SIGHT-SEEING IN JERUSALEM.
Before leaving the ship at Jaffa I was talking with Mr. Ahmed, a
gentleman from India, who had spent some time in Egypt, and had traveled
extensively. He claimed to be a British subject, and was able to speak
several languages. While we were arranging to go ashore together, one
of the many boatmen who had come out to the ship picked up my suit-case
while my back was turned, and the next thing I saw of it he was taking
it down the stairs to one of the small boats. By some loud and emphatic
talk I succeeded in getting him to put it out of one boat into another,
but he would not bring it back. Mr. Ahmed and I went ashore with another
man, whom we paid for carrying us and our baggage. I found the suit-case
on the dock, and we were soon in the custom house, where my baggage and
passport were both examined, but Mr. Ahmed escaped having his baggage
opened by paying the boatman an additional fee. As we arrived in Jaffa
too late to take the train for Jerusalem that day, we waited over night
in the city from whence Jonah went to sea so long ago. We lodged at the
same hotel and were quartered in the same room. This was the first and
only traveling companion I had on the whole journey, and I was a little
shy. I felt like I wanted some pledge of honorable dealing from my newly
formed acquaintance, and when he expressed himself as being a British
subject, I mentioned that I was an American and extended my hand,
saying: "Let us treat each other right." He gave me his hand with the
words: "Species man, species man!" He meant that we both belonged to the
same class of beings, and should, therefore, treat each other right, a
very good reason indeed. A long time before, in this same land, Abraham
had expressed himself to Lot on a similar line in these words: "Let
there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my
herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we are brethren" (Gen. 13:8). On Saturday
we moved our baggage over to the depot and boarded the train for
Jerusalem. On the way to the depot an old gentleman, whom I would have
guessed to be a German, passed me. When I entered the car it was my lot
to ride by him. He learned that I had been to Bristol, England, and had
visited the orphan homes founded by George Muller, and he remarked: "You
are a Christian, then." He probably said this because he thought no
other would be interested in such work. It developed that he was a
converted Jew, and was conducting a mission for his people in the Holy
City. Without telling him my position religiously, I inquired concerning
different points, and found his faith and mine almost alike. This new
acquaintance was D.C. Joseph, whose association I also enjoyed after
reaching Jerusalem.
It was late in the afternoon of October ninth when we got off the train
at the Jerusalem station, which is so situated that the city can not
be seen from that point. By the time we had our baggage put away in a
native hotel outside the city walls it was dark. We then started out
to see if there was any mail awaiting me. First we went to the Turkish
office, which was reached by a flight of dark stairs. Mr. Ahmed went
up rather slowly. Perhaps he felt the need of caution more than I did.
According to my recollection, they handed us a candle, and allowed us to
inspect the contents of a small case for the mail. We found nothing, so
we made our way down the dark stairway to the German office, situated
on the ground floor, nicely furnished and properly lighted, but there
was no mail there for me, as mail from America goes to the Austrian
office, inside the Jaffa gate.
The next day was Lord's day, and for the time being I ceased to be
a tourist and gave myself up mainly to religious services. I first
attended the meeting conducted by Bro. Joseph at the mission to Israel.
It was the first service I had attended, and the first opportunity that
had come to me for breaking bread since I left London, the last of
August. After this assembly of four persons was dismissed, I went to the
services of the Church of England and observed their order of worship.
The minister was in a robe, and delivered a really good sermon of about
fifteen minutes' duration, preceded by reading prayers and singing
praise for about an hour. By invitation, I took dinner with Miss Dunn,
an American lady, at whose house Bro. Joseph was lodging. As she had
been in Jerusalem fifteen years and was interested in missionary work,
I enjoyed her company as well as her cooking. After dinner I went to a
little iron-covered meeting-house called the "tabernacle," where a Mr.
Thompson, missionary of the Christian Alliance, of Nyack, New York, was
the minister. At the close of the Sunday-school a gentleman asked some
questions in English, and the native evangelist, Melki, translated them
into Arabic. By request of Mr. Thompson, I read the opening lesson and
offered prayer, after which he delivered a good address on the great,
coming day, and at the close the Lord's Supper was observed. I
understood that they did this once a month, but it is attended to weekly
at the mission where I was in the morning. At the tabernacle I made the
acquaintance of Mr. Stanton, a Methodist minister from the States; Mr.
Jennings, a colored minister from Missouri, and Mr. Smith, an American
gentleman residing in Jerusalem. There was another meeting in the
tabernacle at night, but I staid at the hotel and finished some writing
to be sent off to the home land.
Monday was a big day for me. Mr. Ahmed and I went down inside the Jaffa
gate and waited for Mr. Smith, who was our guide, Mr. Jennings, and a
Mr. Michelson, from California. Mr. Smith had been a farmer in America,
but had spent three years at Jerusalem and Jericho. He was well
acquainted with the country, and we could depend upon what he told us.
Add to all this the fact that he went around with us without charge, and
it will be seen that we were well favored. On this Monday morning we
started out to take a walk to Bethany, the old home of that blessed
family composed of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We passed the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher, walked along the street called the Via Dolorosa, and
saw several of the "stations" Jesus is supposed to have passed on the
way to the execution on Calvary. We passed the traditional site of the
"house of the rich man," the "house of the poor man," and the Temple
Area. After passing the Church of St. Anne, we went out of the city
through St. Stephen's gate, and saw the Birket Sitti Mariam, or Pool
of Lady Mary, one hundred feet long, eighty-five feet wide, and once
twenty-seven and a half feet deep. It is supposed that Stephen was led
through the gate now bearing his name and stoned at a point not far
distant. Going down the hill a few rods, we came to the Church of St.
