Location of Jerusalem. ―― Strong defensive Position of the City.
―― Surrounding Hills and Valleys. ―― Its Situation compared to
that of Athens and Rome. ―― True Meaning of the 125th Psalm.
―― Tower of Psephinus. ―― The two Valleys. ―― Height of the
adjacent Mountains. ―― A City without Suburbs. ―― Modern Wall.
―― Goliath’s Castle. ―― Immense Stones of Solomon’s Age. ――
Ancient Portals. ―― Beautiful Corner-stone. ―― Pinnacle of
the Temple from which Christ was tempted to throw himself.
―― Golden Gate. ―― Tower of Antonia. ―― Objection to Prophecy
answered. ―― The Bevel the Sign of Jewish Masonry. ―― Great
Cave beneath the City. ―― Wanderings by Torchlight. ――
Solomon’s Quarry. ―― Tyropean Valley. ―― Five Hills of
Jerusalem. ―― Mount Zion. ―― Royal Abode. ―― Herod’s three
Towers. ―― Splendid Church of St. James. ―― House of Caiaphas.
―― Scene of the Last Supper and of Pentecost. ―― Tomb of David.
―― Royal Plunderers. ―― Proof of its Antiquity. ―― Home of the
Lepers. ―― Sad Sight. ―― Akra. ―― Bezetha. ―― Napoleon’s Church.
ON the southern section of the Lebanon range, in N. lat. 31° 46′ 45″,
and in E. long. 35° 13′ from Greenwich, stands the memorable city of
Jerusalem. Elevated 2610 feet above the level of the Mediterranean,
and 3922 above the River Jordan, it is thirty-three miles from the
former and sixteen from the latter. Situated on a mountain summit,
the crown of which is broken into a wilderness of bleak limestone
peaks, divided by numberless ravines, it is by nature one of the most
strongly fortified cities in the world. Occupying the summits of five
hills, it is encompassed, except on the north, by deep valleys, which
in the earlier stages of military science must have been formidable
obstructions to an assailing foe. That well-known passage in the Psalms,
“As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about
his people,”[71] most evidently includes the valleys that circumvallate
the platform on which the city is built, as well as the surrounding
mountains. Indeed, there is but little difference in the altitude of
Olivet and Moriah, of the Hill of Corruption and Mount Zion. In the
olden times, when an invading foe approached the walls of a town with
towers, battering-rams, ballistas, and catapults, an intervening valley
was a more serious obstacle to encounter than a mountain to be scaled,
especially as it served as a fosse, in crossing which the besiegers
were exposed to the arrows of the besieged, who crowded the ramparts
above. Approach Jerusalem from the north, west, or south, and the city
rises above the hills that environ it, its embattled towers, graceful
minarets, and swelling domes standing out against the sky as against
a background. In this regard it is not unlike the Acropolis of Athens,
which, rising like a thing of life from the Attic plain, has Lycabettus,
the Pnyx, the Museum, and the Areopagus near, and Hymettus, Pentelicus,
Mount Parnes, and Ægaleos in the distance; but it resembles more truly
Rome, sitting on a cluster of hills, with an ample plain for future
expansion, with hills near and mountains distant, the Janiculum
answering to Olivet, and the Apennines to the Heights of Moab.[72]
To reconcile this passage with the topographical facts as they appear
to every observer, some have pointed to the white mountains of Tîh
on the south, to the wall-like ridge of Moab on the east, and to the
rugged summits of Lebanon on the north; but it is simpler and more
natural to suppose that the Psalmist had in his mind Olivet, the
Mount of Corruption, and the Hill of Evil Council, rising from the
two valleys which, like some deep moat, circumvallate the city on the
east, south, and west; referring not so much to the height of the hills
above the level of the city, as to their height from their valley beds,
in which their everlasting bases rest. But on the north there is no
such natural obstruction to impede the advance of an enemy. The ground
rises gently to the summit of Scopus, which is a western projection
of the Olivet ridge, a mile distant from the town, and which gradually
disappears toward the west. To strengthen by art what nature had left
defenseless, the celebrated tower of Psephinus was erected at the
northwest corner of the ancient wall, which, being 70 cubits high,
was not only a “tower of strength,” but also afforded from its top
at sunrise a view of Arabia and of the sea.
Less than two miles to the northwest from Jerusalem are two slight
depressions, separated by a rocky swell three quarters of a mile in
width. The one on the north is the head of the Valley of the Kidron.
