"How doth the city solitary sit, she that was full of people!
How is she become a widow, that was great among the nations!
Princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
She weepeth sore in the night, and her tear is upon her cheek:
She hath none to comfort her, among all her lovers:
All her friends have betrayed her, they became her enemies."
_Lamen._ i. 1, 2.
"In the whole universe," says Mr. Eustace, "there were only two cities
interesting alike to every member of the great Christian commonwealth,
to every citizen of the civilised world, whatever may be his tribe or
nation--Rome and Jerusalem. The former calls up every classic
recollection; the latter awakens every sentiment of devotion; the
one brings before our eyes all the splendour of the present world; the
other all the glories of the world to come."
[Illustration: JERUSALEM.]
Palestine, or the land of Canaan, originally extended in length from
north to south, near two hundred miles, and from eighty to fifteen in
breadth, from east to west. Its southern boundary was formed by the
desert of Beersheba, the Dead Sea, the river Arnon, and the river of
Egypt, or the Siehor; to the north, it was bounded by the mountainous
ridge called Antilibanus; to the east by Arabia, and to the west by the
Mediterranean. Though rocky and mountainous, it was one of the most
fertile provinces of the temperate zone; a land, according to the
authority of the sacred penman, of brooks of waters, of fountains, and
depths, that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and
barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive-oil,
and honey; a land wherein bread might be eaten without scarceness, whose
stones were iron, and out of whose hills might be dug brass.
In the midst of this highly favoured region stood the city of Jerusalem,
which, according to the Jewish chronology, was founded by their high
priest Melchizedec, in the year of the world 2032. It was then called
Salem, a word signifying _peace_.[302]
Joshua is supposed to have destroyed Jerusalem; that town, though not
mentioned, being considered to have been one of those that fought
against Gibeon, the king of which was Adoni-zedek[303].
The city was afterwards rebuilt by David, and surrounded with
fortifications, extending inwards from the low grounds, called Millo, to
the summit of the mountain, on which he erected a citadel, destined
alike to be the great fortress of the nation, and the sumptuous
residence of its kings. The rich work of the tabernacle, and the
splendour which characterised many of their ceremonies, had long tended
to inspire the Israelites with a taste for the elegant arts. David's
palace, we accordingly find, was a palace of cedar. In raising this
structure, the timber of Tyre and the superior skill of its artificers
were employed to secure its beauty and stability. When completed, the
grace and majesty of the pile reminded the monarch that, in taking up
his abode in such a building, he should be more splendidly lodged than
the ark and visible emblem of Jehovah itself. With this idea in his
mind, he resolved upon erecting a building for the service of God, which
should be as worthy of its destination as the ability and piety of man
could make it.
This design, David not living to carry into execution, was followed up
and completed by Solomon his son. From the reign of Solomon to the final
destruction of the city, it underwent many vicissitudes, some of which
we shall recite. In the fourth year of Solomon's son, Rehoboam (B.C.
971), it was besieged and taken by Sesac, king of Egypt, who carried
away the treasures of the temple, as well as those of the royal palace.
In 826 B.C. the temple and palace were plundered by Jehoash, and the
walls demolished. In 608 B.C. Jerusalem was taken by Nechao, king of
Egypt. It was next besieged by Sennacherib, king of Nineveh. That prince
having returned from Egypt, which he had ravaged, and taken a great
number of prisoners, laid siege to it with a vast army. The city
appeared to be inevitably lost: it was without resource, and without
hope from the hands of men. It had, however, says the historian, "a
powerful protector in Heaven, whose jealous ears had heard the impious
blasphemies uttered by the king of Nineveh against his sacred name. In
one single night 185,000 men of his army perished by the sword of the
destroying angel."
Jerusalem was soon after besieged by Nebuchadonosser and taken; when the
conqueror caused Jehoiakim to be put in chains with the design of having
him carried to Babylon; but, being moved with his affliction, he
restored him to his throne. Great numbers, however, of the Jews were
carried captives to Babylon, whither all the treasures of the king's
palace and a part of the temple were likewise transported. From this
famous epoch we are to date the captivity of the Jews at Babylon.
They having afterwards rebelled, the king came from Babylon and besieged
them anew. The siege lasted nearly a year. At length the city was taken
by storm, and a terrible slaughter ensued. Zedekiah's two sons were, by
Nebuchadnezzar's orders, killed before their father's face, with all the
noblemen and principal men of Judah. Zedekiah himself had both his eyes
put out, was loaded with fetters, and carried to Babylon, where he was
confined in prison as long as he lived. As to the city and temple, they
were both pillaged and burned, and all their fortifications demolished.
The kings of Persia soon after permitted the Jews to rebuild the
temple;[304] but not the walls. Artaxerxes Epiphanes, however, issued an
edict that they might rebuild their walls; and Nehemiah, as governor of
Judea, was appointed to put this edict in execution; and, in order to do
him higher honour, the king ordered a body of horse to escort him
thither. He likewise wrote to all the governors of the provinces on this
side the Euphrates, to give him all the assistance possible in
forwarding the work for which he was sent. This pious Jew did not fail
to execute every part of his commission with great activity and zeal.
After the time of Nehemiah, Jerusalem enjoyed peace till the year B.C.
332, when Alexander, having taken Tyre, demanded assistance of the Jews,
and being refused by the high-priest, who pleaded an oath, made to
Darius, not to take part with his enemies; the Macedonian was incensed,
and repairing to Jerusalem, determined to be avenged on the city and its
inhabitants; but being met by a multitude of people, dressed in white,
the priests arrayed in their robes, and the high priest in a garment of
purple and gold, having on his head a tiara, on which was inscribed the
name of the Lord, his passion subsided; and, approaching the
high-priest, he offered his adoration to God, and saluted all the
Hebrews.