Mary, a building for the most part underground. It is entered by a
stairway nineteen feet wide at the top, and having forty-seven steps
leading to the floor thirty-five feet below. We went down, and in
the poorly lighted place we found some priests and others singing or
chanting, crossing themselves, kissing a rock, and so on. This church
probably gets its name from the tradition that the mother of Jesus was
buried here. Just outside the church is a cavern that is claimed by some
to be the place of Christ's agony, and by others, who may have given the
matter more thought, it is supposed to be an old cistern, or place for
storing olive oil or grain. Perhaps I would do well to mention here that
tradition has been in operation a long time, and the stories she has
woven are numerous indeed, but often no confidence can be placed in
them. I desire to speak of things of this kind in such a way as not to
mislead my readers. It was near this church that I saw lepers for the
first time. The valley of the Kidron is the low ground lying between
Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. The water flows here only in the wet
part of the year. Crossing this valley and starting up the slope of the
Mount of Olives, we soon come to a plot of ground inclosed by a high
stone wall, with a low, narrow gateway on the upper side. This place is
of great interest, as it bears the name "Garden of Gethsemane," and is
probably the spot to which the lowly Jesus repaired and prayed earnestly
the night before his execution, when his soul was "exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death." It is really a garden, filled with flowers, and olive
trees whose trunks, gnarled and split, represent them as being very old,
but it is not to be supposed that they are the same trees beneath which
Jesus prayed just before Judas and "the band of soldiers and officers"
came out to arrest him. There is a fence inside the wall, leaving a
passageway around the garden between the wall and the fence. Where the
trees reach over the fence a woven-wire netting has been fixed up, to
keep the olives from dropping on the walk, where tourists could pick
them up for souvenirs. The fruit of these old trees is turned into olive
oil and sold, and the seeds are used in making rosaries. At intervals
on the wall there are pictures representing the fourteen stations Jesus
passed as he was being taken to the place of crucifixion. This garden
is the property of the Roman Catholics, and the Greeks have selected
another spot, which they regard as the true Gethsemane, just as each
church holds a different place at Nazareth to be the spot where the
angry Nazarenes intended to destroy the Savior.
Leaving the garden, we started on up the slope of Olivet, and passed the
fine Russian church, with its seven tapering domes, that shine like the
gold by which they are said to be covered. It appears to be one of the
finest buildings of Jerusalem. As we went on, we looked back and had a
good view of the Kidron valley and the Jews' burial place, along
the slope of the mountain, where uncounted thousands of Abraham's
descendants lie interred. Further up toward the summit is the Church of
the Lord's Prayer, a building erected by a French princess, whose body
is now buried within its walls. This place is peculiar on account of at
least two things. That portion of Scripture commonly called "the Lord's
prayer" is here inscribed on large marble slabs in thirty-two different
languages, and prayer is said to be offered here continually. There is
another church near the Damascus gate, where two "sisters" are said to
be kneeling in prayer at all hours. I entered the beautiful place at
different times, and always found it as represented, but it should not
be supposed that the same women do all the praying, as they doubtless
have enough to change at regular intervals. The Church of the Creed is,
according to a worthless tradition, the place where the apostles drew up
"the creed." It is under the ground, and we passed over it on the way
to the Church of the Lord's Prayer. The Mount of Olives is two thousand
seven hundred and twenty-three feet above sea level, and is about two
hundred feet higher than Mount Moriah. From the summit a fine view of
Jerusalem and the surrounding country may be obtained. The Russians have
erected a lofty stone tower here. After climbing the spiral stairway
leading to the top of it, one is well rewarded by the extensive view.
Looking out from the east side, we could gaze upon the Dead Sea, some
twenty miles away, and more than four thousand feet below us. We visited
the chambers called the "Tombs of the Prophets," but the name is not a
sufficient guarantee to warrant us in believing them to be the burial
places of the men by whom God formerly spoke to the people. On the way
to Bethany we passed the reputed site of Beth-page (Mark 11:1), and soon
came to the town where Jesus performed the great miracle of raising
Lazarus after he had been dead four days. (John 11:1-46.) The place
pointed out as the tomb corresponds to the Scripture which says "It was
a cave" where they laid him. Twenty-six steps lead down to the chamber
where his body is said to have lain when the "blessed Redeemer" cried
with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." Whether this is the exact spot
or not, it is probably a very ancient cave. One writer claims that it
is as old as the incident itself, and says these rock-cut tombs are the
oldest landmarks of Palestine. Tradition points out the home of Lazarus,
and there is a portion of an old structure called the Castle of Lazarus,
which Lazarus may never have seen. Bethany is a small village, occupied
by a few Mohammedan families, who dislike the "Christians." On the
rising ground above the village stands a good modern stone house,
owned by an English lady, who formerly lived in it, but her servant, a
Mohammedan, made an effort to cut her throat, and almost succeeded in
the attempt. Naturally enough, the owner does not wish to live there
now, so we found the building in the care of a professing Christian,
who treated us with courtesy, giving us a good, refreshing drink, and
permitting us to go out on the roof to look around.
From this point we turned our footsteps toward Jerusalem, "about fifteen
furlongs off"--that is, about two miles distant. (John 11:18.) When
we reached the lower part of the slope of Olivet, where the tombs of
departed Jews are so numerous, Mr. Michelson and Mr. Jennings went on
across the Kidron valley and back to their lodging places, while Mr.