At first a gentle depression, it runs eastward a mile and a half; then
turning suddenly southward, it contracts and deepens, and becoming
precipitous in its course, sweeps round the bases of Bezetha, Moriah,
and Ophel, joining the Vale of Hinnom at the beautiful Gardens of
Siloam. Varying in depth and breadth, it is seventy-five feet deep
at the northeast corner of the city, twenty-five deeper opposite
St. Stephen’s Gate, and reaches its greatest depth of 150 feet at the
southeast angle of the Temple area. Varying in breadth from a hundred
to a thousand feet, it is narrowest opposite the southeast corner of
the town, and has its greatest breadth between Moriah and Olivet, on
a line drawn from the Golden Gate.
The depression south of the rocky swell is the commencement of
the Valley of Hinnom, which at first is almost imperceptible; but,
deepening and contracting as it winds round the western side of the
city, it runs for three quarters of a mile east by south to the Yâffa
Gate, where it turns at right angles round the base of Mount Zion,
having broken cliffs on the right, and shelving banks on the left.
Running nearly due east for half a mile, it joins the Valley of the
Kidron at the Pool of En-Rogel, where these two famous valleys become
one, pursuing its sinuous course to the Dead Sea. Though but 44 feet
deep near the Yâffa Gate, and 500 wide, it descends to the depth of
more than 500 feet below the southern brow of Zion, and is broadest
at the point of conjunction with the Kidron. From the beds of these
valleys rise the defensive mountains around the Holy City. Though the
lowest is less than 50 feet above the average level of the town, and
the highest not more than 200, yet the triple summit of the Mount
of Olives is more than 400 feet above the site of “Absalom’s Pillar”
in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Mount of Corruption is 422 feet
above En-Rogel, and the Hill of Evil Council rises 500 feet above the
scorched rocks that line its base in the Vale of Gehenna.
Occupying the southern portion of its ancient site, and surrounded,
as in former days, with a massive wall, Jerusalem is a city without
suburbs. Unlike the approach to Zidon on the coast, which is in the
midst of groves of fig, orange, and mulberry-trees, covering many miles
in extent; unlike the approach to Damascus, which is inclosed with
gardens of exquisite beauty, through which the Abana flows in “pearly
brightness and perennial music the livelong day,” the approach to
Jerusalem is arrested by high walls and guarded gates, beyond which
are no habitations excepting the wretched huts of Silwân on the
south, clinging to the rocky fastnesses of the Mount of Scandal. Being
a capital city, and situated in the most turbulent district of the
country, such a defense is necessary as a protection against the sudden
attacks of the wild Bedouins of the Desert and of the Ghôr. Strongly
fortified in the time of Jebus, when captured by David, its enlarged
area was afterward protected by massive walls and towers, on which the
sacred poets dwell with so much religious pride and delight.[73] In the
days of our Lord there were two walls――one inclosing Mount Zion, the
northern section of which extended a distance of 1890 feet east and
west; the other, inclosing Mount Akra, extended from the Garden Gate
in the first wall to near the present Damascus Gate, and, curving to
the southeast, intersected the Tower of Antonia on Mount Moriah. Mount
Bezetha, with the table-land beyond, then formed the suburbs of the
town; but after the crucifixion the space was inclosed by a third wall,
by order of Herod Agrippa. During the bloody wars occurring between
the death of Solomon and the Egyptian conquerors, the walls were
alternately demolished and rebuilt by the respective captors of the
city; but it was not till the year 1542 A.D. that, by order of the
Sultan Suleiman I., the present single wall was built. Having been
constructed out of the old materials, it contains blocks of stones
representing every age of the city, from the magnificent reign of
Solomon to the fluctuating rule of the Crusaders.
The modern wall is of the common gray limestone of Palestine, formed
of blocks of different dimensions, and ranging in thickness from ten
to fifteen feet, and from twenty-five to forty in height, according to
the nature of the ground. Being two and a half miles in circumference,
it is less by two miles than the circuit of the ancient wall. Having
many indentations and projections, with salient angles, square towers,
loopholes, and battlements, it is surmounted with a parapet, protecting
a pathway which is frequently thronged with people enjoying the fine
promenade and beholding the commanding prospect.
