus places the final completion of the temple in the reign of Herod Agrippa II., a.d. 50, (Ant. Chap. xx. 8.) Herod the Great, the builder of the temple, is the one mentioned in St. Matt. ii. 1. He died one year after the birth of our Lord, and was succeeded by his sons, amongst whom his kingdom was divided. Archelaus referred to in St. Matt. ii. 22, soon obtained the lion’s share, but enjoyed it only for a very short time, being deposed and banished by Augustus, after a brief reign of six years, a.d. 7 ; and from this time Judea became in every respect a Roman province. Herod Antipas, his brother, Tetrarch of Galilee, reigned all through the rest of our Saviour’s earthly life, and is mentioned several times in the Gospels. He beheaded John the Baptist at the instigation of Herodias (St. Mark vi. 16-17) his brother Philip’s wife whom he had married, and through her ambition was eventually led to his ruin. When his nephew Agrippa received the title of king, she urged him to go to Rome and appeal for the same honour, although he held it already by courtesy. He carried out her wishes and went to his own undoing, being condemned to perpetual banishment a.d. 39. Herod Agrippa, his nephew and successor who had already received the title of king, now also received the Tetrarchy of Galilee, which was followed later on, when he had assisted Claudius to the Imperial. throne on the death of Caligula, with the government of Judea, Samaria, and THE TEMPLE AREA. 81 Idumea, so that his kingdom was far greater in extent than that of his grandfather, Herod the Great. Following the inordinate ambition of the rulers of that epoch, he assumed divine honours, which hastened his downfall and brought him to an ignominous end, “and he was eaten up of worms, and gave up the ghost.” (Acts xii. 21-23.) a.d. 44 Shortly before his death, a.d. 41, he built what is generally known as the third wall of Jerusalem. Herod Agrippa II, his son, was appointed by Claudius to succeed him, but being too young to hold the reigns of power, the authority of the Roman governors was visibly strengthened. His dominions were increased on the accession of Nero, and this enabled the young king to use the ample opportunities offered in making the necessary preparations for retirement, when the fast approaching end of the last semblance of the Jewish monarchy should appear. When the 18,000 labourers were left without employment at the completion of the temple, he very grudgingly provided means for the paving of the streets of Jerusalem in order to stifle the feelings of insurrection, and turn to better purpose the hands so ready for the sword. But the revolutionary spirit was smothered for a short time only, until the last work of the last king was accomplished. Then this, the same vacillating monarch who in Acts xxvi. 28, said to St. Paul, “ Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” turned from his own people, and following the fortunes of their conquerors retired to Rome on the destruction of Jerusalem, with his sister Bernice, where he died a.d. ioo, the last prince of the house of Herod. The stately pile that had been reared with such munificent care, where our Saviour was presented as a child by His holy mother, where He conversed as a boy with learned doctors, and afterwards walked the temple courts as the Man of Sorrows, survived His prediction of its destruction but a very short time, and was finally overthrown by Titus, a.d. 70. The story of the siege of Jerusalem is a long and sad one, but full of deep and melancholy interest. Factioris G 82 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. rent asunder those who ought to have been united for the common weal, until that portion enshrined in the heart of every Jew was threatened. Then a stand was made by the divided parties and their leaders, John of Giscala and Simon son of Gioras, all the more obstinate, as the feelings of deep and earnest longing for the preservation of their holy place surged uppermost. But their last united action was of no avail, the end soon came and fearful carnage with it. Josephus says : “ One would have thought that the hill itself on which the temple stood, was seething hot, full of fire in every part; that the blood was larger in quantity than the fire : and those that were slain, more in number than those that slew them, for the ground nowhere appeared visible for the dead bodies that lay on it, but the soldiers went over heaps of these bodies as they ran after such as fled from them.” RESULT OF EXPLORATION. Besides the Solomonic piece of wall at the south-east corner before mentioned, other remains have been found, which I shall now briefly notice as being what is left us of the last Jewish Temple : — I. THE TRIPLE AND DOUBLE GATES. Following the course of the present southern wall west- ward, we meet with the Triple and Double Gates, possibly the two Huldah Gates of the Talmud. The first, the Triple Gate, is three hundred feet west of the south-east corner. It consists of three entrances, now walled up, and composed of old materials put together in all probability in their present form, on an old site, by the Crusaders. The floor of the gateway is the rock itself, which has gradually risen from eighty feet below the south-east corner to this height, to drop again to the bottom of the Tyropeon Valley, ninety feet below the surface. The Double Gate is situated at about the same distance from the south-west as the Triple Gate is from the south- THE TEMPLE AREA. 83 east corner, and is also walled up, but, inside there is a large vestibule with massive pillars and large stones, like those at the Wailing Place, one half of which is in situ and the other a reconstruction. The outside portion, especially the carving, is supposed to have been built by Julian, when he attempted to rebuild the Temple. Above the carved lintel-stone, turned upside down, is the Antonine inscription, which once formed part of the base of the statue of Jupiter, and dates from the middle of the 2nd century : TITO AEL HADRIANO ANTONINO AVG PIO PP PONTIF AVGVR DD “To Titus Aelius Hadrian Antoninus the August surnamed Pius (by a decree of the members of the Senate), Father of his Country, Pontiff, Augur.” Each entrance of this gateway is eighteen feet wide, the same width as the entrance to Barclay’s Gate in the western wall, a remarkable and significant coincidence. 2. Robinson’s arch and Barclay’s gate. “ In the western part of the enclosure stood four gates : one leading over to the royal palace, the valley between being intercepted to form a passage : two leading to the suburb : and the remaining one into the city, being distinguished by many steps down into the valley and from this up again upon the ascent.” (Josephus Ant. book xv. chap. 2.) ROBINSON’S ARCH. 84 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. On roundingthe south-west corner, the spring of an arch is seen, which was first discovered and described by Dr. Robinson, the distinguished American archaeologist, and which now bears his name. The largest stone measures thirty-eight feet nine inches, and weighs over ninety tons. Sir Charles Warren sunk a shaft forty feet from the wall, and forty-two feet below the surface the workmen found three courses of stones, eleven feet high, laid on the rock and forming the basement of the pier. On a level with this, a stone pavement was found between the pier and the Haram, which no doubt formed the street that ran along the Tyropeon Valley before the Temple was destroyed by Titus, and the fallen arch stones which were spread about the pavement have, in all probability, rested there since the destruction of the Temple. These stones formed part of the bridge that crossed the Tyropeon Valley, and belonged to the same set of arches as that which bears the name of Robinson. Further excavations were made at a greater depth, and other arch stones found, no doubt part of a former bridge, the one mentioned by Josephus where he speaks of the siege of Jerusalem by Pompey the Great, when the “ adherents of Aristobulus being beaten down, retreated on the Temple, breaking down the bridge which connected it with the city.” A little further north, along this western wall, is the second of the four gates of the Herodian period, named after ■its discoverer, Dr. Barclay. This cannot now be seen by the tourist, as a ring is attached to a stone near, to which Mohammed’s steed, Burak, is said to have been tied prior to his nocturnal journey, hence his followers consider it much too sacred to be subject to the gaze of the unbeliever. 3. THE WAILING PLACE. A little further north may be seen courses of stones sixty feet high, the bottom four having marginal drafts. Some are of great size, one being sixteen feet long. The largest are supposed by Sir Charles Warren to date from the time of THE TEMPLE AREA. 85 Solomon, and although Sir Charles Wilson thinks the same, yet he considers the wall “ a reconstruction of old material.” Here, for generations, Jews have been allowed to congregate and kiss the venerable relics of their long lost glory. Although they may be seen any day, yet the most sad and solemn assembly is on a Friday afternoon, when they chant their wailing songs in dole- ful monotone, while hoary heads aie bowed low in humble supplication to their Almighty Father. Pilgrims from many lands, men, women, and children, poor and destitute, wash the massive courses of the Temple wall with their scalding tears. Who can picture the varied feelings of the Jewish hearts as they cling to the memories of byegone days, when one hears such prophetic passages and wailing songs as the following: “ Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever ; behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire ; and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord, wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore.” (Isaiah lxiv. 9-12.) Proceeding north from the Wailing Place close to where the Kadi sits in judgment, near a beautiful fountain long used to decay, and beneath the principal entrance to the Haram, the Bab es Silsileh (i.e. the Gate of the Chain,) Sir Charles Wilson found part of the third gateway (Wilson’s THE JEW'S WALLING PLACE. 86 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. arch,) which was also a portion of a bridge running into the city. This is now built into a cistern, as is also the fourth gateway, still further north. 4. THE NORTHERN WALL. At the north-west corner there is a minaret, and barracks for Turkish soldiers. From the inside of the Sanctuary the scarped rock can be seen, where it was cut and levelled by Simon Maccabeus after he had taken the fort garrisoned by the Syrians, who an- noyed the Temple worshippers with their arrows. To prevent the recur- rence of this perse- cution he (Josephus, book xiii. , chap. 7,) ‘ ‘exhorted the people to level the mount- ain, so that the Temple should be higher than the citadel, and worked three whole years, day and night, without intermission.” The building that followed, Baris, i.e. the Tower, was erected further back, too far for the effective marksmanship of pug- nacious archers. Josephus says, Ant. book xv. : “Now on the north side was built a citadel whose walls were square and strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This citadel was built by the kings of the Asmonean race, who were also high priests before Herod, and they called it the Tower (Baris), in which was deposited the vestments which the high priest only put on at the time when he was to offer sacrifice.” Following this on the same site was Antonia, (Josephus, Bell. Jud. book i. chap. 21,) “ the fort, in nothing inferior to a palace, he repaired at an immense cost, and called it Antonia in honour of Antony.” THE TEMPLE AREA. 87 The street along the fosse of the Antonia, with marks of chariot wheels and the lines of a Roman game can be seen at the present day, under the school of the Sisters of Zion, on the opposite side of the buildings seen in the picture. It formed the limit of the Antonia and the city wall on the northern side, and separated it from Bezetha. During the occupation of the Romans this citadel was strongly fortified and garrisoned by a body of troops. After the betrayal of Christ, He was led, it is said, to the High Priest’s house, which stood somewhere near Wilson’s Arch, and the Bab es Silsileh of the Haram, only a short distance from the Antonia, and near the extreme left of the picture. He was also taken, the following morning, before the Sanhedrim, which usually met in the “ Council House” in the western cloister of the Temple, and from thence to the Prsetorium, and brought before Pilate. Whether the Prsetorium was in the Antonia, where the soldiers were quartered, and which also held the state prison, or in Herod’s Palace, it matters not. For when Pilate the Procurator gave Jesus up to be crucified, He would be led by the soldiers to where all the other prisoners were kept, in order to join His two companions on their way to the place of execution. So that the last building that sheltered our Lord on earth was this fortress of Antonia, that stood where now is reared aloft the minaret in the picture, 5 ] and from whence our Lord PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND. walked to suffer for the sins of men. TABLET FROM HEROD’S T EM P LE. A very import- ant discovery was made by M. Cler- mont - Ganneau, when resident in Jerusalem some years ago, in the little graveyard near the barracks, at this north-west corner, 88 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. where the sheikhs of the Haram find their last earthly resting place. He found a tablet bearing an inscription of seven lines in Greek, of the barbarous kind in vogue during the time of our Saviour, when the natives of this country spoke Aramaic, and Greek was a foreign tongue. The translation is as follows : “No foreigner to proceed within the partition wall and enclosure around the Sanctuary, whoever is caught in the same will on that account be liable to incur death.” Josephus Ant., book xv. chap xi. 5, says : “ This was the first enclosure. In the midst of which, and not far from it was the second enclosure, to be gone up to by a few steps ; this was encompassed by a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death.” This inscription is mentioned by the Jewish historian in two other places in his works, but it will perhaps be sufficient to say that St. Paul was once in great danger of his life on account of this very prohibition. Acts xxi. 28. “ This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place, and further brought Greeks also into the temple and hath polluted this holy place .... 