Ahmed, Mr. Smith and I went down to Job's well, in the low ground below
the city. The Tower of Absalom, the Tomb of James, and the Pyramid
of Zachariah were among the first things we saw. They are all burial
places, but we can not depend upon them being the actual tombs of those
whose names they bear. The first is a peculiar monument nineteen and
one-half feet square and twenty-one feet high, cut out of the solid
rock, and containing a chamber, which may be entered by crawling through
a hole in the side. On the top of the natural rock portion a structure
of dressed stone, terminating in one tapering piece, has been erected,
making the whole height of the monument forty-eight feet. The Jews have
a custom of pelting it with stones on account of Absalom's misconduct,
and the front side shows the effect of their stone-throwing. The Grotto
of St. James is the traditional place of his concealment from the time
Jesus was arrested till his resurrection. The Pyramid of Zachariah is
a cube about thirty feet square and sixteen feet high, cut out of the
solid rock, and surmounted by a small pyramid. It has many names cut
upon it in Hebrew letters, and there are some graves near by, as this is
a favorite burial place. Some of the bodies have been buried between the
monument and the wall around it in the passage made in cutting it out of
the rock. Going on down the valley, we have the village of Siloam on the
hill at our left, and on the other side of the Kidron, the southeastern
part of the Holy City. St. Mary's Well is soon reached. This spring,
which may be the Gihon of 1 Kings 1:33, is much lower than the surface
of the ground, the water being reached by two flights of stairs,
one containing sixteen steps, the other fourteen. The spring is
intermittent, and flows from three to five times daily in winter. It
flows twice a day in summer, but in the autumn it only flows once in the
day. When I was there, the spring was low, and two Turkish soldiers were
on duty to preserve order among those who came to get water.
The Pool of Siloam, fifty-two feet long and eighteen feet wide, is
farther down the valley. The spring and the pool are about a thousand
feet apart, and are connected by an aqueduct through the hill, which,
owing to imperfect engineering, is seventeen hundred feet long. From
a Hebrew inscription found in the lower end of this passageway it was
learned that the excavation was carried on from both ends. A little
below the Pool of Siloam the valley of the Kidron joins the valley of
Hinnom, where, in ancient times, children were made "to pass through the
fire to Moloch" (2 Kings 23:10). Job's Well, perhaps the En Rogel, on
the northern border of Judah (Joshua 15:7), is rectangular in shape and
one hundred and twenty-three feet deep. Sometimes it overflows, but it
seldom goes dry. When I saw it, no less than six persons were drawing
water with ropes and leather buckets. The location of Aceldama, the
field of blood, has been disputed, but some consider that it was on the
hill above the valley of Hinnom. There are several rock-cut tombs along
the slope of the hill facing the valley of Hinnom, and some of them are
being used as dwelling places. The Moslems have charge of a building
outside the city walls, called David's Tomb, which they guard very
carefully, and only a portion of it is accessible to visitors. Near this
place a new German Catholic church was being erected at a cost of four
hundred thousand dollars. We entered the city by the Zion gate, and
passed the Tower of David, a fortification on Mount Zion, near the Jaffa
gate.
On the ship coming down from Beyrout I had a conversation with a man who
claimed to have been naturalized in the United States, and to have
gone to Syria to visit his mother, but, according to his story, he was
arrested and imprisoned by the Turks. After being mistreated in the
filthy prison for some time, he secured his release by bribing a soldier
to post a letter to one of the American authorities. He expressed a
desire to visit Jerusalem, but seemed afraid to get back into Turkish
territory. Learning that I was going there, he wrote a letter to the
Armenian Patriarch, and I presented it one day. In a few minutes Mr.
Ahmed and I were led into the large room where the Patriarch was seated
in his robe and peculiar cap. Meeting a dignitary of the Armenian Church
was a new experience to me. I shook hands with him; Mr. Ahmed made some
signs and sat down. In the course of our limited conversation he said
rather slowly: "I am very old." Replying to a question, he informed me
that his age was eighty years. I was on the point of leaving, but he
hindered me, and an attendant soon came in with some small glasses of
wine and a little dish of candy. The Patriarch drank a glass of wine,
and I took a piece of the candy, as also did Mr. Ahmed, and then we took
our leave.
The eleventh day of October, which was Tuesday, was occupied with a trip
to Hebron, described in another chapter devoted to the side trips I made
from Jerusalem, but the next day was spent in looking around the Holy
City. Early in the morning the Mamilla Pool, probably the "upper pool"
of 2 Kings 18:17, was seen. One author gives the dimensions of this
pool as follows: Length, two hundred and ninety-one feet; breadth, one
hundred and ninety-two feet; depth, nineteen feet. It is filled with
water in the rainy season, but was empty when I saw it. Entering the
city by the Jaffa gate, I walked along David and Christian Streets, and
was shown the Pool of Hezekiah, which is surrounded by houses, and was
supplied from the Mamilla Pool.
The next place visited was that interesting old building, the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher, where our Lord is supposed to have been buried in
Joseph's new tomb. Jerusalem has many things of great interest, but some
few things are of special interest. The Temple Area and Calvary are of
this class. I am sure my readers will want to know something of each,
and I shall here write of the latter. No doubt the spot where Jesus was
crucified and the grave in which he was buried were both well known to
the brethren up to the destruction of the city in the year seventy.