At the northwest corner of the city, which is 251 feet higher than the
southeast corner of the Temple area, the native rock has been cut away
to the depth of many feet on the outside of the wall, while within are
massive foundations of beveled stones bearing marks of high antiquity,
and now called “Goliath’s Castle.” At this point the western wall
begins, running southeast as far as the Yâffa Gate; then, turning
southward, and crossing Mount Zion along the brow of Hinnom to a point
nearly opposite to the Protestant Cemetery, it joins the south wall,
which, by a series of zigzags, is carried eastward over the level
summit of Zion, down its eastern declivities, across the Tyropean
Valley, and up the Hill of Ophel, where it joins the Haram wall
550 feet from its southeast corner. Here are huge stones as old as
the days of Christ, if not as old as the reign of Solomon. At the
place of junction where the city wall joins that of the Haram, there
is a section of an ancient arch, beneath which is a small grated window
opening into that long subterranean avenue leading up an inclined plane
and a flight of steps to the Temple area. Here also are three circular
arches, now walled up, twenty-five feet high and fourteen wide, marking
the ancient portals leading to those stupendous vaults constructed by
Solomon to elevate the side of Mount Moriah to a common level. At the
southeast corner of the Haram wall there are sixteen courses of large
stones, some of them measuring nineteen feet long, four high, and eight
thick, and bearing on their edge the unmistakable Jewish bevel. From
the natural topography of the hill, this corner of the wall must occupy
the same spot on which stood the earliest wall, as it stands on the
very brow of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there can be no doubt but
that these are the identical stones laid down by Solomon himself. Here
is to be seen a beautiful specimen of a “precious corner-stone,”[74]
the inspired symbol of a virtuous and lovely woman,[75] and a
significant type of the Messiah.[76] The material employed is a finer
limestone and otherwise of a superior quality to that used in the
common wall; the joints are more closely formed; and the finishing of
the facing and of the beveling is so clean and fine, that, when fresh
from the hands of the builder, it must have resembled gigantic relievo
paneling. Surmounting this corner of the wall, no doubt, stood that
pinnacle of the Temple from which Satan tempted Christ to cast himself
down, assuring him of the charge of angels over him.[77] According
to Josephus, “a broad portico ran along the wall, supported by four
rows of columns, which divided it into three parts, forming a triple
colonnade.” The central portico was 100 feet high, which, with the
height of the wall and the depth of the valley below its base, gave an
elevation of 310 feet. “And if from the top of the portico the beholder
attempted to look down into the gulf below, his eyes became dark and
dizzy before they could penetrate to the immense depth.”[78]
Illustration: IMMENSE STONES OF SOLOMON’S AGE.
From this corner to the Golden Gate, a distance of more than 1000 feet,
is one unbroken line of wall, composed mostly of large rough stones,
interspersed with which are fragments of antique columns. Near the top
of the wall, and projecting several feet, is a round porphyry column,
on which, according to a Moslem legend, Mohammed is to sit astride
and judge the world, the people having been assembled for judgment in
the vale below. Overlooking the Kidron, and facing the Mount of Olives
beyond, is the Golden Gate, now walled up, but which attracts the
traveler’s attention by its conspicuous location and its uncommon
beauty. Being the centre of a projection fifty-five feet long, and
standing out six feet, it consists of a double portal, spanned by
two semicircular arches richly ornamented. From what resemble corbels
spring two Corinthian capitals, sustaining an entablature bending round
the entire arch. Within the gate is a noble chamber fifty-five feet
square. The ceiling is divided into flattened domes, supported by
arches springing from side pilasters, and from two Corinthian columns
of polished marble, adorned with elegant capitals; and beneath the
arches a pretty entablature is carried from pilaster to pilaster,
giving an air of exquisite beauty to the entire structure.
Illustration: GOLDEN GATE――INTERIOR VIEW.
The origin of this imposing gate is unknown. It may be as old as
the time of Herod the Great; it may not be older than the reign of
Constantine. Impressed with its beauty, some have regarded it as
occupying the site of the “Beautiful Gate” at which Peter and John
healed the cripple. That, however, was a gate of the Temple; this is a
gate of the city; and the two can be identical only by supposing that
“gate to the Temple” is synonymous with “entrance to the Temple,” which
is neither supported by fact nor analogy.