We pass over Alexander's entry into the city, because enough will be
said of that vain-glorious person, in other pages of our work; also the
siege which Ptolemy made it sustain, to the time when Antiochus
Epiphanes took it by storm; and during three days abandoned it to the
fury of his soldiers. He caused no less than 80,000 of its inhabitants
to be inhumanly butchered. Forty thousand men, also, were taken
prisoners, and the like number sold to the neighbouring nations. He
committed, also, a thousand other atrocities.
We now come to the period in which it was besieged by another Antiochus,
viz. Antiochus Sidetes. Hircanus having been, by the death of Simon,
appointed high-priest and prince of the Jews, Antiochus marched with all
possible haste, at the head of a powerful army, to reduce Judea, and
unite it to the empire of Syria. Hircanus shut himself up in the city,
where he sustained a long siege with incredible valour. At length he was
compelled, by the extremity of his necessities, to make proposals of
peace. Several of the king's councillors, however, advised him not to
listen to any proposals of that nature. "The Jews," said they, "were
driven out of Egypt, as impious persons, hated by the gods, and abhorred
by men. They are enemies to all the rest of mankind. They have no
communication with any but those of their own persuasion. They will
neither eat nor drink nor have any familiarity with other people; they
do not adore the gods that we do; their laws, customs, manners, and
religion, are entirely different from those of all other nations; they
therefore deserve to be treated by all the nations with equal contempt;
to receive hatred for hatred; and to be utterly extirpated."
Such was the language addressed to Antiochus; and had he not been devout
and generous, says Diodorus, this advice had been followed. He
listened, however, to milder counsels, and agreed that the besieged
should have leave to surrender their arms; and that their fortifications
being demolished, a peace should be granted. All this was done.
Some years after this, Jerusalem was taken possession of by the Romans
under the command of Pompey the Great, and the temple carried by storm.
There were two parties in the city. One, the adherents of Hircanus,
opened the gates; the other retired to the mountain where the temple
stood, and caused the bridges of the ditch and valley which surrounded
it to be broken down. Upon this, Pompey, who was already master of the
city, ventured to besiege the temple. The place held out three months,
and might, perhaps, have done so for three months longer, and perhaps
even obliged the Romans to abandon their enterprise, but for the rigour
with which the besieged thought proper to observe the sabbath. They
believed, indeed, that they might defend themselves when attacked; but
not that they might prevent the works of the enemy, or make any for
themselves. The Romans knew how to take advantage of this inaction on
sabbath-days. They did not attack the Jews upon them; but filled up the
fosses, made their approaches, and fixed their engines without
opposition. At length, being able to make a breach in the walls, the
place was carried by the sword, and not less than 12,000 persons were
slain. The victors entered the temple; and Pompey went even so far as to
penetrate to the Holy of Holies, and altered the name of Jerusalem (then
called Hierosolyma) to Hierosolymarius. Not long after, Crassus,
marching against the Parthians, entered the temple, the treasures of
which Pompey held sacred, and rifled it of a sum equivalent, in our
money, to £1,500,000.
Pompey caused the walls to be demolished: Cæsar afterwards caused them
to be rebuilt; and Antipater, executing that commission, soon put the
city into as good a position of defence as it had been before the
demolition. Notwithstanding this, Jerusalem became subject to another
siege by the Romans, acting in behalf of Herod, with 60,000 men. The
place held out many months with great resolution; and if the besieged
had been as expert in the art of war and the defence of places, as they
were brave and resolute, it would not, perhaps, have been taken. But the
Romans, who were much better skilled in those things than they, carried
the place, after a siege of more than six months. They entered, made
themselves masters, plundered and destroyed all before them, and filled
every part of the city with blood. The crown of all Judea was soon after
placed in the hands of a stranger,--an Idumean--(Herod); in whose reign
Jesus Christ was born.
During the reign of Herod the Great, Jerusalem was much enlarged and
embellished. He erected a superb palace, a theatre, and an amphitheatre.
He, also, projected the design of enlarging the temple,[305] which had
been erected after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity;
and, having begun the work in the eleventh year of his reign, he
completed it in eight years.
Tacitus call this erection "_immensæ opulentiæ templum_;" and Josephus
says, "it was the most astonishing temple he had ever seen, as well on
account of its architecture as its magnitude; the richness and
magnificence of its various parts, and the reputation of its sacred
appurtenances." This temple Herod began to build about sixteen years
before the birth of Christ. It was so far completed in nine years and a
half, as to be fit for divine service: and what is very remarkable, it
was afterwards destroyed by the Romans, in the same month and day of
the month, in which Solomon's temple had been destroyed by the
Babylonians.
In its most flourishing state Jerusalem was divided into four parts,
each separated by a wall, viz. 1. The old city of J[=e]bus, standing on
Mount Zion, where David built a magnificent palace and castle. This part
was called the city of David. 2. The lower city; called the Daughter of
Zion, in which part Solomon built two magnificent palaces, for himself
and his queen; and which contained that of the Maccabean princes; and
the amphitheatre of Herod. Also the citadel of Antiochus; and lastly the
citadel built by Herod, upon a high rock, and thence called Antonia. 3.
The "New City;" mostly inhabited by merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics.
4. Mount Moriah; on which Solomon built his temple.
The height of the temple thus repaired is said to have been one thousand
two hundred feet. The stones of which it was built were all of marble,
forty cubits long, twelve thick, eight high, and so exquisitely joined
that they appeared to be of one combined piece. There were one thousand
four hundred and fifty-three columns of Parian marble, and two thousand
nine hundred and six pilasters, of such thickness, that three men could
hardly embrace them; and their height and capital proportionable, and
all of the Corinthian order.[306] All the materials of the original
fabric were, as it is well known, finished and adapted to their several
ends before they were brought to Jerusalem: that is, the stones in their
quarries, and the cedars in Lebanon; so that there was no noise of axe,
hammer, or any other tool, heard in the rearing of it. There were no
less than one hundred and sixty-three thousand men employed in this
work; and yet it took nine years in the building.