Before this awful calamity the Christians made their escape, and when
they returned they "would hardly recognize the fallen city as the one
they had left; the heel of the destroyer had stamped out all semblance
of its former glory. For sixty years it lay in ruins so complete that
it is doubtful if there was a single house that could be used as a
residence; during these years its history is a blank." There is no
mention of the returned Christians seeking out the site of either
the crucifixion or burial, and between A.D. 120 and A.D. 136 Hadrian
reconstructed the city, changing it to a considerable extent, and naming
it Aelia Capitolina. This would tend to make the location of Calvary
more difficult. Hadrian built a temple to Venus, probably on the spot
now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Eusebius, writing
about A.D. 325, speaks of Constantine's church built on the site of
this temple. It is claimed that Hadrian's heathen temple was erected
to desecrate the place of Christ's entombment, and that Constantine's
church, being erected on the site of the temple, and regarded as the
place called Calvary, fixes this as the true site; but whether the
church and temple were on the same site or not, the present church
stands where the one built by Constantine stood, and is regarded by the
mass of believers as the true location.
Constantine's church stood two hundred and eighty years, being destroyed
by Chosroes II., of Persia, in A.D. 614, but was soon succeeded by
another structure not so grand as its predecessor. In 1010, in the
"reign of the mad caliph Hakem," the group of churches was entirely
destroyed, and the spot lay desolate for thirty years, after which
another church was erected, being completed in eight years. This
building was standing in 1099, the time of the Crusaders, but was
destroyed by fire in 1808. This fire "consumed many of the most sacred
relics in the church. Marble columns of great age and beauty crumbled in
the flames. The rich hangings and pictures were burned, along with lamps
and chandeliers and other ornaments in silver and gold. The lead with
which the great dome was lined melted, and poured down in streams." The
building now standing there was finished in 1810 at a cost of nearly
three millions of dollars, one-third of this, it is said, being expended
in lawsuits and Mohammedan bribes. It is the property of several
denominations, who adorn their separate chapels to suit themselves.
The church is entered from a court having two doors or gates. Worshipers
pass through the court, and stop at the left-hand side of the door and
kiss the marble column, which clearly shows the effect of this practice.
Just inside of the building there is a guard, composed of members of the
oldest Mohammedan family in the city. The reader may wonder why an armed
guard should be kept in a church house, but such a reader has not seen
or read of all the wickedness that is carried on in the support of
sectarianism. Concerning this guard, which, at the time of the holy fire
demonstration, is increased by several hundred soldiers, Edmund Sherman
Wallace, a former United States Consul in this city, says in his
"Jerusalem the Holy": "This Christian church has a Moslem guard, whose
duty it is to keep peace among the various sects who profess belief in
the Prince of Peace. * * * It is a sickening fact that Moslem brute
force must compel Christians to exercise, not charity toward each other,
but common decency and decorum. But it is a fact nevertheless, and will
remain apparent to all so long as priestcraft takes the place of New
Testament Christianity and superstition supplants religion."
A little beyond this guard is the "Stone of Unction," upon which many
believe Jesus was prepared for burial, but the original stone for which
this claim was made is not now visible, being covered with the present
slab to keep it from being worn out by the kissing of pious pilgrims.
It is eight and a half feet long and four feet wide. Pilgrims sometimes
bring the goods for their burial robes here and measure them by this
stone. Some large candles stand by it, and above it are eight fine
lamps, belonging to the Greek and Roman Catholics, the Copts, and
Armenians. Not far away is a small stone, which I understood was called
the place where the women watched the preparation by Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus. (John 19:38-42.)
In the center of the rotunda, with its entrance facing the east, is the
Chapel of the Sepulcher, the holiest place in all this holy building.
Passing through the small door, the visitor finds himself in the Chapel
of the Angels, a very small room, where a piece of stone, said to have
been rolled away from the grave by the angels, is to be seen. Stooping
down, the visitor passes through a low opening and enters the Chapel of
the Sepulcher proper, a room only six and a half feet long and six feet
wide. The "tomb" is at the right hand of the entrance, occupying about
half of the floor, above which it rises two feet. It is covered with
marble, so that even if this were the very spot where the Lord and
Savior was laid by the hands of kind friends, the modern visitor would
not know what it looked like when that event took place. The little
chapel, capable of accommodating about six people at a time, contains
some pictures and forty-three silver lamps, the property of the Copts,
Armenians, Greek and Roman Catholics. A priest stands on guard, so that
no damage may be done to any part of the place.
The Greek chapel, the largest, and to my notion the finest that I saw,
is just in front of the sepulcher. From its having two sections and a
partition, I was reminded of the tabernacle of the wilderness journey.
Services were being conducted once while I was there, and I saw the
Patriarch and others, gorgeously robed, going through with a service
that was at least spectacular, if not spiritual. At one point in the
exercises those participating came down close to where I was standing,
passed around the spot designated "the center of the world," and went
back again to the farther end of the richly ornamented room. One of the
priests, with hair reaching down on his shoulders, bore a silver vessel,
which I suppose contained burning incense. The long hair, beautiful
robes, the singing, praying, and such things, made up a service that
reminded me of the days of Solomon and the old priesthood.
The demonstration of the "holy fire" takes place in this church once a
year, and there are thousands who believe that the fire passed out from
the Chapel of the Angels really comes from heaven. This occurs on the
Saturday afternoon preceding Easter, and the eager, waiting throng, a
part of which has been in the building since the day before, soon has
its hundreds of little candles lighted. As the time for the appearance
of the fire approaches the confusion becomes greater. Near the entrance
to the sepulcher a group of men is repeating the words: "This is the
tomb of Jesus Christ;" not far from them others are saying: "This is
the day the Jew mourns and the Christian rejoices;" others express
themselves in the language: "Jesus Christ has redeemed us;" and
occasionally "God save the Sultan" can be heard.