Near St. Stephen’s Gate, a distance of less than 500 feet to the north,
is the northeast angle of the Haram wall, and unquestionably is the
original angle of the wall which inclosed the Temple area. Five courses
of antique stones distinctly beveled, beautifully hewn, and of great
dimensions, remain _in situ_, and are as entire as when laid there by
the hand of the Jewish mason. The largest of the blocks is twenty-four
feet long, three high, and over five wide, at once reflecting the
wealth and mechanical art of that early age. This section of the wall
projects eight feet, forming a corner tower eighty-four feet long; and
the five courses of stone, measuring nearly twenty feet from the base
to the top of the quoins, suggest that this was one of the bastions of
the famous Tower of Antonia in which Pilate held his “Judgment Hall.”
But to suppose the antiquity of these stones, and that they occupy
their original places, is regarded by some as a confutation of our
Lord’s prediction, “There shall not be left one stone upon another
that shall not be thrown down.”[79] Reference, however, to the prophecy
in all its scope, will disclose the fact that Christ spoke of the
stones of the Temple, and not of the stones composing the wall of
the city; and both history and research now prove how terribly have
been fulfilled his fearful and exact words. The manner in which these
lower layers have been preserved intact is simple and natural. In the
demolition of the walls of the city by Titus and also by subsequent
conquerors, the lower courses escaped notice, having been buried up
in the débris of the upper layers; and in the reconstruction of the
wall by Suleiman I., he permitted them to remain undisturbed in their
primeval beds. The modern portions of the wall are too heterogeneous
in their character and of too mean a masonry to have any claim either
to antiquity or to Jewish workmanship, and the upper and lower layers
no less mark two distinct periods of national history than two eras in
mural architecture. The former indicate an age of weakness and poverty,
the latter of power and wealth; the one discloses haste and confusion,
the other deliberation and artistic accuracy; the modern is in keeping
with the art and taste of the sensual Moslem, the ancient is in harmony
with the pride and genius of the Jew. Nor is there any reason for
supposing the lower layers to have been the work either of the Romans
or of the Saracens, as the bevel is the masonic sign of the Jewish
builders, and, having originated with them, it was a peculiarity of
their architecture[80]. Consisting of a narrow strip along the edge of
the stone, cut down half an inch lower than the rest of the surface,
which had been hewn and squared, the bevel was a simple and beautiful
mural ornament; and when these beveled stones were laid up in a wall,
such as encompassed the city in the days of Solomon, the depressed
edges must have resembled grooves or lengthened lines, producing the
appearance of immense panels.
But of all the objects of interest which met my eye during my tour
of the walls, none was more thrilling than the “Great Cave” beneath
Jerusalem, the entrance to which is just east of the Damascus Gate.
In constructing the north wall of the city, the Hill Bezetha has been
cut through the solid rock to the depth of forty feet, the excavation
having been extended 600 feet east and west, and 450 north and south.
Lower down, and near the base of the rock on which the wall stands,
is what might have been designed for a fosse, but which is now the
receptacle of carrion. The existence of a “Great Cave” beneath the
city, and in some way connected with the Temple of Solomon, has been
the subject of a legend familiar to the aged, but the entrance to which,
if known to the living at all, remained a secret with the few till
accidentally discovered through a missionary’s dog.[81] Attracted to
the spot by the scent of the bones of animals destroyed by jackals,
the dog pushed away the dirt in pawing to reach his prey, and revealed
to his master one of the greatest wonders connected with a city whose
history and topography have engaged the attention of the learned in all
ages.
Accompanied by the American consul and a single servant, we entered the
cave without difficulty, and, lighting our wax tapers, proceeded along
carefully for a hundred feet, when we began rapidly to descend. To our
surprise, on our right sat an Arab maiden who had become the sibyl of
the cavern, surrounded by several natives, to whom she was delivering
her sibylline oracles. Rapidly descending toward the southeast, we
soon found ourselves in a cave three thousand feet in circumference,
more than a thousand feet in length, and more than half that distance
in breadth. The air was damp; the darkness that of a rayless night;
the ground on which we walked was strewn with the chippings of the
quarrier; the walls around us were marred with marks of the chisel, and
the ceiling above us adorned with stalactites of a rose-color hue, from
which trickled the percolating waters of the city; while, disturbed by
our approach, bats screamed their grief and flapped their long black
wings against their solid nests. Moving southward, we came to the verge
of a precipice a hundred feet across and fifteen feet deep, on the
bottom of which the skeleton of some lost explorer had been found.
Threading a long gallery on the left, we saw a fountain as deep as it
was wide, partially filled with water strongly impregnated with lime.