The expense of building this wonderful structure was prodigious: the
gold and silver employed for this purpose, amounted to 800,000,000_l._
sterling, which, according to Prideaux's calculation, was a sum equal to
have built the whole of solid silver; but it can scarcely be questioned,
we think, that some error has crept into the account[307]: There could
not have been so much bullion, much less coin, at that time in the
world.
In ancient Jerusalem there were ten gates and four towers. Its extent
was about one mile. In Solomon's time, this extent appears to have been
twice, if not thrice, more. In the time of Titus it was four miles 125
paces. Eusebius lays the circumference at 2550 toises.
We must now proceed to give some account of the destruction of the city
by Titus[308]: and in doing so we shall adopt the description presented
by the author of--"On the Beauties, Harmonies, and Sublimities of
Nature."
"The war began in the month of May, A.D. 66; and the siege left to the
management of Titus, April 14, A.D. 70. Previous to the siege, the city
was a prey to the most intolerable anarchy; robbers having broken into
it, and filled almost every house with thieves, assassins, and broilers,
of every description. The best citizens were thrown into prisons, and
afterwards murdered, without even a form of trial. At this time Titus
appeared before the gates--a vast multitude having previously arrived in
the city to celebrate the feast of the passover. During this celebrated
siege, there were no less than three earthquakes; and an aurora borealis
terrified the inhabitants with forms, which their fears and astonishment
converted into prodigies of enemies fighting in the air, and flaming
swords hanging over their temple. They were visited with a plague, so
dreadful, that more than one hundred and fifty thousand persons were
carried out of the city, at the public charge, to be buried; and six
hundred and fifty thousand were cast over the walls, and out of the
gates. A famine ensued; and so horrible was the want, that a bushel of
corn sold for six hundred crowns. The populace were reduced to the
necessity of taking old excrement of horses, mules, and oxen, to satisfy
their hunger; and a lady of quality even boiled her own child and ate
it--a crime so exquisite, that Titus vowed to the eternal Gods, that he
would bury its infamy in the ruins of the city. He took it soon after by
storm; the plough was drawn over it; and with the exception of the west
walls, and three towers, not one stone remained above another. Ninety
thousand persons were made captives; and one million one hundred
thousand perished during the siege. Those made captives being sold to
several nations, they were dispersed over a great portion of the ancient
world; and from them are descended the present race of Jews, scattered
singly, and in detached portions, in every province of Europe, and in
most districts of Africa and Asia. Thus terminated this memorable
siege--a siege the results of which meet the eye in every Jew we meet."
The Jews having, in the reign of Adrian, given way to a turbulent
disposition, that emperor resolved to level all things to the
ground--that is, those buildings which the Jews had erected to destroy
the towers, that were left by Titus for the convenience of the Roman
garrison; and to sow salt in the ground on which the city had stood.
Thus did Adrian literally fulfil the prophecy, that neither in the city,
nor in the temple, should one stone be left upon another. This final
destruction took place forty-seven years after that of Titus.
A new city, under the name of Ælia Capitolina, was soon after built,
where the presence of the Jews was absolutely prohibited. In this new
city, the Christians were sometimes persecuted, and sometimes
protected, by the Roman emperors, till the time when the empress Helena
came to visit the city; when, finding it in a most forlorn and ruinous
condition, she formed the design of restoring it to its ancient lustre;
and her son, Constantine, having embraced the Christian doctrine, he
issued an edict, that the old name of Jerusalem should be employed when
speaking of the city.
A few years after, an attempt was made to rebuild the temple by the
emperor Julian, an attempt which is recorded as having proved abortive,
from fiery eruptions escaping out of the earth, and dispersing the
workmen.
In the reign of Justinian, that emperor built a magnificent church at
Jerusalem; the foundation being formed by raising part of a deep valley.
The stones of a neighbouring quarry were hewn into regular forms; each
block was fixed on a peculiar carriage drawn by forty of the strongest
oxen, and the roads were widened for the passage of such enormous
weights. Lebanon furnished her loftiest cedars for the timbers of the
church; and the seasonable discovery of a vein of red marble supplied
its beautiful columns;--two of which, the supporters of the extensive
portico, were esteemed the largest in the world.
In 613, Jerusalem was taken by Chosroes, king of Persia. The sepulchre
of Christ and the stately churches of Helena and Constantine were
consumed; the devout offerings of three hundred years were rifled, "the
true cross" was transported into Persia; and the massacre of ninety
thousand Christians is imputed to the Jews and Arabs, who swelled the
disorder of the Persian march.
It was recaptured by Heraclius in 627. This emperor banished all the
Jews, and interdicted them from coming nearer to it than three miles.
Nine years after this, Jerusalem was taken by Khaled, one of Omar's
generals. Omar being apprised of this success of his arms, immediately
set out to visit the Holy City. He was attended in his journey by a
numerous retinue. He rode upon a red camel, and carried with him two
sacks of provision and fruits. Before him he had a leather bottle
containing water, and behind him a wooden platter, out of which many of
his retinue ate in common with himself. His clothes were made of camels'
hair, and were in a very tattered condition; and the figure he made was
mean and sordid to the last degree. On the morning after his arrival, he
said prayers and preached to his troops. After the conclusion of his
sermon, he pitched his tent within sight of the city. There he signed
the articles of capitulation; by which the inhabitants were entitled to
the free exercise of their religion, the possession of their property,
and his protection.
It continued under the caliphs of Bagdad till A.D. 868, when it was
taken by a Turkish sovereign of Egypt; during the space of two hundred
and twenty years it was subject to several masters, Turkish and
Saracenic; and in 1099, it was taken by the crusaders under Godfrey of
Bouillon, who was elected king. He was succeeded by his brother Baldwin,
who died A.D. 1118, and having no son, his eldest daughter, Melisandra,
conveyed the kingdom into her husband's family. In A.D. 1188, Saladin,
sultan of the East, captured the city, assisted by Raymond, count of
Tripoli, who was found dead in his bed on the morning of the day on
which he was to have delivered up the city. It was restored in 1242 to
the Latin princes by Salah Ismael, emir of Damascus. They lost it in
1291 to the sultans of Egypt, who held it till 1382.