31, and as they went about to kill him.” 5. THE EASTERN WALL. One of the most stupendous undertakings of the Palestine Exploration Fund was that conducted by Sir Charles Warren at the north-east corner of the Haram, one cutting alone being six hundred feet long. At the enormous depth of one hundred and twenty five feet, the old eastern wall of the Jewish monarchy was found, and many rock levels settled that may be seen numbered on the plan prepared by the Palestine Exploration Fund, and in Herr Schick’s first model. This structure seems to date much further back THE TEMPLE AREA. 89 than the time of Herod. “ On the third course from the rock and above one hundred feet below the surface, some Phoenician characters were seen, painted in red colour on one of the stones. In one character a trickling of the paint was seen on the upper side, and this fact shows that the characters were painted before the stone was placed in its present position. According to Sir Charles Warren, this section of the wall, together with the north-east corner tower is of high antiquity, and may be the work of the Jewish kings” (“Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill.” — King.) In this eastern wall towards the south-east corner, there is a pillar jutting out of it, which to the Moslem is of the utmost importance, as from this stone a horse hair line, the bridge of “ Es Sirat,” will be drawn to the Mount of Olives’ on the Judgment Day, across which all the “ Faithful ” will march in safety. Should a Jew or a Christian attempt this dangerous feat he will at once be precipitated into the lake of hre below. Then Mohammed who . has been all this time sitting across the pillar will be appealed to by his backsliding followers, and after listening to their pleadings for some time in callous silence will at last exercise his prerogative of mercy, and cross the bridge clothed in a sheep skin coat ; and in order to carry them over in safety, will turn them into fleas, and with equal expedition they will take refuge in his coat. But on this latter point theologians differ, others say he actually turns himself into a sheep. THE GOLDEN GATE. In the eastern wall of the Haram, and nearly opposite the northern end of the platform, is a walled up gateway whose architecture is of more than ordinary beauty. However, it is not on account of this, that it is called the Golden Gate. This name was given to it by the mediaeval Christians. Through only having a very rudimentary knowledge of Greek, they used the word for gold, instead of that meaning beautiful, and thus designated what they 90 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. thought was “the gate called Beautiful,” where St. Peter healed the lame man, by the name now in use amongst Europeans. Its Arabic name is Bab ed Daharyeh, the Eternal Gate, and the two entrances are named Bab er Rahmah, Gate of Mercy, and Bab et Taubah, Gate of Repentance. It is well known there was only one Eastern Gate of the city, and if this stands on the foundations of it, then it represents the Gate Miphkad of Nehemiah, Shushan of the Talmud, and the Eastern Gate, through which our Saviour rode on the first Palm Sunday in His triumphal entry into the city, on His last and most sorrowful week on earth. In 333 a.d. the Bordeaux pilgrim and Antoninus in 560-70 a.d. both saw “the posts and threshold still standing” when they passed out of a small side gate near, on going to Olivet. Although it is somewhat difficult to obtain permission to enter, sometime ago it was opened on the inside for repairs. The Corinthian capitals on the massive columns which divide it into two compartments of six bays each, surmounted by small domes, were whitewashed, and where a specially fine piece of carving was found, on the pillars built into the sides, it was plastered. Truly a magnificent idea of the way in which to preserve the beauties of ancient monuments. Various theories have been brought forward to support the names of Herod, Constantine, Julian, and Justinian as the builders, but it is now generally understood that it is a THE TEMPLE AREA. 91 Byzantine structure raised on old foundations, but no definite date can be assigned to it. Professor Hayter Lewis who treats this subject very exhaustively in his “ Holy Places of Jerusalem,” after dealing with the many controversies with which this building like the many other sites in Jerusalem has been assailed, considers it to have been built during the reign of Justinian, “ by a Byzantine architect with workmen of different degrees of merit.” Through this gateway the Emperor Heraclius carried the cross he recovered from the Persians, and later on, during the dominion of the Christian Kings of Jerusalem, it was used by the Patriarch once a year, on Palm Sunday, in imitation of our Lord when he rode in triumphal procession with palms and general rejoicing. It is said to have been closed by Omar, and will be opened for the faithful Moslems on the judgment day, through which they will pass to the houris in paradise. Another tradition says it is kept closed, because through it the enemy will pass when Jerusalem is finally overthrown, and the Mohammedans have no intention of precipitating the disaster by opening it themselves. FROM TEMPLE TO MOSQUE. FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE TO OMAR. For the next fifty years after the destruction of the Temple, there was comparative quiet. The Christians had escaped to Pella, across the Jordan, and the Jews were scattered far and wide. What remained were kept in order by the Roman garrison left in the dreary and desolate city. But the hopes of the succeeding generation revived, and the returning Jews helped to fan the flickering light into a flame, which burst into open insurrection, a.d. 132. Simon Barchocab i.e. the son of a star, a false Messiah was at the head of the revolt, which at first made great progress, to the evident alarm of the Romans, and the general discomfiture of the Christians, who having peacefully returned from Pella refused to 02 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. make common cause against the government, and were consequently persecuted. Soldiers were sent in hot haste from the different Roman garrisons, and Hadrian himself led the assault with a settled determination to stamp out the Jewish race. A gallant stand was made, but Hadrian’s disciplined soldiers prevailed. Simon collected his scattered forces and retired to Bether (the present Beitir), where he hoped to gather strength for a further effort. That effort was the last ever made by the Jews for hearth and home : the last of all their struggles : the final scene in their history as a nation with a country. They were annihilated a.d. 135. Their conqueror Hadrian, even changed the name of the city to Elia Capitolina, and founded a Roman colony. Where the Temple of God stood, he erected one to Jupiter, and placed there a statue of himself, as well as one of the false deity. From this time the history of Jerusalem as a Jewish city ceases. In time, the name was entirely forgotten outside its own country, so much so, that a story is told of an Egyptian martyr who on being asked the name of his city, replied Jerusalem, meaning of course the heavenly Jerusalem. The judge who had never heard of such a city, ordered him to be tortured for his impertinent answer, believing there was no such place in existence. In order to show themselves as a party totally unconnected with the Jews, the Christians, prior to the insurrection by Barchocab, had elected a Gentile convert named Marcus to the Bishopric of Jerusalem. While the Jews were now expelled from the city, they were allowed to remain, and from this time that bitter hatred of the Jews commenced, which afterwards led to so many and terrible persecutions. Nothing remarkable happened during the reigns of the succeeding Roman Emperors, except in that of Alexander Severus, who added the image of our Saviour to the gallery of men he considered worthy^ of divine honours, after THE TEMPLE AREA. 93 recognising the truth and beauty of His teaching; and that of Diocletian, who persecuted the Christians right and left, but allowed the Jews to follow their own ideas of worship, though not in Jerusalem : until the spirit of pilgrimage was created, and a consequent superstitious regard for Holy Places. At first the pilgrims came to view the fulfilment of prophecy, as Eusebius writing about a.d. 315, ten years or more before the journey of Helena, speaks expressly “of many Christians who came up to Jerusalem from all parts of the earth, not as of old to celebrate a festival, but to behold the accomplishment of prophecy in the desolation of the city.” In 333 a.d. the Bordeaux pilgrim visited Jerusalem, and he says, quoting the translation by Aubrey Stewart, M.A., published by the Pilgrims’ Text Society. “ There are two statues of Hadrian, and not far from the statues is a perforated stone (lapsus pertusus) to which the Jews come every year and anoint, bewail themselves with groans, rend their garments and depart.” This stone is in all probability the rock under the Dome, the Sakrah. In 324 a.d. Constantine became emperor, and he it seems allowed the Jews the above privilege, as prior to his time they were forbidden to approach the Temple area, and for 150 years were only allowed to weep over the Holy City from the neighbouring hills. But his kindness did not last long: when he found that his zeal for their conversion bore little fruit, in spite of the very many miracles which he caused to be worked, which followed that of finding the tomb of the crucified Saviour, and the discovery of the true cross, he turned bitterly against them, issuing so many severe decrees that his death was hailed with delight. Julian his nephew, surnamed the Apostate, attempted to build again the Temple, in order to disprove our Saviour’s prophecy, but his designs were frustrated by an explosion, which appeared to the minds of the ignorant workmen as the direct intervention of God. Flames of fire burst with terrific reports from ihe subterranean vaults when 94 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED they were clearing away' the rubbish. This attempt to rebuild the Temple proves that the site was then known, and is a piece of very important evidence. In 460 a.d. the Empress Eudoxia, after erecting numerous churches, commenced the reconstruction of the walls of the city, and in 527 a.d. the Byzantine Emperor Justinian began his building operations which included the church of St. Mary in the Temple area, the limits of which cannot be exactly determined, as the writings of Procopius his historian, with regard to this site, are somewhat obscure and indefinite. At all events it is now agreed that the present Mosque el Aksa is built on a portion of the site of his church, and from some of the same materials. During his reign the Jews endured much suffering, which seemed such a contrast to the treatment of their brethren in Babylon, that they came to the conclusion that if the Persian monarch was favourable to a portion of their race, he might extend his magnanimity to all ; so they invited him with promises of assistance, to take possession of Jerusalem. Justinian for a time managed to stifle their desires by bribes, but after his death, when gold was no longer forthcoming, and their burdens were harder to bear, their repeated offers were accepted by Chosroes II. who took Jerusalem and destroyed all its buildings, 614 A.D. No wonder the Christians at his departure let loose all their bitter feelings against the Jews who had brought this disaster upon them, but the only visible object for their contempt after the people themselves, was that unchangeable face of nature, the foundation of the altar of Burnt Offerings, the Sakrah. Eutychius an ancient writer says “ the Christians heaped dirt on the rock, so that there was a large dunghill over it.” The Persian conqueror was himself subdued by the Emperor Heraclius, who rescued what was said to be the true Cross from the Pagan invaders, and returned with it to the Holy City, and he, the last Emperor of the East, who ever set foot in the city of the Great King, “ laid aside his THE TEMPLE AREA . 95 THE HARAM AND CITY FROM THE NORTH-EAST. 96 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. royal apparel, entered the gates of the Holy City, clothed in mean garments, and barefoot, carrying on his shoulder the precious wood on which the world’s redemption had been accomplished. (“ Holy City,” Williams.) This was on September 14th, 629 A.D., a day still kept in remembrance by the Christians of Jerusalem, and known as Aed es Saliba, i.e. the Feast of the Cross. Very, very brief was the season of rejoicing. In eight short years, too short indeed to materially change the appearance of the buildings so ruthlessly destroyed, the followers of Mohammed, under Omar, conquered the city, 637 a.d. who sought out the sacred rock and having found it exclaimed : “By Him in whose hands my soul is, this is the Mosque of David, from which the Prophet told us he ascended into heaven. He (upon whom be peace) gave us a circumstantial account thereof, and especially mentioned the fact that he had found upon the Sakrah a quantity of dung which the Christians had thrown there out of spite to the children of Israel.” On the authority of Jabir ibn Nafir, it is related that “ when Omar first exposed the rock to view by removing the dung heap, he commanded them not to pray there until three showers of heavy rain should have fallen.” HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT AREA. EL HARAM ESH SHERIF. After centuries of neglect the Temple Area was destined once again to become the seat of public worship, but this time of the descendants of Ishmael instead of Isaac, and the followers of a False Prophet. Age after age has come and gone; change and decay have followed each other in rapid succession; but the rock of ages has stood through all the varying vicissitudes of the Holy Hill, and again evinces its irresistible power of attraction ; and as of old it rested within structures that were the wonders of the world, so now there stands over it one of the finest buildings to be seen at the present day. THE TEMPLE AREA 97 It derives its present name from the traditional midnight journey of Mohammed (Koran xvii, i.) to El Mesjid el Aksa, i.e ., the further mosque. The word mosque in this case means the whole sanctuary, i.e ., El Haram esh Sherif. “Entering the Haram area by the gateway afterwards known as the Gate of the Prophet, Mohammed and Gabriel went up to the sacred rock which of old times had stood in the centre of Solomon’s Temple; and in its neighbourhood meeting the company of the Prophets, Mohammed proceeded to perform his prayer prostrations in the assembly of his predecessors in the prophetic office, — Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others of God’s ancient Apostles.” The tradition then goes on to say how he went up to heaven and returned to the same rock. This journey specially sanctifies the Rock and area in the eyes of all true believers, and on this account complete forgiveness of sin, and a good position in paradise are offered to all who visit the Holy City. Various rewards are in store for the prayers of those unable to perform the journey if lamps are sent, and should they be accompanied by oil, even the angels in the place will pray for the sender as long as it lasts. But still greater rewards are laid up for those who build or endow any part of the Sanctuary. This will account to some extent for the many buildings in the Haram, the cupolas, colonnades and fountains. On the north and west sides are still to be seen the remains of a university, erected when Jerusalem was a seat of Moslem learning. The pilgrims who come to the Haram are very similar to those who visit the Holy Sepulchre, both endure great hardships, and exhibit intense devotion and ostentatious humility. “The pilgrim in entering the Haram, puts his right foot forward and says, ‘O Lord, pardon my sins, and open to me the doors of Thy mercy.’ As he goes out he repeats the customary benediction upon Mohammed, and ‘O Lord, pardon my sins, and open to me the doors of Thy grace.’ In entering the Kubbet es Sakrah he should be careful to keep the Holy Rock upon his right hand, so that 98 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. in walking round it he may exactly reverse the proceeding in the case of the Tawaf, or circuit of the Kaabeh at Mecca. He should then enter the cave, which is beneath the Sakrah, with humility of deportment, and should first utter the formula called the Prayer of Solomon, viz., ‘O God, pardon the sinners who come here, and relieve the injured.’ After this he may pray for whatsoever he pleases, with the assurance that his request will be granted.” The Moslems believe the Sacred Rock to have been the Kiblah, or place of adoration for all, until the coming of the true prophet; even then its sanctity was in no way impaired, the minds of the believers being simply turned to the Kaabeh at Mecca as of higher creation, having fallen from heaven. Historians tell us that after Omar had cleansed the rock, he built over it a large wooden structure capable of accommodating three thousand people, and this was found in a decayed state when Abd-el-Melek the ninth successor of Mohammed came into power. He recognised the necessity for building a more substantial edifice, and sent copies of the following letter to every part of his dominions: — “Abd-el-Melek desiring to build a dome over the Holy Rock of Jerusalem in order to shelter the Moslems from the inclemency of the weather, and moreover wishing to restore the Mesjid, requests his subjects to acquaint him with their wishes on the matter, as he would be very sorry to undertake so important a matter without consulting their opinion.” I. DOME OF THE ROCK. — KUBBET ES SAKRAH. This is the principal building in the sanctuary, and is usually called the Mosque of Omar, a name which has only been used by Europeans during the present century. It is not a mosque, never was a mosque, and was never intended to be a mosque, but a Moslem shrine. “ The present building was simply an oratory built over the rock to protect pilgrims who prayed there.”* * Holy Places of Jerusalem.— Hay ter Lewis, p. 29. THE TEMPLE AREA , 99 H 2 THE DOME OF THE ROCK. 100 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. “The Dome of the Rock (misnamed by the Franks the Mosque of Omar) is not itself a mosque or place for public prayer, but merely the largest of the many cupolas in the court of the Mosque, and in this instance was built to cover, and do honour to the Holy Rock which lies beneath it.”+ A Mosque is a place of assembly for public worship, where every Friday the prayer for the Sultan is read, and where addresses are sometimes given. The mosque in the Haram is the Aksa. In answer to {Jie letter sent by Abd-el-Melek men and means were quickly forthcoming, so he built the Dome of the Rock, a.d. 691, as is attested by an inscription in mosaic running round the colonnade. The name Abd-el-Melek is partially erased, and that of El Mamun substituted, but the forgery is so clumsy that it is easily noticed. A translation is published in its entirety in the History of Jerusalem by Besant & Palmer, pp. 94 — 96, and begins with the usual invocation, “ In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, &c.” It is an octagonal building, each side measuring sixty- eight feet, with an external diameter of 161*6 feet, enclosed by walls with four doorways facing the points of the compass, and surmounted by a large dome which was formerly gilt. When El Mamun became Khalif, 813 a.d., he thoroughly restored the buildings in the Haram, and possibly thought on account of his munificence that he was entitled to the name of founder rather than restorer, or his servants sought to flatter him by the substitution of his name for that of Abd-el-Melek. Various alterations and additions have been made since his time, but all with the same end in view, that of beautifying the oratory over the Holy Rock ; and it is now in the opinion of most eminent writers on the subject of architecture, the most beautiful building in existence. Professor Hayter Lewis in his work on the “ Holy Places of Jerusalem,” says : “ It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful buildings existing, and I cordially t Palestine under the Moslems. — Guy le Strange, p. 96. THE TEMPLE AREA. 101 agree with these eloquent words of Mr. Ferguson : ‘The one thing I was least prepared for was the extreme beauty of the interior of the building. I remember per- fectly the effect of the Taj Mahal and the other great imperial tombs of Agra and Delhi, and I am tolerably familiar with most of the tombs and tomb-like build- ings in other countries. But, as far as my know- ledge extends, the Dome of the Rock surpasses them all. There is an elegance of pro- portion, and an appropriate- ness of detail, which does not exist in any other building I am acquainted with. Its mosaics are complete and beautiful in design, and its painted glass, though compara- tively modern (sixteenth century), is more beautiful than any in this country. These, combined with the mystery of the Great Rock, occupying the whole floor of the sanctuary, make up a whole, so far as I know, unrivalled in the world.’ ” Soon after its restoration by El Mamun an earthquake partly shattered it, 846 a.d. Again in the beginning of the tenth century it became somewhat decayed and was then repaired, 913 A.D., as is recorded by an inscription on the beams. After being injured by another earthquake in 1016, it was again repaired, a.d. 1022, by the famous Fatimite Khalif, Hakem, whose name is found in the inscription on the present wood-work of the cupola, near which is an inscription recording the restoration of the original glass mosaics in 1027 a.d. The Dome of the Rock was known to writers in the middle ages as Templum Domini, and is described by John 102 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. of Wurtzburg, Fetellus, William of Tyre, Theodoricus, and several others. When the Crusaders took possession of Jerusalem in zogg a . d ., it passed into their hands and was considered by them to be really and truly the Temple of the Lord. They were so pleased with its appearance that a picture of it was emblazoned on their armorial bearings. They decorated it with pictures, and erected within its walls many altars, three of which still remain, two in the cave beneath the Rock, the praying places of David and Solomon, and the IRON SCREEN AND COLUMNS. INTERIOR OF THE DOME. third towards the south west, within the iron screen. Saladin destroyed the paintings when he conquered the city in 1187 a . d ., and his followers dragged the gold cross studded with jewels, which they found on the Holy Rock, in high glee round the city, to the consternation and horror of the Christians who saw them. The iron screen or grille which surrounds the Holy Rock is French work of the 12th century. THE TEMPLE A PEA. 103 But the most striking portion of the interior is the decoration of the dome, which is richly coloured and gilt. According to an inscription it is the work of Saladin, and dates from 1189 a.d. The mosaics and marble tiling are in many places of a still older date. Ibn al Fakih (a.d. 903) describes the Dome of the Rock as having its walls, inside and out, faced with white marble, and its windows filled with stained glass. Mukaddasi, writing c. 985, gives a grand account of the building, and says : “ Its floors, and walls, and the drum, within and without, are ornamented with marble and mosaic as at Damascus.” When Sulieman the Magnificent — the builder of the present city wall — reigned, 1520-60 a.d., he completely restored the building. The beautiful windows, fifty-six in number, of many-coloured glass mosaics, are attributed to him, as well as the tiles on the outside of the building. The interior has remained unaltered since his time. The Dome is ninety-eight feet high and sixty-six feet in diameter, supported by twelve Corinthian columns, only three of which are alike. There is an inner cloister separated by an octagonal course of piers, columns, and an iron screen, in the centre of which is the great irregular mass of rock. After carefully considering the different theories brought forward to support the various claims to the right of builder of the Dome of the Rock, especially after so much light has been thrown on the subject in recent times by the various writers connected more or less with the Palestine Exploration Fund, the following conclusion may be drawn : that it was built by the Arabs according to the inscription already mentioned, from the design of a Byzantine or Persian architect, and from materials ready to hand, the remains of buildings destroyed by Chosroes in 614 a.d. It has since been restored and improved at different times according to the taste and wealth of the Khalif who wished to honour the Rock beneath. 104 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED WINDOWS OP THE DOME OF THE KOOK. THE TEMPLE AREA 105 Before entering the building, boots must be removed, or covered with slippers or stockings, which may be procured from the attendants. No sound disturbs the solemn silence that reigns around, even the footfall of the Moslem worshipper is noiseless ; no organ peals forth harmonious notes ; no white-robed choirs chant the praises of the Almighty and Eternal God, who of old shed forth the brightness of His glory, the greatness of His majesty, and the tenderness of His love, near this spot. All is still, and the stillness seems to attach itself to the visitor; as a whisper sounds so loud that the voice is used as little as possible, and then soft and low. A dim religious light pervades the building, and a feeling of awe and reverence steals slowly o’er the astonished and wondering traveller. When the sun glints through the coloured windows, of so many varied shapes that no two are alike, and yet all are in perfect harmony, their marvellous beauties amaze the beholder. As the sunbeams linger on their beauty they shed their brightness on the mosaics and tiles of the dim interior, the gilded cornices, friezes, and capitals. The exquisite beauty of the decoration gradually appears, and the more one becomes accustomed to the light, the more one lingers under the Dome, and the greater grows the admiration. To the Moslem pilgrim the building has little or no at- traction, his thoughts are centred on the irregular mass of rock in the middle, which rises from one foot to four feet nine and a half inches above the marble pave- ment. It bears THE SAKKAH. 106 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. the marks of chiselling, and is supposed to have been the foundation for the Altar of Burnt Offerings. It is pierced by a hole which communicates with a cave beneath. This cave is about six feet high and floored with white marble, below which the Moslems think is the Well of Spirits, and in order to prove this, the attendant stamps with his foot and a hollow sound is heard. The floor was only made, so the Moslems say, to prevent gossiping women from speaking to the departed. In it are several praying places, two being the remains of Christian Altars. The rock is believed to be “ one of the rocks of Paradise ; that it stands on a palm tree, beneath which flows one of the streams of Paradise. Beneath the shade of this tree Asia, the wife of Pharaoh, who is said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world, and Miriam, the sister of Moses, shall stand on the Day of Resurrection to give drink to the true believers. This Sakrah is the centre of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection the angel Israfil will stand upon it to blow the last trumpet. It is also eighteen miles nearer heaven than any other place in the world : and beneath it is the source of every drop of sweet water that flows on the face of the earth. It is supposed to be suspended miraculously between heaven and earth. The effect upon the spectators was, however, so startling that it was found necessary to place a building round it to conceal the marvel. The Cadam esh Sherif, or Footstep of the Prophet, is on a detached piece of a marble column, on the south-west side of the Sakrah. It is reported to have been made by Mohammed in mounting the beast Burak, preparatory to his ascent into heaven on the night of the Miraj.” ( <£ History of Jerusalem ” — Besant and Palmer.) There are also the finger marks of the angel Gabriel who stopped the rock in mid-air in its attempt to follow the Prophet. Near to these, in a case above the corner of the rails, are two hairs of Mohammed’s beard. They are said to be black. “ Before leaving the Cubbet es Sakrah, the pilgrim is taken to pray upon a dark coloured pavement just inside the THE TEMPLE AREA. 107 gate of the Cubbet es Sakrah, called Bab el Jannah : some say that this is the spot upon which the prophet Elias prayed, others that it covers the tomb of King Solomon. All agree that it is a stone which originally formed part of the pavement of Paradise.”