Mr. Wallace, from whose book the foregoing items are gleaned, in telling
of a fight which took place at one stage of the service, describes it as
"a mass of wriggling, struggling, shrieking priests and soldiers, each
apparently endeavoring to do all the possible injury to whomever he
could reach. * * * But the fight went on. Greek trampled on Armenian,
and Armenian on Greek, and Turk on both. Though doing his very best, the
commanding officer seemed unable to separate the combatants. The bugle
rang out time after time, and detachment after detachment of soldiers
plunged into the mêlee. * * * This went on for fifteen minutes. Just
how much damage was done nobody will ever know. There were a number
of bruised faces and broken heads, and a report was current that two
pilgrims had died from injuries received." This disgraceful and wicked
disturbance is said to have been brought about by the Armenians wanting
two of their priests to go with the Greek Patriarch as far as the
Chapel of the Angels. And it is furthermore said that the defeat of the
Armenians was brought about, to some extent at least, by the muscular
strength of an American professional boxer and wrestler, whom the
Greeks had taken along in priestly garb as a member of the Patriarch's
bodyguard. It is not surprising that Mr. Wallace has written: "The
Church of the Holy Sepulcher gives the non-Christian world the worst
possible illustration of the religion of Him in whose name it stands."
As I was going through the city, I saw a camel working an olive press.
The poor blindfolded animal was compelled to walk in a circle so
small that the outside trace was drawn tightly over its leg, causing
irritation; but seeing the loads that are put upon dumb brutes, and men
too, sometimes, one need not expect much attention to be given to the
comfort of these useful servants. Truly, there is great need for the
refining, civilizing, and uplifting influence of the gospel here in the
city where it had its earliest proclamation. I also visited two grist
mills operated by horses on a treadmill, which was a large wooden wheel
turned on its side, so the horses could stand on it. I was not pleased
with the nearness of the manure in one of these mills to the material
from which the "staff of life" is made.
The German Protestant Church of the Redeemer is a fine structure on the
Muristan, completed in 1898. The United States consulate is near the
Austrian postoffice inside of the Jaffa gate. I went there and rested
awhile, but saw the consul, Selah Merrill, at his hotel, where I also
met Mrs. Merrill, and formed a favorable opinion of both of them. Here I
left my belt, checks, and surplus money in the care of the consul.
Continuing my walk on Wednesday, I passed one of the numerous threshing
floors of the country. This one was the face of a smooth rock, but they
are often the ground on some elevated spot, where a good breeze can be
had to blow away the chaff, for the grain is now threshed and cleaned by
the primitive methods of long ago. After the grain has been tramped out
(1 Cor. 9:9), the straw, now worn to chaff, is piled up, and when a
favorable wind blows, a man tosses it in the air with a wooden fork. The
grain falls in a pile at his feet and the chaff is carried aside
some distance. When this operation has been carried on as long as is
profitable, the wheat and what chaff remains in it are thrown into the
air with a wooden shovel, called in our Bibles a "fan." (Matt. 3:12.)
The final cleaning is done by washing the grain, or with a sieve.
The Tombs of the Kings, which may never have contained a king, are
extensive and interesting. They are surrounded by a wall, and to reach
them the visitor must go down a very wide stairway. The steps probably
do not number more than twenty-five, but the distance from one side of
the stairs to the other is twenty-seven feet. There are channels cut in
the rock to carry the water that comes down these steps to the cisterns,
two in number, one of which is a good-sized room cut in the rock at the
side of the stairway. It contained about three feet of water when I saw
it, although there had been no rain in Jerusalem for half a year. The
other one, at the bottom of the stairs, is much larger, and was empty.
The vaulted roof is supported by a column, and there are steps leading
from one level of the floor to another.
Turning to the left at the foot of the big stairway, we passed through
an arch cut through the rock into a court made by excavating the earth
and stone to a depth of perhaps twenty feet. It is ninety feet long and
eighty-one feet wide. The entrance to the tombs is by a vestibule cut in
the rock at one side of the court, and it appears that this once had a
row of pillars along the front, like veranda posts. We went down a few
steps and stooped low enough to pass through an opening about a yard
high. Beyond this we found ourselves in a good-sized room, cut in the
solid rock. There are five of these rooms, and so far as the appearance
is concerned, one might suppose they had been made in modern times, but
they are ancient. The bodies were usually buried in "pigeon-holes" cut
back in the walls of the rooms, but there are some shelf tombs, which
are sufficiently described in their name. One room seems never to have
been completed, but there are burial places here for about forty people.
One of the interesting things about these tombs is the rolling stone by
which they were closed. It is a round rock, resembling a millstone. The
height is a little over three feet and a half, and the thickness sixteen
inches. It stands in a channel cut for the purpose, but was rolled
forward before the entrance when it was desirable to have the tombs
closed. When Jesus was buried, a "great stone" was rolled to the mouth
of the sepulcher, and the women thought of this as they went to the tomb
on the first day of the week, saying: "Who shall roll us away the stone
from the door of the tomb?" (Mark 16:3.) They went on and found the tomb
open; so, also, we may often find the stone rolled away if we will go
forward in the discharge of our duties, instead of sitting down to mourn
at the thought of something in the distance which seems too difficult.