Selim, the Turkish sultan, reduced Egypt and Syria, including Jerusalem,
in 1517, and his son Solyman built the present walls in 1534. It
continues to the present day under the Turkish dominion, fulfilling the
prophecy, that it "should be trodden down of the Gentiles." It is not,
therefore, only in the history of Josephus, and in other ancient
writers, that we are to look for the accomplishment of Christ's
prediction; we see them verified at this moment before our eyes, in the
desolate state of this once celebrated city and temple, and in the
present condition of the Jewish people; not collected together into any
one country, into one political society, and under one form of
government, but dispersed into every region of the globe, and everywhere
treated with contumely and scorn.
We now proceed to give some account of the city, as it now stands, from
various travellers who have visited it; confining ourselves, however,
almost entirely to what may be called its antiquities.
The following particulars in regard to the approach to Jerusalem are
from the pen of Mr. Robinson.
"As we approach Jerusalem, the road becomes more and more rugged, and
all the appearance of vegetation ceases; the rocks are scantily covered
with soil, and what little verdure might have existed in the spring, is
in the autumn entirely burnt up. There is a like absence of animal life;
and it is no exaggeration to say, here man dwelleth not; the beast
wandereth not; the bird flieth not; indeed, nothing indicates the
approach to the ancient metropolis of Judea, unless it be the apparent
evidences of a curse upon its soil, impressed in the dreadful characters
just mentioned, whilst the 'inhabitants thereof,' are 'scattered
abroad.' Oftentimes on the road was I tempted to exclaim, like the
stranger that was come from a strange land, 'Wherefore hath the Lord
done this unto the land? what meaneth the heat of this great
anger[309]?'"
Dr. Clarke, however, was nevertheless struck with its grandeur. He says
that, instead of a wretched and ruined town, as he had expected, he
beheld a flourishing and stately metropolis, domes, towers, palaces, and
monasteries, shining in the sun's rays with inconceivable splendour.
"Like many other ancient places," says a French commentator on this
account, "it no doubt presents two aspects; a mixture of magnificence
and paltriness."
To the southward of the site of Bethlehem stands the city castle[310].
It is composed of towers connected by curtains, which form two or three
enclosures, the interior successively commanding the exterior. A few old
guns, mounted on broken carriages, are planted on its walls to keep the
Arabs in awe. The castle is sometimes called the castle of Daniel; and
sometimes of the Pisans, having been erected by that people when the
city was in the hands of the Christians. From one of the windows looking
north, travellers are shown the site of the house of Uriah; and a piece
of ground attached to it, and just within the walls, an old tank, called
Bathsheba's bath. But the place where the latter was bathing, when seen
by the amorous monarch, was more probably the great basin lying in the
ravine to the south of the castle at the foot of Mount Zion, and called
the lower pool of Gihon.
The sides of the hill of Zion have a pleasing appearance; as they
possess a few olive-trees and rude gardens, and a crop of corn was
growing there when Mr. Carne visited it. On its southern extremity is
the mosque of David, which is held in the highest reverence by the
Turks, who affirm that the remains of that monarch, and his son Solomon,
were interred there.
The palace of Pilate is now a Turkish residence, and stands near to the
gateway by which Christ was led thence to Calvary, to be crucified. Here
is pointed out the spot on which Pilate presented Jesus to the
people, declaring he could find no guilt in him; the place on which he
fainted under the weight of the cross, and where the Virgin swooned,
also, at the sight; the spot where Veronica gave him her handkerchief to
wipe his forehead; and lastly, where the soldiers compelled Simon of
Cyrene to bear his cross. In the palace the monk points out the room
where Christ was confined before his trial; and at a short distance is a
dark and ruinous hall, shown as the arch where Christ stood till his
judge exclaimed "Behold the man[311]!"
One of the streets is said to be the same where Christ made his first
appearance after his resurrection; and in the same street stands an
Armenian convent, erected over the spot on which James, the brother of
John, was beheaded. This is one of the finest buildings in
Jerusalem[312]. At a short distance is a small church, said to be
erected on the spot where formerly stood the house of the high-priest
Annas; and, a little farther on, another which marks the house of
Caiaphas; while, just beyond the gate, the attention is directed to a
mosque, where the house stood in which Christ ate his last supper.
The mosque of Omar, which occupies the site of the Jewish temple, loses
nothing of its grandeur or beauty on a near approach. The spacious paved
courts, the flights of steps, and surrounding arcades, the dark tall
cypress-trees and running fountains, and the large octagonal body of the
mosque, with its surrounding domes, produce altogether the finest
effect, and increase the desire to enter its forbidden walls. It is said
to be the most magnificent piece of architecture in the Turkish empire;
far superior to the mosque of St. Sophia in Constantinople. By the sides
of the spacious area in which it stands are several vaulted remains; and
evidence is said to be capable of proving, that they belonged to the
foundation of Solomon's temple[313].
Chateaubriand says, that he was strongly tempted to find some mode of
penetrating to the interior of the mosque; but was prevented by the
fear, that he might thereby involve the whole Christian population of
Jerusalem in destruction. Dr. Richardson, however, succeeded in
gratifying a similar curiosity, which he shared in common with a host of
other travellers.
The Tomb of Zacharias is square, with four or five pillars, and is cut
out of the rock. Near this is a sort of grotto, hewn out of the elevated
part of the rock, with four pillars in front, which is said to have been
the apostles' prison at the time they were confined by the rulers.