* On this stone were formerly nineteen nails, three and a half of which still remain. The others were taken by the devil in his anxiety to. bring about the end of the world, which will eventually come to pass when all disappear, but he was fortunately caught by the angel Gabriel, who is their special guardian, and driven away. 2. DOME OF THE CHAIN. Kubbet es Silsileh, i.e. the Dome of the Chain, is the little cupola close to the eastern entrance of the Dome of the Rock. It is supported by an inner circle of six pillars, and an outer one of eleven, two of which are joined at the Kiblah point by the Mihrab, the only piece of wall there is to be seen. It was first designed and built for a treasury by Abd-el- Melek, 691 , A.D., who was so pleased with its beauty that he gave orders that the Dome of the Judgment Seat of David, and to support this theory a chain still hangs from the centre. It was formerly of great length and nearly touched the pavement, and could only be grasped by those who spoke the truth, but its reputation suffered so much at the THE KUBBET ES SILSILEH. it should serve as a model for Rock. It is also known as the *“ History of Jerusalem.”— Besant & Palmer. 108 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED . hands of a Jew who was the last to grasp it, that it rose to its present height and refused to be again the medium for settling disputes. A Jew owed some money to a Moslem and refused to pay, on the ground that the debt was already discharged. In order to prove his claim in public, the creditor dragged the Israelite to judgment ; and having grasped the chain swore that the money was still owing. The debtor in his turn seized the chain, after having first handed the Moslem a hollow stick containing the amount in question, and swore he had paid his debt. To the consternation of the spectators, the chain gradually rose to its present height, and the Jew having recovered his stick, left his creditor still gazing at the object of his discomfiture. As early as 913 a.d., it is mentioned by Ibn Abd Rabbih as “ the Dome where during the times of the children of Israel, there hung down the chain that gave judgment (of truth and lying) between them.” (1 R. iii., 368.) Yakut, describing this Dome, particularly mentions that it was here that was “ hung the chain which allowed itself to be grasped by him who spoke the truth, but could not be touched by him who gave false witness, until he had renounced his craft, and repented him of his sin.” (Yak. iv., 593, Guy le Strange’s translations.) In Mukaddasi’s days, the Dome of the Chain was also described as merely “ a cupola supported on marble pillars, being without walls.” According to the author of the Citez de Jerusalem, who wrote in 1225, a.d., the building was known in mediaeval times amongst the Christians, as the Chapel of St. James the Less, because it was here where the Jews threw him down from the Temple. Saladin, when he conquered the city, 1187, a.d., put back the Dome to its former use as a Moslem oratory. 3. MOSQUE EL AKSA. This is the only building in the Haram area erected for the accommodation of a large number of people assembled together for public worship ; the only building used as a THE TEMPLE AREA 109 THE MOSQUE EL AKSA. 110 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Mosque in the whole Sanctuary, where every Friday a large congregation joins in the rite of Mohammedan worship. The present structure in something like its present form, that of a Basilican church, was built during the Khalifate of Abd-el-Melek, and as some suppose on the site of the church of St. Mary, erected by Justinian, and of some of the same materials; but there is not sufficient evidence to prove which is the precise spot occupied by the great church. Many Byzantine remains are built in this edifice, which to- gether with its shape and form, evidently point to the above theory. Massive columns of varied shapes surmounted by Corinthian capitals form the nave, one hundred and eighty-four feet wide, and two hundred and seventy-two feet long, running north and south, with triple aisles on each side, and a transept at the south end covered by a dome forty feet in diameter. It was partially destroyed by earthquakes in the ninth century and restored by Khalif El Mamun when he repaired all the Haram buildings. When the Crusaders obtained possession of Jerusalem, it was used as a palace by the Christian Kings, and after the establishment of the order of Knights Templars, Baldwin permitted them to use what was left for their own quarters, and the substructures below as stables for their horses. During the residence of these knights many additions and alterations were made to provide for their armoury and dining hall. The latter is the present Bukat el Beidha, the white mosque, now used by women. THE TEMPLE AREA. Ill When Saladin conquered Jerusalem in 1187 he restored it to its former use as a Mosque, and redecorated the interior. He brought from Aleppo the cedar wood pulpit made for Nureddin by a celebrated artist, and placed it at the south end, where it may be seen at the present day “ one of the most exquisite pieces of carved wood work in the world ” inlaid with mother of pearl and ivory. On the east of the south aisle is the Mosque of Omar built in the 8th century, on the spot where tradition says Omar prayed. Two twisted columns with capitals beautifully carved with animal figures flank the Mihrab, or praying place of the Moslem leader. The opinions as to the date of these pillars differ widely, some supposing them to be Solomonic while others consider them mediaeval. Beneath the two stone slabs near the entrance which are pointed out as the tombs of the sons of Aaron, lie the remains of two of the knights who murdered Thomas a Becket (according to tradition). After expiating their sin by a pilgrimage to the Holy City, they were allowed to rest their weary bones within the precincts of the Temple area. A little to the east of this tomb is a well of sweet water, Beir el Warakah, i.e. the Well of the Leaf, believed by faithful Moslems to be one of the entrances to Paradise. According to tradition Mohammed said that one of his followers should enter heaven without dying, and when one, Sheikh ibn Hayian during the Khalifate of Omar was drawing water his bucket slipped and fell in. He went down after it, and on reaching the bottom saw a door which he pushed open, and before his astonished gaze there appeared a beautiful garden. He entered, and found it was one of the gardens of Paradise, so he plucked a leaf and returned to earth again. Many believed his story especially when they found the leaf did not wither ; and many were the attempts made to gain admittance by the same easy method, but the door was lost for ever. The porch of the Aksa Mosque was built by a nephew of Saladin in 1236 a.d. in imitation of the Gothic style, and 112 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. restored to its present and more complete form in the 15th century. 4 . Cupolas, Fountains, etc. There are many small domes in the different parts of the area, all built to commemorate somebody or something connected with Mohammedan religion. The most important are on the platform itself, and adjoin the Dome of the Rock. On account of the many earthquakes that have disturbed the various structures in the Sanctuary, there is a great confusion of names when the present ones are compared with those contained in Arabic writings. The most satis- factory, is the most important and most sacred, that of (1) Kubbet el Miraj. The Dome of the Ascent. This is the place, according to tradition, from which Mohammed made his mysterious midnight trip to heaven. The present structure was built by the Emir A zz ed din, Governor of Jerusalem in 1199 A.D. The date given by Mejr ed din corresponds with that in the inscription over the door, 597 a.h. Mukaddasi, who wrote in 985 a.d., speaks of this dome by the name it bears at the present day. (2) Kubbet en Neby, i.e ., The Dome of the Prophet. This is the little cupola marking the spot where the Prophet offered up his prayer before setting out on his journey. A very worthy example that was followed by many true believers for a long time afterwards, at least as long as the silver and gold plates marked his footprints. When and how they were removed is not known ; possibly they were taken away by some pious Moslem who wished to pray at home. (3) Sakrah Ezreer, i.e., The Little Sakrah. Near to the two domes above-mentioned is a very ordinary looking building with a small dome, known by the names of “ The Little Rock,” and “ The Piece of Rock.” It is closed to all travellers, but this is no great loss from a picturesque point of view. Below a flight of steps a THE TEMPLE AREA. 113 large piece of rock rises eastwards, believed by many to have been cut from the Sakrah itself, and carried by the Jews to Babylon, and from thence by the returning captives to its present position. Others think it is the stone of anointing on which Jacob slept. In reality it is a part of the rocky hill top, and is close to a great cistern. It was formerly part of the bathrooms of the priests, when the Temple of Herod occupied the place of the Dome of the Rock. At present it is used as a lumber room, and contains many valuable tiles and mosaics. (4) Kubbet el Arwah, i.e., The Dome of the Spirits, is the next dome north of the “ Little Sakrah,” close to the “Balances,” through which may be seen the Tower of David and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It has no special significance, and beyond the name itself very little is known.* (5) Kubbet el Khadir. The Dome of St. George. Looking through the “Balances” where the Tower of David and Mount Zion may be seen, there is a little dome on the left, close to the top of the steps, which ought to be of interest to everyone bearing an English name. It is called after our patron saint, The Dragon Killer, who in Arabic is named El Khadir. The buildings THK SUMMElt PULPIT. along the northern end of the platform are used by the attendants of the Haram for various domestic purposes of little interest to the traveller. But at the 1 southern end there are : — * See illustration on page 117. 114 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. (6) Mimbar es Seif, i.e., The Summer Pulpit. It is known also as the Pulpit or Chair of Omar, where a sermon is preached on Fridays during the Fast of Ramadan. It dates from the 16th century and is of great beauty. Specimens of various kinds of art have been built together ; Byzantine capitals, mediaeval columns, and Arabic carving, combine to make up a whole of har- monius beauty. (7) Mihrab Maryam, i.e., The Praying Place of Mary, the Mother of our Saviour, is close by. This praying station was erected in honour of the Mother of Christ, who is said to have prayed here, but as the Biblical knowledge of the Moslem is anything but satisfactory, this Mihrab answers the same purpose for Miriam the sister of Moses. In fact most Mohammedans believe they are one and the same person. (8) Kubbet en Nahawyeh,f.e.,The Dome of the Grammarians, was erected by El Melek el Moazzem, a son of Melek el Adil, and nephew of Saladin, who governed Syria in the 13th century. He forsook the traditions of his house, and turned from the Shafite to the Hanefite Sect, and for the furtherance of his views, founded a college in the Mesjid el Aksa. The present building is all that is left, and is still used as a school for the teaching of the best Arabic. By the side of the very modern looking door, as if in silent protest, are two curiously twisted marble columns believed to have been once used in the Jewish Temples. In the distance as seen in this picture is a Jewish Synagogue, standing on Mount Zion, and overlooking the famous site of more ancient sanctuaries. (9) Kubbet el Hannafyat, i.e., The Dome of the Taps. At the foot of the steps below the platform, east of the last named dome, is one of the most curious and yet most interesting and important of the domes in the whole area, without which the Moslem worshipper would be unable to offer up his prayers. All round this quaint 115 THE TEMPLE AREA. looking structure are taps containing running water, and around it, and yet more especially on the northern side of it is a tank. This is the place of Ablution, where large numbers of hands and feet are made clean by this apparently dirty water in time for prayer. And as the Mohammedan requires no special praying place, but seeks the nearest and most convenient spot after he has washed himself, the most common place’ of prayer is close at hand, under the shade of a large tree where mats are always spread. (10) Sabil Kaiat Bey, i.e., The Fountain of Kaiat Bey, hides the above mentioned watery building when viewed from the Bab el Kattanin, the Gate of the Cotton Merchants. It is the largest and most important drinking fountain in the Sanctuary, and nly the most iful. Its dome is unlike all the rest in shape and decora- tion, being of stone and covered with Arabesque patterns in relief. It was sABir, kaiat bky. built by an Egyptian Sultan, Melek el Ashraf Abu’n Nasir Kaiat Bey, in 1445, a.d. (11) Kubbet Musa, i.e., The Dome of Moses, is a very plain dome, south of that of the taps. It was formerly known as Kubbet es Seggerah, i.e., The Dome of the Tree, until a celebrated teacher came from Egypt bearing the same cognomen as the Prophet of old, and set up a school in this place. His learning was more attractive than the tree, and his name consequently preferred, hence the change. It was founded in 1250, a.d., by Melek Saleh Nejmed Din. 116 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. (12) Mesjid, or Jamieh, el Mughrarbeh, i.e., The Mosque of the Moors. Still further south on this same western side is the mosque of the Africans, who have a greater reputation for sanctity and integrity than their co-religionists with whiter skins. (13) Kubbet Sulieman, i.e., The Dome of Solomon. This little dome, north of the platform, near the north- east corner, is sometimes spoken of as the “ Little Sakrah,” though the one already alluded to, on the platform, is looked upon by the Denif family, who are in charge of the Haram, as the only original one. Solomon is supposed to have offered up his burnt offerings here after the completion of his Temple. No further information can be obtained regarding it, and I have never heard of any one ever having been allowed to enter. (14) Kubbet el Ushak, i.e., The Dome of the Lovers. Not lovers of earthly things, but of prayer, prayer to the Almighty God. On this spot a company of devout Moslems were accustomed to “pray without ceasing,” and this dome was erected as an everlasting memorial of their devotion. (15) Kursi Sulieman, i.e., The Throne of Solomon. A little to the north of the Golden Gate, on the eastern side of the Haram area, is a small building, isolated alike by situation and an evident desire of the Mohammedans to keep its interior from the gaze of the unbeliever. No European is ever known to have been inside, and all questions regarding it are answered in a manner sufficiently unsatisfactory to prevent a further waste of words. (16) Minarets. In the noble Sanctuary there are now four minarets for the call to prayer, one on the north-east built by Sultan Ashraf, a second on the north-west by Kelawan, one near the Bab es Silsileh and a fourth on the south. THE TEMPLE AREA. 117 (17) The Arches, or Balances as they are known amongst Mohammedans, that are found at the top of the steps leading to the platform, not only tend to beautify the approach to the Great Dome, but were erected for a very practical pur- pose as far as Mohammedan hopes of the future are concerned. From them the scales will hang in which all good Moslems will be weighed before their rewards are granted to them and they enter into their Paradise of m a n s i o n s and beautiful women. The Haram is honeycombed with cisterns that date from remote antiquity, and are capable of holding ten million gallons of water. They are treated at length in the “Water Supply ” of the city. Solomon’s stables. The large vaults under the Haram at the south east corner, known to Europeans as Solomon’s Stables, are called by Moslems, El Mesjid el Kadim, i.e ., The Old Mosque. They are first mentioned by Theodoricus in 1172 a.d., and are supposed in Crusading times to have held 2000 horses, some of the holes through which their halters were passed may still be seen. The Single Gate, and possibly the Triple also, formed the southern entrances. At present, the approach is from a door near the eastern wall where there is a small chamber in which, lying recumbent, is a niche that formerly THE BALANCES AND THE CITY. THE CISTERNS. 