On our way to the tombs just mentioned, we passed the American Colony,
a small band of people living together in a rather peculiar manner,
but they are not all Americans. I understood that there had been no
marriages among them for a long time until a short while before I was
in Jerusalem. Some of them conduct a good store near the Jaffa gate. We
passed an English church and college and St. Stephen's Church on the way
to Gordon's Calvary. This new location of the world's greatest tragedy
is a small hill outside the walls on the northern side of the city. The
Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands on ground which for fifteen hundred
years has been regarded as the true site of our Lord's death and burial,
but since Korte, a German bookseller, visited the city in 1738, doubts
have been expressed as to the correctness of the tradition. Jesus
"suffered without the gate" (Heb. 13:12), and "in the place where he was
crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb wherein was
man never yet laid" (John 19:41), and it appears to have been near a
public road. (Mark 15:29.) In 1856 Edward Robinson, an American, offered
proof that the site sustained by the old tradition was inside the city
walls at the time of the crucifixion, and more recent discoveries, made
in excavating, confirm his proof. The new Calvary meets the requirements
of the above mentioned scriptures, and gets its name "Gordon's Calvary,"
from the fact that General Gordon wrote and spoke in favor of this being
the correct location, and a photographer attached his name to a view of
the place. In the garden adjoining the new Calvary I visited a tomb,
which some suppose to be the place of our Lord's burial.
On the way back to my lodging place we passed the Damascus gate, the
most attractive of all the old city gates, and one often represented
in books. It was built or repaired in 1537, and stands near an older
gateway that is almost entirely hidden by the accumulated rubbish of
centuries, only the crown of the arch now showing. As we went on we
passed the French Hospice, a fine modern building, having two large
statues on it. The higher one represents the Virgin and her child, the
other is a figure of the Savior. The Catholic church already mentioned,
where two sisters are to be seen in prayer at all times, is near the
Hospice. It is a rather impressive sight to stand in this beautiful but
silent place, and see those women in white robes kneeling there almost
as motionless as statues.
Thursday and a part of Friday was taken up with a trip to Jericho, but
we got back in time to spend the afternoon in looking around Jerusalem,
and we had an interesting visit to the home of Mrs. Schoenecke, a German
lady, whose father, named Schick, spent fifty-six years of his life in
Jerusalem. From what information Mr. Schick could gather from the Bible,
Josephus, the Talmud, and his personal observations during the time the
Palestine Exploration Fund was at work, he constructed large models of
the ancient temples that stood on Mount Moriah from the days of Solomon
to the time of Herod and Christ. I was told that the original models
were sold to an American college for five thousand dollars. Mr.
Schick then constructed the models shown to us, and explained by Mrs.
Schoenecke. We were also shown a model of the tabernacle used while
Israel was marching to the promised land.
The Wailing Place is a rectangle one hundred feet long by fifteen feet
wide on the outside of the Temple Area, on the western side, where the
wall is about sixty feet high. Some of the stones in this section are of
large size, and authorities admit that they are of Solomon's time, but
the wall in which they now stand may be a reconstruction. The Jews come
here on the Sabbath, beginning at sundown on Saturday, for a service
which one author describes as follows: "Nearest to him stood a row of
women clad in robes of spotless white. Their eyes were bedimmed with
weeping, and tears streamed down their cheeks as they sobbed aloud
with irrepressible emotion. Next to the women stood a group of
Pharisees--Jews from Poland and Germany. * * * The old hoary-headed men
generally wore velvet caps edged with fur, long love-locks or ringlets
dangling on their thin cheeks, and their outer robes presented a
striking contrast of gaudy colors. Beyond stood a group of Spanish Jews.
* * * Besides these there are Jews from every quarter of the world, who
had wandered back to Jerusalem that they might die in the city of their
fathers, and be buried in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, under the shadow of
the Temple Hill. The worshipers gradually increased in number until the
crowd thronging the pavement could not be fewer than two hundred. It was
an affecting scene to notice their earnestness; some thrust their hands
between the joints of the stones, and pushed into the crevices, as far
as possible, little slips of paper, on which were written, in the Hebrew
tongue, short petitions addressed to Jehovah. Some even prayed with
their mouths thrust into the gaps, where the weather-beaten stones were
worn away at the joints. * * * The congregation at the Wailing Place is
one of the most solemn gatherings left to the Jewish Church, and, as the
writer gazed at the motley concourse, he experienced a feeling of sorrow
that the remnants of the chosen race should be heartlessly thrust
outside the sacred inclosure of their fathers' holy temple by men of an
alien race and an alien creed." So far as I know, all writers give these
worshipers credit for being sincere, but on the two occasions when I
visited the place, I saw no such emotion as described in the foregoing
quotation. The following lines are often rehearsed, the leader reading
one at a time, after which the people respond with the words: "We sit in
solitude and mourn."
"For the place that lies desolate;
For the place that is destroyed;
For the walls that are overthrown;
For our majesty that is departed;
For our great men who lie dead;
For the precious stones that are buried;
For the priests who have stumbled;
For our kings who have despised Him."
This solemn practice has been observed for about twelve hundred years,
but the same place may not have been used all the time. "She is become a
widow, that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among
the provinces is become tributary! Jerusalem hath grievously sinned;
therefore she is become as an unclean thing" (Lam. 1: 1, 8).
On Friday evening we entered some of the many synagogues yet to be found
in Jerusalem and observed the worshipers. On Saturday we went to the
House of Industry of the English church, where boys are taught to work.