At a small distance within the gates of St. Stephen, that fronts Olivet,
is the pool of Bethesda, said to be the scene of one of Christ's most
striking miracles. The pool is at present dry, and its bed nearly filled
up with earth and rubbish. Wild tamarisk bushes and pomegranate trees
spread their foliage round it; but, according to Chateaubriand, the
mason-work of the sides, composed of large stones, joined together by
iron cramps, may still be traced; making the measurement of this
reservoir to have been in width 40 feet, and in length 150. At its
eastern end are some arches dammed up. It is evidently the most ancient
work in Jerusalem, and, as such, is an interesting specimen of the
primitive architecture of its inhabitants. All travellers seem to agree
that this was the pool of Bethesda, memorable in the Gospel history as
the scene of the paralytic, related in St. John. It was here, perhaps,
that the sheep were marked, preparatory to the sacrifices of the
temple[314].
"At about two-thirds of the ascent of the Mount of Olives," says Mr.
Robinson, "we were shown the place where our Lord, looking down upon the
city, wept over its impending fate. 'Seest thou these great buildings?
There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down[315].'"
"From the summit," says Mr. Carne, "you enjoy an admirable view of the
city. It is beneath, and very near, and looks, with its valleys around
it, like a panorama. This noble mosque of Omar, and large area, planted
with palms, its narrow streets, ruinous places and towers, are all laid
out before you, as you have seen Naples and Corfu in Leicester-square.
On the summit are the remains of a church, built by the empress Helena;
and in a small edifice, containing one large and lofty apartment, is
shown the print of the last footsteps of Christ, when he took his leave
of earth."
"About forty years," says Dr. Clarke, "before the idolatrous profanation
of the Mount of Olives by Solomon, his afflicted parent, driven from
Jerusalem by his son Absalom, came to this eminence to present a less
offensive sacrifice, and, as it is beautifully expressed by Adichomius,
'flens et nudis pedibus adoravit,' what a scene does the sublime
description, given by the prophet, picture to the imagination of every
one who has felt the influence of filial piety, but especially of the
traveller, standing upon the very spot where the aged monarch gave to
heaven the offering of his wounded spirit. "And David went up by the
ascent of Mount Olives, and wept as he went up, and had his head
covered, and he went barefoot, and all the people that was with him
covered every man his head; and they went up weeping."
On the top of the mount are the remains of several works, the history of
which has been lost. Among these are several subterraneous chambers. One
of them has the shape of a cone, of very large size. It is upon the very
pinnacle of the mountain.
"The Mount of Olives," says Mons. La Martine, "slopes suddenly and
rapidly down to the deep abyss, called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which
separates it from Jerusalem. From the bottom of this sombre and narrow
valley, the barren sides of which are everywhere paved with black and
white stones, the funereal stones of death, rises an immense hill, with
so abrupt an elevation, that it resembles a fallen rampart: no tree here
strikes its roots; no moss even can here fix its filaments. The slope is
so steep that the earth and stones continually roll from it, and it
presents to the eye only a surface of dry dust, as if powdered cinders
had been thrown upon it. From the heights of the city, towards the
middle of this hill, or natural rampart, rise high and strong walls of
large stones, not externally sawed by the mason, which conceal their
Hebrew and Roman foundations beneath the same cinders, and are here from
fifty to one hundred, and further on, from two to three hundred feet in
height. The walls are here cut by three city gates, two of which are
fastened up, and the only one open before us seems as void and as
desolate as if it gave entrance to an uninhabited town. The walls,
rising again beyond this gate, sustain a large and vast terrace, which
runs along two-thirds of the length of Jerusalem, on the eastern side;
and, judging by the eye, may be a thousand feet in length, and five or
six hundred in breadth. It is nearly level, except at its centre, where
it sinks insensibly, as if to recall to the eye the _valley of little
depth_, which formerly separated the hill of Sion from the city of
Jerusalem. This magnificent platform, prepared no doubt by nature, but
evidently finished by the hand of man, was the sublime pedestal upon
which arose the temple of Solomon. It now supports two Turkish mosques."
Acra Hill[316] rose to the north of Sion, the east side facing mount
Moriah, on which the temple was situated, and from which this hill was
separated only by a chasm, which the Asmoneans partly filled up by
lowering the summit of Acra. As we are informed by Josephus, Antiochus
Epiphanes erected a fortress upon it to overawe the city and the temple;
which fortress, having a Greek or Macedonian garrison, held out against
the Jews till the time of Simon, who demolished it, and at the same time
levelled the summit of the hill.
The east side of Mount Moriah[317] bordered the valley of Kedron,
commonly called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which was very deep: the
south side, overlooking a very low spot, (the Tyropoeon,) was faced,
from top to bottom, with a strong wall, and had a bridge going across
the valley for its communication with Sion. The east side looked towards
Acra, the appearance of which from the temple is compared by Josephus to
a theatre; and on the north side an artificial ditch, says the same
historian, separated the temple from a hill named Begetha, which was
afterwards joined to the town, by an extension of its area.
The loftiest, the most extensive, and in all respects the most
conspicuous eminence, included within the site of the ancient city, was
that of Sion, called the Holy Hill, and the citadel of David. This we
have positive authority for fixing on the south of the city. David
himself saith, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is
Mount Zion; on the sides of the north the city of the great King[318]."
"On its summit," says La Martine, "at some hundred paces from Jerusalem,
stands a mosque and a group of Turkish edifices, not unlike an European
hamlet, crowned with its church and steeple. This is Sion! the palace,
the tomb of David! the seat of his inspiration and of his joys, of his
life and his repose! A spot doubly sacred to me, who have so often felt
my heart touched, and my thoughts rapt by the sweet singer of Israel,
the first poet of sentiment, the king of lyrics. Never have human fibres
vibrated to harmonies so deep, so penetrating, so solemn; all the most
secret murmurs of the human heart found their voice and their note on
the lips and the heart of this minstrel! and if we revert to the remote
period when such chants were first echoed on the earth; if we consider
that at the same period the lyric poetry of the most cultivated nations
sang only of wine, love, and war, and the victories of the muses, or of
the coursers at the Eleian games, we dwell with profound astonishment on
the mystic accents of the prophet king, who addresses God the Creator,
as friend talks to friend, comprehends and adores his wonders, admires
his judgments, implores his mercies, and seems to be an anticipating
echo of the evangelic poetry, repeating the mild accents of Christ,
before they had been heard. Prophet or poet, as he is contemplated by
the philosopher or christian, neither of them can deny the poet king an
inspiration, bestowed on no other man! Read Horace or Pindar after a
Psalm? For my part I cannot!"