118 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. held a statue, but now serves the Moslem as the “ Cradle of Jesus,” to which all Christian travellers are carefully conducted. The vaults are a reconstructure, some at least dating from the time of Justinian, and the rest from the Crusades. “ Exclusive of the double tunnel of the Triple Gate, there are thirteen rows of vaults of a variety of spans, from eleven feet to twenty-five feet east and west : north and south the spans average eleven feet six inches. The vaults play out from south to north on account of the south east corner being more than a right angle.” (Memoirs of Palestine Exploration Fund — Jerusalem vol.) The latest discoveries were made by the writer and his friends the Rev. J. E. Hanauer and Mr. C. A. Hornstein — the spring of an arch that was formerly part of an old entrance up to the platform, and a passage cut in solid rock. Both have been described in the Quarterly Statements of the Palestine Exploration Fund, July, 1891, pp. 198, 200, 201, 220, and are marked on their plan of Jerusalem. CHAPTER IX. THE TOWER OF DAVID. O NE of the most conspicuous buildings in Jerusalem is the Tower of David, near the Jaffa Gate; not only because of its proximity to the principal entrance to the city, and therefore an object of special attraction, but on account of its strong and massive appearance. It now forms part of the Citadel, El Ke- lah, and barracks, which extend for some distance down the Bethlehem road on the south-west, and as far as the Armenian Convent gardens on the north-east. It has been identified by some writers as the Tower of Hippicus, and by others as the Tower of Phasadus, built by Herod the Great. These two towers, together with a third, erected by the same monarch, and named Mariamne after his murdered wife, were left THE TOWHli OF DAVII). 120 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. standing by Titus when he conquered the city, and they remained all through the Saracenic conquest and the Crusading period, until Daud of Kerak destroyed them in 1239 a.d. The solid masonry forming the base was left undisturbed, and the present structure has been reared aloft on this foundation. In the middle ages, what is now known as David’s Tower, was called the Castle of the Pisans. The most important description of this interesting monument is by Sir Charles Warren and Major Conder, two of our military engineers and most eminent explorers, and may be found in the ,• THK CITADEL FROM BETHLEHEM ROAD. Jerusalem Volume of the “ Memoirs of the Palestine Exploration Fund,” p. 267. “It meas- ures about fifty-four feet north and south, by sixty-eight feet east and west (see Plan, ‘ Ordnance Survey Notes,’ Plate iii.), and is situated one hundred and thirty feet from the north-west corner Citadel, which measures about fifty feet size of David’s Tower thus roughly agrees with the dimensions of Phasadus, which was forty cubits, or about fifty-three feet square, according to Josephus. It is also remarkable that Josephus describes a cloister ten cubits above the base, which went round about, and it was covered from enemies by breast-works and bulwarks. (5 Wars, iv. 3.) A similar outwork still exists round the north and east faces of the so-called Tower of David, and although the battlements of the wall of this chemin des rotides (as it would be called in a modern fortification) appear to be tower of the square. The THE TOWER OE DAVID. 121 modern, while the sloping outer scarp with drafted masonry of moderate size appears (like the sloping scarp of Caesarea, etc.,) to be mediaeval, yet this masonry may very probably be only a facing to the original work of the old cloister.” Sir C. Wilson, in describing the modern Citadel, of which the two above-mentioned towers form the northern defence, speaks thus (‘ Ordnance Survey Notes,’ p. 46) : — “ The so- called Tower of David appears to be the oldest part of the Citadel : it has a sloping escarp of masonry, round the top of which runs a berm, or chemin des rondes, and above which the tower rises in a solid mass to the height of twenty-nine feet ; upon this the present superstructure is raised. The escarp is faced with large stones, and retains to some extent its original appearance : but time and hard treatment have worn away much of the fine work, and the repairs have been executed in a very slovenly manner.” He further goes on to say that many of the stones are in their original positions, some of which have a marginal draft of from four to five inches. Within the chamber of the saluting battery there is a cistern “ containing a good supply of water ; — supplied partly by surface drainage, and partly by a branch of the aqueduct from the Birket Mamilla, which, after passing in front of the Jaffa Gate, crosses the ditch on a wall, and then runs into the tower and cisterns. “ With respect to this aqueduct, it should be noted that Josephus (5 Wars, vi. 2) speaks of the gate where ‘ water was brought into the tower of Hippicus.’ If the larger eastern tower represents Phasselus, the north-west tower of the Citadel very probably stands on the site of Hippicus.” 122 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. THK Ml' HIST AN AND CHAPTER X. THE MU RISTAN. HE Muristan, i.e. Lunatic Asylum, is the Arabic name of a mass of ruins lying to the south of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, occupying an area of one hundred and fifty square yards. The eastern half of this area was given by the Sultan to the German Government when the late Emperor Frederick visited the Holy City as Crown Prince of Prussia in 1869. The Germans spent a large amount of money in clearing out the debris from the ruins in their possession ; but the western half is still covered with rubbish. These are the remains of the buildings erected by the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. Their dining room is now used by the Germans as a church, but they contemplate rebuilding one of the churches in exactly the same form as it appeared when the Knights Hospitallers worshipped there. The entrance is a fine Gothic gateway, very much decayed, with the signs of the Zodiac in high relief. But unfortunately this ornamentation has suffered from exposure to the weather, and is now scarcely noticeable. The Mosque and Minaret of ’Ainr now stand on the site of the Chapel of the Hospital, but the Hospital itself rests beneath the debris on the western side. CHAPTER XI. XEBY DAUD. N EBY DAUD is the name given to the collection of houses that surround the Moslem tomb of King David close by the Zion Gate, or Bab en Nebv Daud, i.e. the Gate of the Prophet David. As a saint, the old King of Israel is held in high «• repute, and his sup- posed tomb is annu- ally visited by a large number of people. He is looked upon by the peasantry, especially the wo- men. as an inter- cessor with God. They believe that if they make any vow to him and keep it, he can obtain for them anything they wish. Though vows are usually kept for fear of the consequences, which they consider might mean the loss of sight, or the use of a limb, sickness, loss of cattle NEBY DAUD. 125 by death, etc. The offering of a sheep usually accompanies the vow, and the sacrifice is repeated when the result is satisfactory. The sheep is killed and boiled in a huge cauldron, sometimes rice is added, and the poor are called to eat. But the Mohammedans are not the only people that think this is a holy place. Christians look upon the room adjoining that of the tomb as the place where the “ Lord’s Supper ” was first celebrated. This room, the Coenaculum, as it is called, is open to all visitors, but that of the tomb is reserved for Moslems alone. In the very early ages, some say before the time of Constantine, a church was erected here, where, according to an old tradition, the disciples were said to have assembled on the Day of Pentecost. But in 679 a.d., Adamnanus speaks of it as the site of the Coenaculum, and further says that it contained the “ Column of Scourging ” to which Christ was bound. The same Column was mentioned much earlier by Jerome as supporting the entrance of a church on Mount Zion, and as being stained with the Saviour’s blood ; but he says nothing about the Coenaculum. The Franciscan monks believed in the site and builtta monastery there ; and the tradition held by them that there was an underground cavern has been confirmed by the Moslems, who confidently assert that it contains the sepulchres, not only of David and his son Solomon, but of other Jewish kings. There are many stories connected with this tradition. Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish pilgrim, who visited Jerusalem in 1163 a.d., says that the sepulchres of the Kings of Judah are on Mount Sion, and relates a story about their having been discovered by labourers when repairing the church attached to the Franciscan monastery. They saw a cavern which they entered in search of treasure, and found a large hall supported by marble columns, containing tables on which rested the crown and sceptre of David. This they said was his sepulchre, and as they found others like it, they pronounced them in turn to be those of Solomon and the 126 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Kings of Judah respectively. Unfortunately, a miraculous gust of wind whirled them to the ground, and they heard a voice peremptorily ordering them to leave the place. They obeyed and left the treasure ! However, they told their story, which was believed, and has since been handed down to posterity; but they refused to enter again the windy cavern, and the place was walled up to preserve it from the curiosity of avaricious men. The change of ownership from Christian to Moslem hands is said tO’ have been caused by the following incident (although we all know it to be untrue, yet it serves to illustrate traditional error), — a beggar, who was turned away from the monastery, in revenge told the story of the finding of the tomb of David, and the fanatical Moslems at once seized the place and confiscated all the property. Near to the Zion Gate is a small Armenian church and convent, where the Patriarchs are buried, said to be erected on the spot where once stood the Palace of Caiaphas* the High Priest. Under the altar of the church a stone is shown, that is presumed to be the one that closed the Holy Sepulchre. The prison of our Lord is pointed out in the same church by the same 1 people ; and until recently they had the monopoly of the “cock crow,” site and the place where Peter denied his Master ; but lately excavations have been made down the eastern slope of the hill, and now the Latins profess to have found the remains of the Church of St. Peter, that was erected . over the spot where the apostle felt the bitter shame and sorrow that immediately followed his sin. ^ Work is still being carried on a little nearer to Neby Daud with success, and remains of great interest are constantly brought to light. A few days ago a Hebrew inscription was found on what probably formed the lintel stone of the entrance to a synagogue. Old Jebusite dwellings, Maccabean coins, and antiquities connected with the great church building era have been discovered. The progress of this work is being carefully watched, as it may NEBY DAUD. 127 lead to some important evidence regarding old structures that formerly stood on this hill. Although many minds are disturbed with the thought that Zion may be proved to have been originally elsewhere than on this hill top, there is some satisfaction in knowing that it has occupied various positions. It must have been on the hill between the Kedron and the Tyropeon valleys, on the ridge south of Mount Moriah, the Temple Area, which gradually slopes to their junction below the Pool of Siloam, when it was the site of the “ City of David.” In the time of the Maccabees it was situated at the north-west corner of the Temple Area. But for a long time the hill on which the so-called Tower of David, Christ Church, Armenian Quarter, Neby Daud and Bishop Gobat School stand, has been regarded as Mount Zion. The true site of the “ City ” is, now satisfactorilyrsettled, and the tomb of David will no doubt be found in the very near future. 