Olive wood products are made for the tourist trade. We passed a place
where some men were making a peculiar noise as they were pounding wheat
and singing at their work. This pounding was a part of the process of
making it ready for food. An old lady was standing in an open door
spinning yarn in a very simple manner. We watched her a few minutes, and
I wanted to buy the little arrangement with which she was spinning, but
she didn't care to part with it. She brought out another one, and let me
have it after spinning a few yards upon it. I gave her a Turkish coin
worth a few cents, for which she seemed very thankful, and said, as Mr.
Ahmed explained: "God bless you and give you long life. I am old, and
may die to-day." She told us that she came from Mosul, away beyond the
Syrian desert, to die in Jerusalem. We visited the synagogue of the
Caraite Jews, a small polygamous sect, numbering in this assembly
about thirty persons. They also differ from the majority of Hebrews in
rejecting the Talmud, but I believe they have a Talmud of their own.
Their place of worship is a small room almost under the ground, where we
were permitted to see a very fine old copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, our
Old Testament. The work was done by hand, and I was told the man who
did it was sixteen years of age when he began it, and was sixty when he
finished the work, and that the British Museum had offered five thousand
dollars for the book. Some of these people speak English, and we
conversed with one woman who was quite intelligent. They kindly
permitted us to go up and view the city from the housetop.
In the afternoon we visited the Temple Area, an inclosure of about
thirty-five acres, in the southeastern part of the city, including the
Mosque of Omar (more appropriately called the Dome of the Rock), the
Mosque El Aksa, and Solomon's Stables. For Christians to enter this
inclosure, it is necessary to notify their consul and secure the service
of his _cavasse_, an armed guard, and a Turkish soldier, both of
whom must be paid for their services. Thus equipped, we entered the
inclosure, and came up on the east front of the Dome of the Rock,
probably so named from the fact that the dome of this structure stands
over an exposed portion of the natural rock, fifty-seven feet long,
forty-three feet wide, and rising a few feet above the floor. After
putting some big slippers on over our shoes, we entered the building
and saw this great rock, which tradition says is the threshing floor
of Araunah, and the spot where Melchizedek sacrificed. It is also the
traditional place where Abraham sacrificed Isaac, and it is believed
that David built an altar here after the angel of destruction had put
up his sword. It is furthermore supposed that the great altar of burnt
offerings stood on this rock in the days of Solomon's Temple, which
is thought to have been located just west of it. This is the probable
location of Zerubbabel's Temple, and the one enlarged and beautified
by Herod, which was standing when Jesus was on earth, and continued to
stand until the awful destruction of the city by the Roman army in A.D.
70.
The modern visitor to this fine structure would have no thought of the
ancient temple of God if he depended upon what he sees here to suggest
it. All trace of that house has disappeared. The Dome of the Rock, said
to be "the most beautiful piece of architecture in Jerusalem," belongs
to the Turks. It has eight sides, each about sixty-six and a half feet
long, and is partly covered with marble, but it is, to some extent, in a
state of decay. Between the destruction of the temple and the erection
of this building a heathen temple and a church had been built on the
spot.
The Mosque El Aksa was also visited, but it is noted more for its size
than the beauty of its architecture. The Turkish Governor of Palestine
comes here every Friday to worship at the time the Sultan is engaged
in like manner in Constantinople. Solomon's Stables next engaged our
attention. We crossed the Temple Area to the wall on the southeastern
border, and went down a stairway to these underground chambers, which
were made by building about a hundred columns and arching them over and
laying a pavement on the top, thereby bringing it up on a level with
the rest of the hill. The vaults are two hundred and seventy-three feet
long, one hundred and ninety-eight feet wide, and about thirty feet
high. They were not made for stables, but were used for that purpose in
the middle ages, and the holes through the corners of the square stone
columns show where the horses were tied. A large portion of these
chambers has been made into a cistern or reservoir.
After a visit to what is called the Pool of Bethesda and the Church of
St. Anne, we went outside the city wall on the north side and entered
what looks like a cave, but upon investigation proves to be an extensive
underground quarry. These excavations, called Solomon's Quarries,
extend, according to one authority, seven hundred feet under the hill
Bezetha, which is north of Mt. Moriah. The rock is very white, and will
take some polish. Loose portions of it are lying around on the floor
of the cavern, and there are distinct marks along the sides where the
ancient stone-cutters were at work. In one part of the quarries we were
shown the place where visiting Masons are said to hold lodge meetings
sometimes. Vast quantities of the rock have been taken out, and this is
probably the source from whence much of the building material of the old
city was derived.
The trip to the quarries ended my sight-seeing for the week. The next
morning I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and witnessed a part
of the service of the Greek Catholics. At a later hour I went around to
the mission conducted by Bro. Joseph, and, with the little congregation
there assembled, broke bread in memory of Him who in this city, almost
two thousand years ago, gave his life for the sins of the world, after
having instituted this supper, a monumental institution, representing
to our minds the cost of the world's redemption. In the afternoon I
attended the preaching service in Mr. Thompson's tabernacle, and visited
the Abyssinian church, near Mr. Smith's house. This Abyssinian house is
circular, and has a small, round room in the center, around which the
congregation stands and worships, leaning on their staves, for the place
is void of seats. At night I preached in the tabernacle on the question:
"What must I do to be saved?" Melki, the native evangelist, translated
for me as I went along, and the congregation paid good attention and
seemed pleased to have heard me. I know I am pleased to have had
opportunity to "preach the word" in the city from whence it was first
published to the world.