Near Jerusalem is a spot called Tophet, which is a ravine, which
contains several ancient tombs, marked with Hebrew and Greek
inscriptions. This valley is remarkable for the barbarous worship here
paid to Moloch; to which deity parents often sacrificed their offspring
by making them pass through the fire. To drown the lamentable shrieks of
the children[319] thus immolated, musical instruments were played. After
the captivity the Jews regarded this spot with abhorrence, on account of
the abominations which had been practised there; and following the
example of Josiah[320], they threw into it every species of filth, as
well as the carcases of animals, and the dead bodies of malefactors; and
to prevent the pestilence which such a mass would occasion, if left to
putrefy, constant fires were maintained in the valley in order to
consume the whole; hence the place received the appellation of Gehenna.
All round the hill of Sion[321], and particularly on that facing the
Valley of Hinnom, are numerous excavations which may have been
habitations of the living, but are more generally taken for sepulchres
of the dead. They are numerous and varied, both in their sizes and
forms; and are supposed to have been the tombs of the sons of Heth, of
the kings of Israel, of Lazarus, and of Christ.
The modern sepulchres of the unfortunate Jews are scattered all around.
The declivities of Sion and Olivet are covered with small and ill-shaped
stones, disposed with little order:--Here are the tombs of their
fathers.
The sepulchres of the kings of Judah consist of a series of subterranean
chambers, extending in different directions, so as to form a sort of
labyrinth, resembling the still more wonderful example, lying westward
of Alexandria, in Egypt, by some called "the Sepulchres of the
Ptolemies." Each chamber contains a certain number of receptacles for
dead bodies, not being much larger than our coffins. The taste,
manifested in the interior of these chambers, denotes a late period in
the history of the arts. The skill and neatness visible in the carving
is admirable, and there is much of ornament in several parts of the
work. There are, also, slabs of marble, exquisitely sculptured. These
sepulchres are not those of the kings of Judah. Some suppose they may
have been constructed by Agrippa, who extended and beautified this
quarter of the city; but the most current opinion is, that they were the
work of Helena, queen of Aliabene, and her son Izatus.
The Sepulchres of the Patriarchs face that part of Jerusalem where the
Temple of Solomon was formerly erected. The antiquities which
particularly bear this name, are four in number: these are the
sepulchres of Jehoshaphat, of Absalom, the cave of St. James, and the
sepulchre of Zechariah. These tombs display an alliance of the Egyptian
and Grecian taste, "forming, as it were," says Chateaubriand, "a link
between the Pyramids and the Parthenon." "In order to form the
sepulchres of Absalom and Zechariah," says Dr. Clarke, "the solid
substance of the mountain has been cut away; sufficient areas being
thereby excavated, two monuments of prodigious size appear in the midst;
each seeming to consist of a single stone, although standing as if
erected by an architect, and adorned with columns, appearing to support
the edifice, whereof they are, in fact, integral parts; the whole of
each mausoleum being of one entire block of stone. These works may,
therefore, be considered as belonging to sculpture, rather than to
architecture: for, immense as these are, they appeared sculptured
instead of being built. The columns are of that ancient style and
character, which yet appear among the works left by Ionian and Dorian
colonies, in the remains of their Asiatic cities."
The sepulchre of Absalom, and the cave of St. James, are smaller works,
but of the same nature as those above. All of them contain apartments
and receptacles for the dead, hewn in the same curious manner.
A few paces to the north of the grot,[322] is a substantial stone
building, resembling the dome of a church, almost even with the ground,
having a pointed gothic doorway. It covers the reputed tomb of the
blessed Virgin; and its construction, like other great monuments of this
country, is attributed to the pious mother of Constantine. The descent
to it is by a broad and handsome flight of forty-six stone steps. On the
right-hand side, about half way down, is shown the cenotaph, erected to
the memory of Joahim and Anne, the father and mother of Mary; and, in a
recess on the opposite side, that of Joseph her husband. A further
descent leads into a subterraneous chapel, lit up with lamps, which are
kept continually burning. In the centre, a little to the right, is an
altar, erected over the sacred tomb, which is an excavation in the rock.
Behind, in the curve of the chapel, is an altar, at which mass is
occasionally said.[323]
"The tomb of the Virgin," says Dr. Clarke, "is the largest of all the
cryptæ. Near Jerusalem, appropriate chapels, within a lofty and spacious
vault, distinguish the real or imaginary tombs of the Virgin Mary, of
Joseph, of Anna, and of Caiaphas. Struck with wonder, not only in
viewing such an extraordinary effort of human labour, but in the
consideration that history affords no light whatever as to its origin,
we came afterwards to examine it again, but could assign no probable
date for the era of its construction. It ranks among those colossal
works, which were accomplished by the inhabitants of Asia Minor, of
Phoenicia, and of Palestine, in the first ages;--works, which differ
from those of Greece, in displaying less of beauty, but more of arduous
enterprise; works, which remind us of the people rather than the artist;
which we refer to as monuments of history, rather than of taste."
The circumstance[324] that perplexes every traveller, is to account for
Mount Calvary having been formerly _without_ the city, whereas it is, at
present, not a small way _within_; and in order to shut it out, the
ancient walls must have made the most extraordinary and unnecessary
curve imaginable. But tradition could not err in the identity of so
famous a spot; and the smallest scepticism would deprive it of its
principal charm.