128 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED CHAPTER XII. THE KEDRON VALLEY. T HE Kedron is the only stream of water the people of Jerusalem ever see without setting out on a clay’s journey. It appears at rare intervals of one or two years and then only after a plentiful supply of rain. As soon as the water begins to flow, the news spreads over the city, and men, women, and children, flock to see it. In their anxiety to see most of the wonder, they pic-nic there all day long and hold a general holiday. It now runs only from “Bir Eyub” (Job's Well) when this well overflows; but in the days of old, when Hezekiah was king, and compelled to keep constant watch over his Assyrian enemy, Sennacherib, it ran all down the valley from Ain Umm ed Deraj (Spring of the Mother of Steps), the Virgin’s Fountain, and was known as the “brook that overflowed in the midst of the land.” (2 Chron., xxxii, 4.) Its course was, however, perverted by the primitive Jewish engineers, in order to provide for the wants of the city, and cut off the water supply of the besieging army. (See 2 Chron., xxxii, 30.) “This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David.” * The channels that were made for this purpose have since been J 130, JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. found, and one contained the famous Siloam inscription, one of the most valuable and interesting ever discovered. It has lately been removed and broken, but a photograph of a squeeze with a translation is sold by the Palestine Exploration Fund. This practically settles the site of the “City of David,” “the stronghold of Zion,” the hill above the spring through which these channels were cut from the Virgin’s Fountain (the upper watercourse of Gihon) in the Kedron Valley on the east, to the “ King’s .Pool,” the “ Pool of Hezekiah ” now the Pool of Siloam in the Tyropeon Valley on the “ west side.” The “upper watercourse of Gihon ” that played such an important part in the reign of Hezekiah, is an intermittent spring in the Kedron Valley, below the southern wall of the city. It is now known to Europeans as the Virgin’s Fountain,” and to the natives as “Ain Umm ed Deraj.” The peasants call it also the “Dragon’s Well,” because they believe a dragon lives at the bottom, who swallows up the water which can only escape when he is asleep. This spring has been the subject of many a controversy, and is so still, but it has been fairly proved to be the “upper watercourse of Gihon,” and it is claimed by some to be “En Rogel,” mentioned in Joshua xv. 7, and again in xviii. 16 as well. rt And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south and descended to En Rogel.” The identification of the large stone near the Virgin’s Fountain, on the rocky side of the village of Silwan (Siloam) by M. Clermont-Ganneau, now called in Arabic “Zehwele,” with the “stone of Zoheleth,” naturally assisted in identifying this as a mark of the tribal border of Judah and Benjamin. But, unfortunately, its position does not answer the requirements of the. text quoted above, “to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom to the side of Jebusi on the south.” “The end of the mountain” is lower down the walley, below the Pool of Siloam, where the Tyropeon joins the Kedron, and near to THE KEDRON VALLEY. 131 this is“Bir Eyub” (Job’s Well), “before the valley of the son of Hinnom.” Before the water of the “upper water- course of Gihon ” was turned by the Jewish king to the Pool of Siloam (the lower pool of Gihon), it flowed straight down the valley to Job’s Well (En Rogel), and watered the King’s gardens that lay between, where now the best vegetables are grown for the Jerusalem market. job’s Well (Bir Eyub), or as it is often termed Joab’s Well, on account of its identification as En Rogel, has never been properly examined. It was opened by the Cru- saders in 1184 a.d., and during the 15th and 16th centuries was known as the well of , Nehemiah. THE KEDHON YAELEY. There can be no doubt that it is in some way connected with an intermittent spring, as the flow from it after heavy rains is more than enough to empty the well itself. The hillside on the east of this well has the same rocky character as that above the Virgin’s Fountain. When Adonijah was making his feast (1 Kings i. 9.) on being proclaimed king, the noise of the revellers was heard in the city. So Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, went to the aged King David, and told him what was taking place, reminding him at the same time of his promise of the kingdom for her son. After seeing the prophet Nathan he said: “cause Solomon, my son, to ride' upon mine own mule and bring him down to Gihon.” He was there anointed king, and the sound of rejoicing that went through the city was heard also by Adonijah and his adherents, but a bend in the valley hid the scene from view. J 2 132 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Soon, however, the news was carried to him that Solomon was anointed king in Gihon. This could very easily have been the lower Gihon if the En Rogel is the “Upper Gihon,” as one is on the eastern side of the hill, and the other on the “west side.” (See i Kings i.) The most reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that Bir Eyub is En Rogel, and the spring further up the valley, Virgin’s Fountain, is the upper watercourse of Gihon. The pool on the ‘‘west side” of the hill, that separates the Kedron Valley from the Tyropeon, is the lower pool of Gihon, the pool of Hezekiah, “King’s pool” (of Nehemiah), and the pool of Siloam, in the time of our Saviour. (See Joshua xv. 7, and xviii. 16., 2 Chron. xxxii. 4-30, 1 Kings i.) The Brook Kedron (2 Sam. xv. 23., 1 Kings xv. 13., 2 Kings xxiii. 6., 2. Chron. xxix. 16., Jer. xxxi. 40., John xviii. 1.) is now a dry torrent bed, except what is seen in the picture, and that, as before mentioned, appears only once or twice in as many years. It runs along the eastern side of Jerusalem, commencing some distance to the north-east, broad and shallow at first, deepening only as it separates the city from the slope of the Mount of Olives. Between the south-east corner and the village of Silwan (Siloam), it becomes a deep ravine widening out again towards the Virgin’s Fountain (Ain Umm ed Deraj) into the King’s gardens, where it is joined after passing the Pool of Siloam on the west by the Valley of Hinnom, close to Bir Eyub, and afterwards pursues its course towards the wilderness of the Dead Sea, as Wady en Nar, i.e., the Valley of Fire. It is known also as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and according to both Jews and Moslems it will be the scene of the final Judgment. And in order to prepare for that “Great Day” they bury their dead on both of its sides, the Moslems preferring the western and the Jews the eastern slope. Four very remarkable monuments are found in the bottom of this valley. The first, usually termed Absalom’s Pillar, though known among the Arabs as “Tantur Faron,” THE KEDRON VALLEY. 133 i.e., Pharaoh’s Tall Head-dress or High Cap, is the most striking in appearance. It consists of a cube, six-and-a-half yards square and twenty feet high, cut out of the solid rock, ornamented with columns and pilasters of the Ionic order, supporting a Doric frieze surmounted by a concave pyramid, making it altogether fifty-four feet high. There is no mention made of this structure until 1163 A.D., when Benjamin of Tudela visited the Holy City and wrote an account of his journey. He called it Absalom’s Pillar, the name which has been handed down to the present day, from its supposed identity with 2 Samuel xviii. 18. “Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s dale.” The Jews throw stones at it to show their abhorrence of the memory of David’s disobedient son. Near to this is the supposed tomb of Jehoshaphat, where a Hebrew manuscript was found in 1842, and since that time the Jews have looked upon it as the tomb of some great rabbi. The next important tomb is known by the name of St. James, and is situated opposite to that part of the city wall traditionally known as the pinnacle, from which he was hurled to the valley below. It is said he hid himself in this cave after the crucifixion, and on that account it was very much venerated by the "^rly Christians. The Tomb of Zecharias, next in order, is looked upon by Christians to be that of the Zecharias mentioned in MONUMENTS IN KEDRON VALLEY. > 134 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. St. Matthew xxiii. 35., while the Jews consider it to be built in memory of the Zechariah of 2. Chronicles xxiv. 20. It is similar to that bearing the name of Absalom, and very probably dates from the same period, the Herodian. In this valley was the Garden of Gethsemane, and a plot of ground on the eastern slope, containing some very old olive trees, is pointed out as the site. GETHSEMANE AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES . 135 GETHSEMANE AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. CHAPTER XIII. GETHSEMANE *AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. T HE Garden of Gethsemane, now pointed out in the Valley of Jehoshaphat or Kedron Valley, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and surrounded by a wall, is said to have been discovered when the places of crucifixion and resurrection were identified, during the visit of the Empress Helena in 326, a.d. Jerome, some sixty years after, said that a church had been built over it. This fact was mentioned by Antoninus Martyr at the end of the sixth, and Theophanes at the close of the seventh century. The writers during the Crusades speak of the Garden in this place. Adjoining the present site are other enclosures containing olive trees equally old, therefore, whether this is the identical spot of our Lord’s Agony is an open question. But there is no doubt that it is either here or in the immediate neighbourhood ; as it is quite close to both of the roads that left the city from the east — John xviii. 1. — Jesus “ went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron where was a garden, into which he entered, and his disciples ” — and answers in position to the text just quoted. The picture represents not only this garden but a considerable amount of land over the Kedron ; some part of which was trodden by GET HSEMA NE AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 137 the Saviour when He suffered the mental anguish that THE TOMB OF THE VIRGIN. CHURCH OF THE VIRGIN— INTERIOR. Close by the gar- den, a little to the north, is a church that is reached by a descent of forty-seven steps, built, as some suppose, by the Empress Helena, over the tomb of the Virgin Mary. The place now belongs to the Greeks, who allow, but not without much bickering and squabbling, the other Christian sects to share. Although the interior is very small, there is sufficient space for a number of altars set apart for Armenians and Abyssinians, as well as the nominal owners, and even a praying place for Mos- lems, who join with the Christians in venerating the tomb of the Mother of Christ, Sitti Maryam, i.e., The Lady Mary. The tombs of procured the salvation of men. The present garden is under the care of Franciscan monks. It is entered by a very low doorway in a high wall, and on the latter are frescoes representing scenes in the life of Christ. The Chapel of Agony is pointed out in a cave ; and near it the place where the disciples slept, and Judas gave the kiss of betrayal. (See Matthew xxvi. 38-46.) FEAST OF THE VIRGIN. 138 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. Joachim and Anna, her father and mother, and Joseph her husband, are pointed out in the same church. The Feast of Sitti Maryam is one of the most important Festivals of the Church, when thousands of the people of Jerusalem camp in the Kedron Valley and the slope of the Mount of Olives, for days of rejoicing. THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. Three stony paths lead from the Garden above-mentioned to the summit of Olivet, the mountain overlooking Jerusalem from the east (Zechariah xiv. 4, “ the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east”), about which happily there is no dispute. The native name — Jebel et Tur, simply means the mountain peak, and there is no mistaking this ancient hill. Unlike the buildings of the Holy City, it has suffered little or nothing from the change and decay of past ages. Its contour is still about the same, and in fancy we can see our Saviour lingering there with His disciples as He fixed His sorrowful eyes on the city He loved so well. During recent years a building mania has disturbed the repose of its past history, and its sides and summit have been desecrated by erections that lend an unfavourable aspect to a picture of holy interest. On the slope towards Jerusalem there is a large Jewish Cemetery just below some old sepulchres, known by the name of the “ Tombs of the Prophets.” The reason why the Jews are so anxious to be buried here is very curious. They believe that it is the plafce of resurrection, and they dread the subterranean journey which the body must perform on the Day of Judgment. It is said that the Jews in Poland even place small wooden forks and spoons in the graves with the dead, to assist them in digging their way. This custom seems in all probability to be connected with the old Egyptian belief in the journey of the soul after death, as set forth in the “ Book of the Dead.” On the top of the hill there is a small modern village with a minaret and mosque built on the old traditional site of the Saviour’s Ascension. GETHSEMANE AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 139 The Armenians, Greeks, and Latins, have all some buildings sacred to the memory of the events of the Lord’s life, and all point to different spots as representing the true sites. But the most curious building of all is that which has been erected on the traditional place where our Lord taught His disciples to pray, by a French Princess (Princess Latour d’Auvergne). Besides a small church, and a tomb for herself, there is a court where the Lord’s Prayer is written in thirty-two different languages, and the nuns in charge of the church pray in their turn, night and day, a prayer unceasing. Ever since the earliest ages of Christianity this hill has been held in sacred remembrance, and when the Armenians, before the time of the Crusades, were a wealthy nation with a king of their own, they possessed most of the land, and erected convents and churches with pavements of beautiful mosaics. Where the Russians have built the tower and church two of these floors have been found, the more recent one, a few weeks ago. Inlaid in the mosaic is an inscription, of which the following is a translation : — “ This funeral monument is erected at the desire of his Eminence Jacob.”* The view from the summit is unique when clothed in the vision of bygone years. On the east is the Dead Sea with its brilliant blue, surrounded by bare purplish grey hills ; the rounded tops of the mountains of old Judea : and lying beyond the plain, down which the Jordan rolls its waters in their tortuous bed, like a great wall stand the mountains of Moab and Gilead. See illustrated paper by the author, p. 139 of April Quarterly Statement of Palestine Exploration Fund. 140 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. The country seems barren and monotonous, with no visible life beyond a few goats or sheep, and the only break in the deserted appearance of this wilderness is the azure sea with the gloomy name. To the west is seen the “ City of the Great King,” where the all-seeing eye of God still watches o’er the portion once occupied by His Holy Temple, where He shed forth the Glory of His Majesty, and from whence His only Son went forth to die. It is a scene of surpassing interest, on which thousands have gazed in wonderment and ecstacy, year after year for ages. There is no view in the wide world with which it may be compared, for no other city has witnessed events of such importance to the human race.