Turning eastward, we entered a second gallery of greater depth, in
the sides of which are immense blocks of limestone, in part detached
from their native bed, just as they were left by the unknown quarrier
thousands of years ago. Here, as elsewhere, were the unmistakable
marks of a broad chisel-shaped instrument, evidently used to detach the
blocks on either side and at top and bottom, and then by the pressure
of a lever the mass was broken off from the rock behind. Occasionally
we passed huge pillars supporting the ceiling above, and in several
instances saw blocks hewn and squared ready to be hoisted to their
destination. On the right and left winding passage-ways led us to
noble halls, white as snow, and supported by native piers, on which are
engraven the cross of some Christian pilgrim or knight of the Crusades;
and on the sides of the chambers are Hebrew and Arabic inscriptions,
the memorial of some wandering Jew and some conquering son of the
Prophet.
Seeking in vain for an entrance other than that on the north, we
returned to daylight full of curious thoughts. What tales of woe are
written on these walls! and, could we hear their voices, too low for
mortal ear, what secrets would they reveal! In the time of sieges this
has been the retreat of Jew and Christian, of Saracen and knight; the
last refuge of helpless womanhood, of tender children, of infirm old
age, and the death-bed of dying heroes wounded in the fight.
Being unquestionably a quarry, many facts lead to the conclusion that
here were hewn the stones for the construction of Solomon’s magnificent
temple. The material, both as to grain and color, is the same as that
found in the antique walls and buildings of the city; the extent of
the quarry, together with the vast amount of stone removed, and in such
large blocks, suggest the erection of some grand temple; the ancient
tradition coming down from the days of Jeremiah and pointing to this
quarry; the remarkable absence of another adjacent to the city; and
the important fact that the mouth of the quarry is many feet higher
than the surface of the Temple area, which must have facilitated the
transportation of those immense blocks of limestone, which were no
doubt conveyed on rollers down the inclined plane of the quarry to
the site of the Temple, where, hewn and finished, they were silently
elevated to their destined place――the magnificent fane of Solomon,
with all its courts and porticoes, rising noiselessly into being, as of
old the world rose from naught, at once explaining and fulfilling the
words of sacred history: “The house, when it was in building, was built
of stone made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was
neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while
it was building.”[82]
Nothing more impressively indicates the complete destruction of ancient
Jerusalem than the impossibility of identifying with exactitude the
location of its former gates, the scene of so many thrilling events.
Fire and sword, plunder and time, have removed those landmarks of
great historic deeds. These gone, we are left to conjecture as to the
location of the “Valley Gate,” through which Nehemiah passed on his
nocturnal exploration to ascertain the condition of the city;[83]
of the “East Gate,” from which Jeremiah went forth with the ancients
of the people to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to illustrate the
destruction of the Jews by breaking in their presence a potter’s
vessel;[84] of the “Horse Gate,” out of which the ambitious Queen
Athaliah was led to execution;[85] of the “Gate betwixt the two
walls,” “whence Zedekiah and all his men of war fled before the King
of Babylon;”[86] and of the “Gate of Benjamin,” where the king sat when
the kind Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, interceded in behalf of Jeremiah,
then in a loathsome dungeon beneath the royal palace.[87]
Of the seven gates which penetrate the walls of modern Jerusalem, the
noblest and most ancient of the number is the one standing in the mouth
of the broad depression sweeping southward through the city, called
the Damascus Gate. Surmounted with turrets and battlements, it not
only presents an imposing appearance, but its ornamental architecture
indicates its Saracenic origin and style. Judging from the formation of
the ground it occupies, it probably marks the site of an older gateway.
As of old, so now, from its portal runs the great northern road to
Nablous; and from it, no doubt, Saul of Tarsus went forth, leading his
band of persecutors to crush the infant church of Jesus in Damascus.
Constructed in the form of an elliptical arch, flanked with massive
towers of great antiquity, and inclosed with huge doors incased with
iron, it wears the appearance of a prison. Within is a large chamber,
grim and gloomy, formed by the arch and towers, and from which a
square-shaped and winding staircase leads to the top of the parapet.
Guarded by four Turkish soldiers, the traveler has illustrated before
him St. Luke’s description of the Roman guard on the night of our
Lord’s trial: “And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the
hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.”[88] In
the northeast corner of the hall, within the gateway, the soldiers
build a fire of juniper coals when the weather is cold, the smoke of
which deepens the gloom of the already blackened walls.