The street leading to Calvary is called by the Christians Via Dolorosa,
or "Dolorous Way," in commemoration of the sufferings of Christ, in the
carrying of the cross to the place of execution. It rises with a gradual
ascent as it approaches Calvary, where it terminates. There are many
interesting spots in this way; and Mr. Robinson thus describes them:--
(1.) "An archway across the street, designated the Arch of the Ecce
Homo, over which there is a double window, separated by a column. Here
Pilate brought the Lord forth to the people, saying,--'Behold the
Man!'--(John xix. 6).
(2.) "The place where Christ turned round to the women, who followed him
with their lamentations, and, moved by the tears of his countrymen, he
addressed them in the language of consolation; 'Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me.'--(Luke xxiii. 28.) Where the Virgin, witness of the
trying scene, and overcome by the feelings of a mother, fell into a
swoon.
(3.) "Where Christ, falling down under the weight of the cross, the
soldiers compelled Simon the Cyrenian to assist him,--(Luke xxiii. 26);
it is marked out by the broken shaft of a column, just where the lower
city terminates.
(4.) "The dwelling of Lazarus.
(5.) "The dwelling of the rich man.
(6.) "The house from which Veronica, or Berenice, issued, to present our
Lord with a handkerchief, to wipe his bleeding brows.
(7.) "The gate of judgment, formerly the boundary of the city.
"And finally, Calvary, the scene of his crucifixion."
The church, which is regarded as marking the site of the Holy Sepulchre,
in Dr. Clarke's opinion, exhibits nowhere the slightest evidence which
can entitle it to either of these appellations. He is, therefore,
disposed to believe, that the crucifixion took place upon the opposite
summit, now called Mount Sion.
Dr. Clarke says, in reference to another cavern: "There was one, which
particularly attracted our notice, from its extraordinary coincidence
with all the circumstances attaching to the history of our Saviour's
tomb. The large stone which once closed its mouth had been, perhaps for
ages, rolled away. Stooping down to look into it, we observed within a
fair sepulchre, containing a repository upon one side only for a single
body: whereas, in most of the others, there were two, and in many of
them more than two. It is placed exactly opposite to that which is now
called Mount Sion. As we viewed the sepulchre, and read upon the spot
the description given of Mary Magdalene and the disciples coming in the
morning,[325] it was impossible to divest our minds of the probability,
that here might have been the identical tomb of Jesus Christ; and that
up the steep, which led to it, after descending from the gate of the
city, the disciples strove together,[326] when "John did out-run Peter,
and came first to the sepulchre."[327]
"On leaving the Church of the Holy Sepulchre," says Mons. la Martine,
"we followed the Via Dolorosa, of which M. de Chateaubriand has given so
poetical an itinerary. Here is nothing striking, nothing verified,
nothing even probable. Ruined houses, of modern construction, are
everywhere exhibited to the pilgrims by the monks as incontestible
vestiges of the various stations of Christ. The eye cannot even doubt;
all confidence in these local traditions is annihilated beforehand by
the history of the first years of Christianity, where we read that
Jerusalem no longer retained one stone upon another, and that Christians
were for many years exiled from the city. Some pools, and the tombs of
her kings, are the only memorials Jerusalem retains of her past eventful
story; a few sites alone can be recognised--as that of the Temple,
indicated by its terraces, and now bearing the large and magnificent
mosque of Omar al Sakara; Mount Sion occupied by the Armenian convent,
and the tomb of David; and it is only with history in one's hand, and
with a doubting eye, that the greater part of these can be assigned with
any degree of precision. Except the terraced walls in the valley of
Jehoshaphat, no stone bears its date in its form or colour;--all is in
ashes, or all is modern. The mind wanders in uncertainty over the
horizon of the city, not knowing where to rest; but the city itself,
designated by the circumscribed hill on which it stood, by the different
valleys which encircled it, and especially by the deep valley of Cedron,
is a monument which no eye can mistake. There, truly, was Sion seated; a
singular and unfortunate site for the capital of a great nation. It is
rather the natural fortress of a small people, driven from the earth,
and taking refuge, with their God and their Temple, on a soil that none
could have any interest in disputing with them; on rocks which no roads
can render accessible; amidst valleys destitute of water; in a rough and
sterile climate; its only prospect mountains, calcined by the eternal
fires of volcanoes; the mountains of Arabia and Jericho; and an
infectious lake, without shore or navigation--the Dead Sea."
The Garden of Gethsemane[328] is, not without reason, shown as the scene
of our Saviour's agony, the night before his crucifixion, both from the
circumstance of the name it still retains, and its situation in regard
to the city. Titus, it is true, cut down all the wood in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem; and were this not the case, no reasonable
person would regard it as a remnant of so remote an age, notwithstanding
the story of the olive shown in the citadel of Athens, and supposed to
bear date from the foundation of the city. But, as a spontaneous
produce, uninterruptedly resulting from the original growth of the
mountain, it is impossible to view even those with indifference.
In the upper end of the garden is a naked ledge of rocks[329], where
Peter, James, and John slept. The exact limits of this, the most
interesting and hallowed of all gardens, are not known, nor is it
necessary to know them; but as we read that "Christ went forth with his
disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden" (John xviii.
1), and that this garden was in the Mount of Olives, "we felt
satisfied," says Mr. Robinson, "that we stood on the ground whereon the
Saviour had stood before; and that the aged trees, which now afforded us
shade, were the lineal descendants of those under which he often
reposed; but more particularly on the night of his ascent. The grot, to
which he retired on this occasion, and where, "falling down to the
ground," in the agony of his soul, and "sweating," as it were, "great
drops of blood," he was comforted by an angel (Luke xxii. 43, 44), is
still shown, and venerated as such. It is excavated in the live rock,
and the descent to it is by a flight of rudely cut steps; the form of
the interior is circular, about fifteen feet in diameter, and the roof,
which is supported by pilasters, perforated in the middle to admit
light: there are some remains of sepulchres in the sides.