* * See page 68. CHAPTER XIV. UNDERGROUND JERUSALEM. O quote the words of Major Conder (from “Our Work in Palestine,” Palestine Exploration Fund): “Jeru- salem, as is well known, is honeycombed with excavated caves, natural caverns, cisterns cut in the rock, subterranean passages, and aqueducts. In its underground chambers and catacombs it is richer than any known city — Rome, Constantinople, Paris, or Kief, or any other. The catacombs of Rome, Kief, and Paris, appear to have been originally designed for the most part as places of burial; those of Constantinople were uniformly constructed for the purposes of water supply. In Jerusalem the excavated chambers and caves were for three purposes. Some of them, especially the Bahr el Khebir, were for the supply of water; some, those outside the city, were for burial places, while of those under the city, the vast caverns known as the Royal Quarries were actually used as quarries for the stone used in building. The entrance to them is by an opening so low that it is necessary to stoop, but the height rapidly increases. The evidences of the place having been used as a quarry are very plain and numerous, the cuttings about four or five inches wide still remaining, and on the left hand side of 142 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. each catting may be observed a little hollow formed at the corner, into which a wick and oil lamp may have been placed.” The entrance to these caverns, known also by the name of “ Solomon’s Quarries,” because it is supposed that the stones for the Temple were prepared there, is a little to the east of the Damascus Gate and opposite to Jeremiah’s Grotto. THE WATER SUPPLY OF JERUSALEM. Major Conder in the above mentioned extract has spoken of the underground cisterns, e.g., “Bahr el Khebir,” and as these are intimately connected with the water supply of the city it will perhaps be as well to consider the whole subject under the heading of “Under- ground Jerusalem,” as the city is now solely dependent on these cisterns and wells for water. In past ages there were aqueducts through which the% precious stream flowed from the old time reser- voirs in the Bethle- hem Hills (Solo- mon’s Pools). Remains of these may still be seen, but all are crumbling into ruin. Fountains, which still exhibit the rare skill of a famous builder, stand in silent protest against the stones and dirt that find a resting place in their hollow basins. And the large pools that were formerly of immense use to the population, now, like the rest of the work of careful rulers, are suffering from years of neglect. The wants of the Moslem population are well supplied. The cisterns in the Haram area are capable of holding ten million gallons of water, enough for the whole UNDERGROUND JERUSALEM . 143 city, but only Mohammedans are allowed to use it. The Jews and Christians are not supposed to be worthy of a wash, and as long as Moslem governors look only to the requirements of their co-religionists, so long will the remainder of the inhabitants of the city suffer from a scarcity of this necessary element. The cisterns in the Haram were thoroughly explored by the engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and were found to be of three kinds : — (i.) The small rock-cut cisterns, of great antiquity, with a narrow neck leading to a round bulb-like bottom. (2.) Large excavations made out of the natural rock, found in the southern part of the Haram and supplied originally from Solomon’s Pools, but now by surface drainage dependent entirely on the rainfall. The Fountain and laver — El Kas — in front of the Mosque el Aksa, now of little use, received its water from the cistern below ; the Bahr el Khebir is one of these large cisterns, forty feet in height, containing an immense quantity of water. This class of cistern, like the first mentioned, is of remote antiquity. (3.) The third class is the most modern, though dating possibly from the Herodian period. They are cut out of solid rock and arched over with masonry. POOLS AND RESERVOIRS. (i.) POOL OF HEZEKIAH. The most important pool in the city is the one long identified as the Pool of Hezekiah, on account of its being connected by an aqueduct with the Birket Mamilla, the large pool at the upper end of the Valley of Hinnom. If this large reservoir on the outskirts of the city is the “ upper water- course of Gihon ” of Chron. xxxii. 30, there is some reason for the supposed identification, but the work of recent years in the field of exploration has proved the contrary. The 144 7ER USA LEM ILL USTRA TED. “ upper watercourse of Gihon ” must be looked for in the Kedron Valley at the Virgin’s Fountain, where there is a spring of living water, and the Pool of Hezekiah will be the Pool of Siloam. The Lower Pool of Gihon, so called, on the side of the Beth- lehem road, down the Valley of Hinnom, was first mentioned in 1170 a.d., and then as the “ New Pool.” It was made during the Crusading occupation of the city, by the German colonists, and is looked upon as being quite as old as the one known to Europeans by the name above mentioned — the Upper Pool of Gihon. The Hammam el Batrak, i.e. “The Patriarch’s Bath,” for such is the name of this large city reservoir — the Pool of Hezekiah — is surrounded by a group of buildings near the Jaffa Gate and the Tower of David, lying between them and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre*. It is bounded on one side by the shops of David Street, and on the other by those of Christian Street. It is two hundred and forty feet long and one hundred and forty-four feet wide, cut out of solid rock and floored with cement. After the winter rains it is full of water, but before the summer is over it has all disappeared. According to Mejr ed Din, the Arabic historian, it was long known as the Birket Iyad, from Iyad ibn Ghanm, a cele- brated companion of the Prophet, who accompanied Omar to Jerusalem, and after its capitulation constructed this large pool, or perhaps what is more likely, cleaned it out, as it it is generally thought to be the Pool Amygdalon mentioned by Josephus. THE POOL OF HEZEKIAH. UNDERGROUND JERUSALEM. (2.) THE POOL OF SILOAM. 145 This pool is well known from its association with one of the many miracles of our Saviour. (John ix. 7.) At present there are two, close together in the Kedron Valley, or rather in the Tyropeon Valley, run- ning into it. The lower con- tains the water, but the upper one is more important. The channels running into this latter pool have been mention- ed before in the chapter on the Kedron Valley, so little remains to be said. This Pool of Siloam is in reality the Pool of Hezekiah, and was once inside his city and also in the City of David, which was situated on the hill above it, of lower elevation than Mount Moriah, and when this is considered, the words of 1 Kings viii. 4, are better understood. — “And they brought up the ark of the Lord.” The wall now seen at the end of the lower Pool is in a line with the old wall of the city when Hezekiah was King. The old tree standing there is known as the “Tree of Isaiah,” and, according to an old tradition, marks the place where he was sawn asunder. ( 3 .) THE POOL OF BETHESDA. For a long time the waste land at the north of the Haram, known as Birket Israel, was supposed to be the Pool of Bethesda, but a discovery of recent years, in the grounds of the Church of St. Anne, only a short distance away from the old site, and near to St. Stephen’s Gate, has furnished us with a more likely place. K 146 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. There is no doubt that this pool was regarded by the Crusaders as the real Bethesda. It answers to the description given in John v. 2, “Now there is at Jeru- salem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Beth- esda, having five porches.” The position is substantially correct, as the sheep market was on the northern side of the Temple Area. There are five porches, of the Crusading era it is true, but they give ample evidence of having been reconstructed on old bases. The former were destroyed in the numerous wars that devastated the city, and the soldiers of the cross not only built the present porches but left a fresco on the wall depicting an angel in the act of troubling the water. (John v. 4.) The nimbus round the head, the wings, and part of the body, are still visible. The old church was built with the roof of the pool for its floor, and was curiously designed, everything being one-sided in imitation of Christ’s leaning on the cross. There is no reason to doubt this identification. Pools are not easily removed from one place to another, and the position of this is eminently satisfactory. There are many other old cisterns and wells of great antiquity but insufficient in interest to merit description. Under the School of the Sisters of Zion and the Turkish barracks is a large underground reservoir that was fed by an aqueduct through the northern wall, but from that point northwards all trace of it has been lost. It is supposed to have been connected with the large reservoir and spring at THE POOL OF BETHESDA. UNDERGROUND JERUSALEM. 147 Beireh, on the Damascus road, about ten miles from the city. But enough has been shown to prove that the water supply of Jerusalem, when carefully looked after, was sufficient for the wants of the people. Even now, if the attention of the authorities was drawn, with a desire to look after the interests of the population, there would soon be enough and to spare. The rainfall is ample, and only requires careful preservation in the numerous receptacles made for the purpose. THE TOMBS OF THE CITY. On every side of the city there are tombs, sepulchres hewn out of the rock. The most curious and interesting are those known as the “ Tombs of the Kings,” which, in spite of the notice in French proclaiming them the sepulchres of the Kings of Judah, is an entirely misleading appella- tion. They were examined and plan- ned, now many years ago, by an eminent Frenchman named De Saulcy, and the beautiful white marble sarcophagi contained therein carried off by him to the Louvre in Paris. Although the name he gave them, which is really only a translation of the Arabic, Kuber es Sulatan (Tombs of the Sultans), still clings to them, they are now generally considered to have been the final resting-places of Queen Helena of Adiabene and her family. This Queen became a convert to Judaism and supplied the inhabitants of Jerusalem with food during a famine. According to Josephus, she was buried here in 48 a.d. These tombs lie about half a mile to the north of the Damascus Gate. At the foot of the steps from the entrance, K 2 THE TOMBS OP THE KINGS. 148 JERUSALEM ILLUSTRATED. there is a bath formed for the necessary ablutions that precede the burial, and from thence a large rectangular enclosure fronts the marble facade of the tombs. The exquisite carving consisting of bunches of grapes, similar to those on Jewish coins, and local foliage, has led De Saulcy and others, to believe in their identification. The architecture clearly points to the time when the Roman influence prevailed in the land, and yet while the Jews were sufficiently powerful to retain at least some of their own ideas of art. It is true they had very few, but that is why they may be easily recognised. At one end of the fa£ade there is a low door, and by its side a large stone, which is further evidence of the Herodian period — the rolling stone that closed the mouth of the sepulchre. The internal arrangements of the tomb are similar to those of the Tombs of the Judges, about a mile further away, only more complex, and the Tombs of the Prophets on Olivet, both of which names have no further meaning than that the tombs are large and important. There is not that interest attaching to any of these tombs that their names suggest, all having been given without any regard to truth or reality. They are important from an archaeological point of view and nothing more. There is a large entrance chamber, on the sides of which are loculi — excavations in the rock for the bodies, and sometimes a ledge running round the chamber, for the same purpose, — then further chambers similar to the first mentioned. The size of these tombs — Tombs of the Kings — increasesinthe intricacies of the excavations, and exhibits an amount of skill and workmanship that can only draw the conclusion that they were the sepulchres of some one of regal importance. On the wooded knoll, opposite the Jaffa Gate, is a tomb recently opened, with a rolling stone at the entrance, con- taining two marble sarcophagi, one of great beauty, with very delicate ornamentation. From the location, in Josephus, of the monuments of Herod, archaeologists, after careful examination of the tomb, contents, and surroundings, have come to the conclusion that the carved sarcophagus is the UNDERGROUND JERUSALEM 149 one that contained the bones of the beautiful Mariamne, wife of Herod the Great. On the south side of the Valley of Hinnom, are numbers of rock-hewn tombs, some of which are used as houses, and others as dwellings for hermits, who seem to be inclined to revive the ascetic spirit of the early ages. This hillside is named Akh ed Dam, i.e., the Field of Blood, and has always been regarded as the Aceldama bought with the price of our Saviour’s betrayal. A part of it was used as the charnel house of the Knights Hospitallers. There is still the pit to be seen and the walls that surround it. Not long ago an ingenious individual identified this hill as Golgotha. There are other tombs, mentioned in their respective places, of particular interest, viz., Tombs of David and the Kings of Judah, the tomb under the hill overlooking Jeremiah’s Grotto, and the tombs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. APPENDIX. SIEGES OF JERUSALEM. 1. By Children of Judah (Judges, i. 8) c. 1406, b.c. 2. David (2 Sam., v. 6-10). 3. Shishak, King of Egypt (2 Chron., xii. 9). 4. The Philistines (2 Chron., xxi. 16). 5. Jehoash, King of Israel (2 Kings, xiv. 13-14). 6. Rezin, King of Syria (2 Kings, xvi. 5). 7. Assyrians (2 Chron., xxxii.) 8. King of Egypt (2 Chron., xxxvi.) 9. Assyrians (2 Chron., xxxvi.) 10. Assyrians, Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chron., xxxvi.) Captivity Commenced b.c., c. 586. 11. By Ptolemy Soter, King of Egypt. 12. Antiochus the Great, King of Syria. 13. Scopas, the Alexandrian General. 14. Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria. Revolt of the Maccabees. 