One of the first sights beheld when I started out on Monday morning was
a foundation, laid at the expense of a woman who intended to build a
house for the "hundred and forty-four thousand." It represents one of
the many peculiar religious ideas that find expression in and around
Jerusalem. We went on to the railway station, where I saw a young man, a
Jew, leave for that far-off land called America. Next the Leper Hospital
was visited. This well-kept institution is in the German colony, and had
several patients of both sexes. A lady, who spoke some English, kindly
showed me through the hospital, and explained that the disease is not
contagious, but hereditary, and that some lepers refuse to enter the
hospital because they are forbidden to marry. The patients were of
various ages, and showed the effects of the disease in different stages.
In some cases it makes the victim a sad sight to look upon. I remember
one of these poor, afflicted creatures, whose face was almost covered
with swollen and inflamed spots. Some were blind, and some had lost
part or all of their fingers by the disease. One man's nose was partly
consumed.
At Bishop Gobat's school we were kindly received, and given a good,
refreshing drink. The founder of this school, a member of the English
church, was one of the pioneers in Jerusalem mission work, and stood
very high in the estimation of the people. His grave is to be seen in
the cemetery near the school, where one may also see the supposed site
of the ancient city wall. Besides the Leper Hospital, we visited another
hospital under German control, where patients may have medical attention
and hospital service for the small sum of one _mejidi_, about eighty
cents, for a period, of fifteen days, but higher fees are charged in
other departments. We soon reached the English hospital, maintained by
the Society for the Promotion of Christianity among the Jews. It is
built on a semi-circular plan in such a way that the wards, extending
back from the front, admit light from both sides. This institution is
free to the Jews, but I understand Mohammedans were not admitted without
a fee.
The Syrian Orphanage had about three hundred children in it, who were
being instructed in books and in manual labor. Those who can see are
taught to work in wood, to make a kind of tile used in constructing
partitions, and other lines of useful employment. They had some blind
children, who were being taught to make baskets and brushes. On the way
back to Mr. Smith's I stopped at the Jewish Library, a small two-story
building, having the books and papers upstairs. They have a raised map
of Palestine, which was interesting to me, after having twice crossed
the country from sea to sea.
The last Thursday I was in the city I went with some friends to the
Israelite Alliance School, an institution with about a thousand pupils,
who receive both an industrial and a literary education. We were
conducted through the school by a Syrian gentleman named Solomon Elia,
who explained that, while the institution is under French control,
English is taught to some extent, as some of the pupils would go
to Egypt, where they would need to use this language. The boys are
instructed in wood-working, carpentry, copper-working, and other lines
of employment. We saw some of the girls making hair nets, and others
were engaged in making lace. Both of these products are sent out of
Palestine for sale. The institution has received help from some of the
Rothschild family, and I have no doubt that it is a great factor for the
improvement of those who are reached by it. Jerusalem is well supplied
with hospitals and schools. The Greek and Roman Catholic churches, the
Church of England, and numerous other religious bodies have a footing
here, and are striving to make it stronger. Their schools and hospitals
are made use of as missionary agencies, and besides these there is a
Turkish hospital and numerous Mohammedan schools.
On Friday I had an opportunity to see a man measuring grain, as is
indicated by the Savior's words: "Give, and it shall be given unto you;
good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they
give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again" (Luke 6:38). He filled his measure about full,
and then shook it down thoroughly. He next filled it up and shook it
down until he evidently thought he had all he could get that way, so he
commenced to pile it up on top. When he had about as much heaped up as
would stay on, he put his hands on the side of the cone opposite himself
and gently pulled it toward him. He then piled some more on the far
side, and when he had reached the limit in this way, he carefully
leveled the top of the cone down a little, and when he could no longer
put on more grain, he gently lifted the measure and moved it around to
the proper place, where it was quickly dumped. In the evening Mr. Smith
and I walked out on Mount Scopus, where Titus had his camp at the time
of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, as foretold by our Lord and
Master in the twenty-fourth of Matthew.
As we went along, Mr. Smith pointed out the watershed between the
Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. The view from Scopus is very extensive.
We could look away to the north to Nebi Samwil, where the Prophet Samuel
is supposed by some to have been buried. Ramallah, the seat of a school
maintained by the Society of Friends, is pointed out, along with Bireh,
Bethel, and Geba. Nob, the home of the priests slain by command of Saul
(1 Samuel 22:16), and Anathoth, one of the cities of refuge (Joshua
21:18), are in sight. Swinging on around the circle to the east, the
northern end of the Dead Sea is visible, while the Mount of Olives is
only a little distance below us. Across the valley of the Kidron lies
the Holy City, with her walls constructed at various periods and under
various circumstances, her dome-shaped stone roofs, synagogues, mosques,
and minarets, being "trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). Here, with this panorama spread
out in the evening light, I may say my sight-seeing in the City of the
Great King came to an end.
I lacked but a few hours of having been in the city two weeks, when I
boarded the train for Jaffa on my way to Egypt. The most of the time I
had lodged in the hospitable home of Mr. Smith, where I had a clean
and comfortable place to rest my tired body when the shadows of night
covered the land. I had received kind treatment, and had seen many
things of much interest. I am truly thankful that I have been permitted
to make this trip to Jerusalem. Let me so live that when the few
fleeting days of this life are over, I may rest with the redeemed. When
days and years are no more, let me enjoy, in the NEW JERUSALEM, the
blessedness that remains for those that have loved the Lord.
"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great
voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and
God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and he shall wipe away
every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall
there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things have
passed away" (Revelation 21:2-4).