The cave of Gethsemane is in the valley of Jehoshaphat:--"It was to this
cavern," says La Martine, "at the foot of the Mount of Olives, that
Christ retired, according to tradition, to escape sometimes from the
persecution of his enemies and the importunities of his disciples; it
was here he communed with his own divine reflections, and that he
implored his Father, that the bitter cup that he had filled for himself,
and which we fill for ourselves, should pass from his lips. It was here
that he enjoined his three disciples to watch and pray, the evening
before his death, and not to sleep--and that three times he returned and
awakened them, so prone is human zeal and charity to slumber. It was
here he passed the terrible hours of his agony--the ineffable struggle
between life and death--between instinct and will--between the soul that
wishes to be free, and matter, which resists because of its blindness.
It was here he sweated blood and water, and that, weary of combating
with himself, without obtaining that victory of his intellect, which
would give peace to his thoughts, he uttered those words, which sum up
all human godliness; those words which are become the wisdom of the
wise, and which ought to be the epitaph of every life, and the sole
aspiration of every created being; 'My father, not my will, but thine,
be done!'"
The Valley of Jehoshaphat[330] was a deep and narrow valley, enclosed on
the north by barren heights, which contained the sepulchres of kings,
shaded on the west by the heavy and gigantic walls of a pre-existing
city; covered at the east by the summit of the Mount of Olives, and
crossed by a torrent which rolled its bitter and yellow waves over the
broken rocks of the valley of Jehoshaphat. At some paces distant, a
black and bare rock detaches itself like a promontory from the base of
the mountain, and, suspended over Cedron and the valley, bears several
old tombs of kings and patriarchs, formed in gigantic and singular
architecture, and strikes like the bridge of death over the valley of
lamentations.
The fountain of Siloam[331] rises about half way down Mount Sion, and
gushes from beneath a little arch, nearly ten feet below the surface,
into a small pool about two feet deep; this is quite open, and the rocky
sides of the spot are cut smooth. On the south side a flight of steps
leads down to it: the water is clear and cold, and flows down the mount
into the valley beneath, to a considerable distance. At this stream the
women of the city generally come to wash their linen; and its banks are
in some parts shaded with trees[332].
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has the external appearance of a Roman
Catholic church. Over the door is a bas-relief, executed in a style of
sculpture which at first sight implies an antiquity higher than that of
any Christian place of worship; but, upon a nearer view, is recognized
the history of the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem. Dr. Clarke is,
therefore, disposed to think, that it offers an example of the first
work in which Pagan sculptors represented a Christian theme. The
interior of this fabric is divided into two parts; and in the
anti-chapel is shown the mouth of what is called the sepulchre, the
stone whereon the angel sat: this is a block of white marble[333].
The Stone of Unction is covered by a slab of polished marble in the
floor of the entrance hall of the Holy Sepulchre. On this the body of
Christ was washed, anointed, and prepared for the tomb. (St. John, xix.
39.) It is surrounded by a low rail; and several rich lamps are hung
suspended over it. Advancing a few paces to the left, we come into that
part of the church, properly denominated the nave. It is an open space
in the form of a circle, about thirty-five paces in diameter, and
surrounded by sixteen pillars, supporting galleries, and covered in by a
dome, not unlike that of the Pantheon at Rome. In the centre of this
area, and immediately under the aperture through which the light is
admitted, rises a small oblong building of marble, twenty feet in
length, by ten in breadth, and about fifteen feet in height, surmounted
by a small cupola, standing upon columns; this covers the supposed site
of the Saviour's tomb. It is approached by steps leading into an
anti-room, or chapel[334].
The following account is given by Dr. Richardson:--"Having passed within
these sacred walls," says he, "the attention is first directed to a
large flat stone in the floor, a little within the door; it is
surrounded by a rail, and several lamps hang suspended over it. The
pilgrims approach it on their knees, touch and kiss it, and, prostrating
themselves before it, offer up their prayers in holy adoration. This is
the stone, it is said, on which the body of our Lord was washed and
anointed, and prepared for the tomb. Turning to the left, and proceeding
a little forward, we came into a round space immediately under the dome,
surrounded with sixteen large columns which support the gallery above.
In the centre of this space stands the Holy Sepulchre; it is enclosed in
an oblong house, rounded at one end, with small arcades, or chapels for
prayer, on the outside of it. These are for the Copts, the Abyssinians,
the Syrian Maronites, and other Christians, who are not, like the Roman
Catholics, the Greeks, and Armenians, provided with large chapels in the
body of the church. At the other end it is squared off, and furnished
with a platform in front, which is ascended by a flight of steps, having
a small parapet wall of marble on each hand, and floored with the same
material. In the middle of this small platform, stands a block of
polished marble, about a foot and a half square; on this stone (it is
said) sat the angel, who announced the blessed tidings of the
resurrection to Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of
James. Advancing, and taking off our shoes and turbans at the desire of
the keeper, he drew aside the curtain, and stepping down, and bending
almost to the ground, we entered by a low narrow door into this mansion
of victory, where Christ triumphed over the grave, and disarmed Death of
all his terrors. Here the mind looks on Him, who, though He knew no sin,
yet entered the mansion of the dead to redeem us from death, and the
prayers of a grateful heart ascend with a risen Saviour to the presence
of God in heaven."
"Christians," says Mons. Chateaubriand, "will inquire, perhaps, what my
feelings were on entering this holy place? I really cannot tell. So many
reflections rushed at once into my mind, that I was unable to dwell upon
any particular idea. I continued near half an hour upon my knees, in the
little chamber of the Holy Sepulchre, with my eyes riveted upon the
stone, from which I had not the power to turn them. One of the two
monks, who accompanied me, remained prostrate on the marble by my side;
while the other, with the Testament in his hand, read to me, by the
light of the lamps, the passages relating to the sacred tomb. All I can
say is, that when I beheld this triumphant sepulchre, I felt nothing but
my own weakness; and that when my guide exclaimed, with St. Paul, 'O
Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?' I listened,
as if Death was about to reply, that he was conquered, and enchained in
this monument[335]."