15. Jonathan besieged by Antiochus. 16. By Antiochus Sidetes, King of Syria. 17. Aristobulus, brother of Hyrcanus II. 18. Pompey the Great, b.c. 63. 19. Herod the Great and Socius, b.c. 37. 20. Titus, a.d. 70. 21. Hadrian, a.d. 135. 22. Chosroes II., the Persian, a . d . 614. 23. Omar, a.d. 637. 24. Afses the Arab, a.d. 1077. 25. Crusaders, a.d. 1099. 26. Saladin, a.d. 1187. 27. Daud Emir of Kerak, a.d. 1239. 28. Selim I., a.d. 1517. APPENDIX. 151 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF AUTHORS & EVENTS. The following table is taken from “ The Holy Places of Jerusalem,” by T. Hayter Lewis, F.S.A. Authors. Approximate Dates. Events. A.D. | B C. 37 Herod the Great became King. 17 Herod the Great completed the Temple. A.D. 33 * Josephus 70 Titus takes Jerusalem 93 122 Hadrian founds new city, TElia Capitolina, according to the date assigned by Renan. 138 I The Antonines, and probable date of 180 j principal works at Baalbeck. 308 327 [ Constantine. Bordeaux Pilgrim 333 Eusebius died 340 326 335 339 Holy Sepulchre building? begun (Willis). Holy Sepulchre buildings dedicated The Jews revolt, and are excluded from the city. St. Cyril 350 386 [ Bishop of Jerusalem. St. Paula’s visit 361 Julian attempts to rebuild Temple. Her travels described by Jerome, c. 420. 383 430 Eucherius 460 The Empress Eudosia Theodosius 527 Justinian, died 565. 53° Antoninus, Martyr 530 537 St. Sophia at Constantinople dedicated. The dome fell 20 years afterwards, and the church was restored, and re-dedicated in 563. Procopius 555 In this year he is said to have finished his book. 570- 632 622 1 Mohammed. ) Hejira. Jerusalem taken by the Persians under 614 Chosroes II. 629 Cross brought back by Heraclius. Antiochus the Monk 630 637 Omar captures Jerusalem and builds wooden oratory. Arculf 680 His book by Bede, from Adamnanus account, completed a.d. 701. 691 Abd-el-Melek completed the Dome of the Rock according to the Cufic inscription. Willibaldus -j 1 III \ 1 727 152 APPENDIX. Chronological List of Authors & Events — Continued. Authors. Bernardus Al Yakubi, or Ibn Wadhih Eutychius (Saidi Ibn Batrik) Mukaddasi Approximate Dates. 755 867 871 940 986 786- 809 786- 813 831 830 846 913 937 975 1010 1016 Nasiri Ibn Khosrau 1050 1048 1068 1077 1094 1098 1099 Saewulf Abbot, Daniel Sigurd, the Crusader Edrisi Benjamin of Tudela Theodoricus William of Tyre f 1102 '( 1103 I f 1106 I l iio 7 1107 m 3 1118 XI 47 ii54 f ii6 3 I t H69 1172 1182 | 1197 Citez de Jerusalem 1187 Willibaldus of Oldenburg 1211 1190 Events. J Severe earthquake, which shook badly the south part of Haram Area. 1 J- Harun el Rashid. - Charlemagne. Haram buildings very much in decay and restored by the Mohammedans Holy Sepulchre restored by Patriarch Thomas. Great earthquake in Jerusalem. The first author who mentions the Miraculous Fire. Dateon a beam in the Domeof the Rock. Insurrection. The Basilica of Con- stantine destroyed. Insurrection. Holy Sepulchrebuildings again destroyed. El Hakem destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Severe earthquake. The Dome of the Rock Cupola was destroyed, and j rebuilt 1022. The Patriarch Nicephorus completed the rebuilding of the Holy Sepulchre. Fearful earthquake. Jerusalem captured by the Abassides ; Taken by the Turkomans ; And recaptured ; Taken by the Crusaders under Godfrey, being the 19th siege. (“ Memoirs,” page 1.) The Hospitallers obtain their Charter from the Pope. The Order of the Templars founded. Second Crusade. St. Bernard. Salaain captures Jerusalem, being the 20th siege. (“ Memoirs,” page 1.) Third Crusade (Richard I. and Philip). APPENDIX. 153 Chronological List of Authors & Events — Continued. Authors. Approximate Dates. Events. Jacques de Vitry 1217- 1219 1228 1244 Sixth Crusade under Frederick II. Kharismians storm Jerusalem and wreck the buildings of the Holy Sepulchre. 1247 Defeated by the Khalif. 1250- 1 Seventh and eighth Crusades by 1270 [ St. Louis. Brocardus 1285 Abd-el-Fedar 132 1 Makrizi - 1364 { 1441 Jelal-el-Din 1475 Breydenbach i486 Mejr-ed-din 1496 Salignano 1525 1520- Works of Solyman II. (the magnificent) 1560 at the Dome of the Rock and in rebuilding the walls. Barconius | Quaresmicus 1538 - 1607 1616 He states that he began his book in 1616, and finished it in 1625. Prof. Willis gives the date as 1560. Bernardino 1620 Maundrell Pocock 1697 J 7 37 1808 The Holy Sepulchre burned down. 1810 The Holy Sepulchre rebuilt. 1867 The Holy Sepulchre centre opening of Dome covered in. 154 APPENDIX. APPENDIX. 155 MODEL OF THE ANCIENT JEWISH TEMPLES AND OF THE HARAM AT JERUSALEM, BY Sir CONRAD SCHICK, Knight, Counsellor in Architecture to H.M., The King of Wurtemberg, &c., &c. 1886. 'THE results of long years of study, on the spot itself, of the locality as well as of the literature bearing on the subject are laid down in this model, which combines the principal epochs in the architectural history of this remarkable place. The model, the work of many years, is executed in wood to the scale of 1/200. When set up it forms a quadrangle 2*60 metres (8 feet 6 inches) long, i*68 metres (5 feet 6 inches) broad, and without the stand, about 0*70 metres (2 feet 5 inches) high. In order to facilitate its removal from place to place, it can be taken to pieces in three principal parts ; besides which there belong to it a great number of single parts of different sizes which can be placed on the principal parts (the latter representing the mountain or Rock-site) or again removed in order to illustrate the various re-buildings and destructions of the respective Temples down to modern times. The model therefore represents four successive pictures of principal epochs. 1st Picture. — The Rock-site, or Temple-hill, rising in step-shaped horizontal curves (contours) each 5 feet (or 1*48 metres) high, and of a dark colour, so that two hill-tops are discernible. The Temple once stood on the principal hill, on the others originally the towers “ Meah ” and Hananeel (Neh. iii. 1, &c.), and later on the Castle Baris, and that of the Syrians, after which the hill was lowered considerably, and later on the Castle of Antonia built on it by Herod. On both hills one sees the rock-hewn cisterns, drains, &c., &c., and, in lighter colour, the foundation walls of later buildings, as well as part of the ancient city-wall and the “ Sheep-Gate.” Towards the top of the picture, 156 APPENDIX. APPENDIX. 157 in the south (the spectator is supposed to be standing at the north-east, and looking in a south-westerly direction) one sees the foundation-walls of the “ King’s house,” with two long entrances, and, towards the west, where the “ House of the forest of Lebanon ” will be placed, also two arches of the first bridge which led across to the “ upper city,” and, on the east side, the “horse-gate.” (2 Kings xi. 16, 2 Chron. xxiii. 14-15, and Neh. iii. 27-29.) Further northwards, the “ corner chamber” (marg. reading, a.v.) mentioned Neh. iii. 31-32, and, in the northern valley near the road, the ancient “ sheep-house,” once a Khan, now a cistern ! More in the centre of the picture are numerous arches, the foundations of the northern boundary of the Solomonic Temple. South of these, on the round summit, the dark spot marks the cave under the Sakrah-rock (removed in the picture) on which the Altar of Burnt Offerings once stood, and south of the latter, the round white spot represents the site of the “ threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” The 2nd Picture represents. Solomon’s Temple with its outer courts and numerous side-edifices and halls (cloisters). To the south, outside the Temple-region, is the “ King’s house,” and, in the east, the market street with the fortress wall. At the corner the “ chamber ” with its six domes, and the police-house where the prophet Jeremiah was kept in prison ; at the north- west corner, on the other hill-top, the Castle Baris. Within the Temple-region we notice the “ Chel,” or the low boundary wall, furnished with steps between the “ outer Temple ” (which might be frequented by persons not Jews) and the “ inner Temple,” which none but Jews might enter. In the east there is only one gate, mentioned Acts iii. 2, as the “ Beautiful ” Gate, although its upper structure is lower than that of the other gates, in order to enable the priest officiating in the “ Holy Place,” to see through the open gate Nicanor, over this east gate and away to Mount Olivet, in order to observe the burning of the Red Heifer, and the priest burning the latter to see right into the Temple. (See Numbers xix. 1, &c.) On the northern side three double-gates are visible, whilst a fourth is in the projecting corner-edifice, “ Beth-Mokad.” The south side is similar. The court in the interior is that “ of the Women,” so called, because as a rule women only went so far. Thence semi-circular stairs lead up to 158 APPENDIX APPENDIX. 159 the gate “ Nicanor,” where the first-born were redeemed. Inside that gate is the Court of the “ Israelites,” and within the latter, the “Court of the Priests,” with the “Altar of Burnt Offerings ” and “ Brazen Sea,” beyond which other steps lead up to the Temple, where stand the two pillars, “Jachin” and “ Boaz,” with leaf-work tops — in Solomon’s Temple adorned with pomegranates, and in Herod’s with a golden vine. Then comes the “ Porch,” and further in, the “ Holy Place, and Holy of Holies,” surrounded with small rooms and galleries in three stories, and surmounted by an “ upper chamber,” in which the “ Tabernacle of the Wilderness ” and its utensils were kept. This Temple was destroyed, but again re-built after the exile, though it was completed by Herod, who built the two corner towers and the upper chamber, and restored everything as it had been under Solomon, and therefore in the 3rd Picture-, we see “Herod’s” Temple. In the first place, the “ Inner Temple,” exactly as it was in Solomon’s time, but, on the other hand, the “ outer ” Temple, greatly extended and enlarged. In the south, where the “ King’s ” house was, the great Hall or “ Stoa ” of Herod, commonly called “ Solomon’s Porch,” whilst to the north, the valley is filled up, and a further court, as well as the pool (Birket Israel, at the time of the construction of Baurat Schick’s model, generally called “ Bethesda,”) constructed, as well as the new “ Sheep-house.” Westwards therefrom is the Castle Antonia, with the castle-yard (parade-ground) and bridge (or viaduct) to the Temple. The rest has been explained when speaking of Picture 2. This Temple was also destroyed, as Jesus had predicted. During the Christian period some buildings were erected here, but of them we know little, and what we do know is, generally speaking, included in what exists on the spot at the present day, and therefore The 4th Picture represents the Temple Area in its present condition, or the “ Haram esh Sherif ” (the celebrated or Noble Sanctuary), with all to be seen there (mosques, oratories, schools, trees, &c.) to-day. First of all, over the site of the Altar of Burnt Offerings rises the great dome-topped mosque, octagonal in shape, and named “ Kubbet es Sakkhra,” or “ Dome of the Rock,” and sometimes erroneously called “ The Mosque of rv.:i 160 APPENDIX APPENDIX. 161 Omar.” Round the latter is the great and elevated “ platform,” with various small buildings and arcade-surmounted staircases. To the south is the mosque “El Aksa,” to the west the Mohammedan cloisters and the schools of the former university, which are continued along the northern side, but between the two series of cloisters and former schools, there stands, on the former site of the Castle of Antonia, military barracks. In the east we see the “ Golden Gate,” and, a little to the north of the same, a small building called “ Solomon’s Throne ” on the site of the former police-house, or tribunal of the “ Corner-Chamber.” Outside the walls one sees the Turkish tomb-stones, and, by comparing this picture with the same locality as represented in Picture 3, the depth of the accumulation of debris along this side. The foregoing views, Nos. 1 to 4, are all taken from the north-east. The 5th Picture is a view taken from the south-east, and shows the Temple as it was in our Lord’s time. In the direct fore ground the hill is shown rising in successive rock terraces or strata. To the left we recognize the Tyropeon gully and to the right the Kephanata valley, from the depths of which latter Herod raised his grand walls in the same way that Solomon built the south-east angle in the fore-ground. Along the eastern side one sees part of the old city wall and the “gate of Sur,” (2 Kings, xi. 6,) now all buried in debris, which reaches up to the black line. The same is the case along the southern side where we recognize the double, the triple and single gates, also the horse gate on the east, and higher up above the latter, the balcony. The whole building appeared like a fortress on the outside, Inside the walls a glacis surrounds the Temple. This consists of an “outer” and “inner” Temple. Of the former we see, in the south, the great triple hall of Herod, generally called “ Solomon’s porch,” because standing on the site of the old “king’s house,” to the west of it stands the civic treasury (Assupim) from which the market street (Hanuth) runs along the eastern wall as far as the gate “ Shushan.” In the north is the court added to the Temple by Herod, and also the Castle of Antonia. The outer court of the Temple forms a quadrangle surrounded on all sides with cloisters. Gentiles might come thus far, but were not permitted to pass the “chel,” L 162 APPENDIX APPENDIX. 163 or partition wall, surrounding the raised terrace. Within this terrace is the ‘‘inner Temple,” with its grand buildings, pierced by nine gates, on three sides. These buildings comprised law- courts, rooms for teaching, treasuries, vestries, store rooms, and dining-rooms. The interior court is divided into two by a wall running across, and pierced by the high gate Nicanor. The eastern portion, lying lower, was called the “ Women’s Court.” The inner one, at a higher level, was called that “ of the Israelites,” within which, but only marked off by a low boundary was “the Court of the Priests,” where the Altar of Burnt Offering and the Brazen Sea stood. Twelve steps led up to the Temple proper (Hechel) reaching first of all the high porch, where stood the trellis bearing the golden vine. The front of the Temple is flanked by two towers between which, and over the porch, rises a central and higher tower, one hundred and twenty cubits high according to 2 Chron. iii. 4. Behind this fagade one recognizes the upper chamber, and smaller chambers in three stories surrounding the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Printed by Mawson, Swan, & Morgan, Newcastle-on-Tyne.