Midway between this gate and the northeast corner of the city is the
“Gate of Flowers,” consisting of a small portal penetrating a tower,
but which is now inaccessible, having been walled up since 1834. In
the eastern wall of the city is St. Stephen’s Gate, a simple structure,
and without ornaments, except the carved figures of two lions over
the entrance. From it a path descends the steep sides of Moriah, and,
crossing the small stone bridge that spans the Valley of the Kidron,
leads up to the Garden of Gethsemane and to the Mount of Olives.
Compelled to fly before the rebellious Absalom, it was out of the
gate that stood on the site of the present one that David fled, and, a
thousand years later, a greater than David went forth out of the same
portal on the night of his betrayal. As it is the chief entrance to the
city on the east, streams of pilgrims from the Heights of Benjamin on
the north, and from the Valley of the Jordan on the east, incessantly
flow in and out of this well-known gate.
Situated in the southern wall, nearly in the centre of the Tyropean
Valley, is the “Gate of the Western Africans,” which is of inferior
construction, and is opened and shut according to the caprice of the
governor. Fortunately, it was opened when I passed, an event which may
not occur again for many years. From it a path descends to the charming
gardens of Silwân. On the summit of a ridge beyond is the Gate of
Zion, the cleanest and most quiet of the seven. But the great and most
usually thronged portal of the town is the Yâffa Gate, located in the
western wall of the city, between Mount Zion and Mount Akra. Consisting
of a massive square tower, it has a quadrangular hall within. Probably
standing on the site of Nehemiah’s “Valley Gate,” it is the point to
which all the great thoroughfares converge, from Bethlehem and Hebron
on the south, and from Yâffa on the west. Carefully guarded during the
day by a band of soldiers, all the gates are closed at night when the
evening gun is fired. From a superstition as suggestive of fear as
it is precautionary against surprise, the gates are closed on Friday
between the hours of twelve and one, because of an old and prevalent
tradition that on that day and at that hour the Christians will attempt
to retake Jerusalem.
Running north and south through the very heart of the city is a broad
depression, and coming up from Siloam, on the south, is the Tyropean
Valley, joining the former at the northeast corner of Mount Zion, where
the latter abruptly diverges to the westward, intersecting the Valley
of Gihon. Upon its divergence hangs the long and fierce controversy
touching the topography of the ancient city. Though its upper section
is filled with rubbish from twenty to fifty feet deep, yet there is
a perceptible ascent from Christian Street to the Hippic Tower, as
there is a descent from the Yâffa Gate into the valley beyond. If the
intervening ridge is not accumulated earth, it is difficult to conceive
how Mount Zion could ever have been the “strong-hold” represented by
sacred and profane writers. The construction of the three famous towers
on the northwest portion of the hill by Herod the Great was not to
supply a natural defect, but to honor the king’s favorites, and to
be the depositories of his royal treasures. As recent excavations in
the vicinity confirm the correctness of the supposition, so future
excavations will remove the last doubt that this is the “Valley of the
Cheesemongers” described by Josephus, separating the “upper city from
the lower.”[89]
As of old, Jerusalem stands upon five hills, formed in part by valleys
without the city, and by depressions within. Though, when viewed from
within the town, their altitude is not great, yet in their general
outlines all are distinctly defined. Of these hills, covering an area
of four and a half miles in circumference and half a mile in diameter,
Zion, Moriah, and Ophel are mentioned by the inspired historians, while,
together with the former, Akra and Bezetha are described by Josephus.
Rising in the form of a parallelogram, Mount Zion is the largest of the
five sacred hills. Attaining an average height of more than 500 feet
above the surrounding valleys, its southern and western sides are as
rugged as they are steep. Though lower than the northwest corner of
Akra, yet, when viewed either from the Tyropean or the Hinnom valleys,
the bold brow of Zion is seen to best advantage, justifying the
confidence reposed in it as a strong defensive position. Sloping down
toward the King’s Gardens, where three valleys meet, its southeastern
sides are terraced from base to summit, and planted with corn and
olives, fulfilling the words of the prophet, “Zion shall be plowed like
a field.”[90] Directly opposite the Haram, the naked rocks rise from
the “Vale of the Cheesemongers” more than thirty feet high, and on the
verge of the precipice once stood the “House of the Mighty.” Less than
half the hill is included within the present walls, occupied by the
Citadel, the English Church, the American Consulate, the Post-office,
the Prussian Hospital, the Church of St. James, the Jewish Synagogue,
private residences, and the Lepers’ Quarters; while beyond the walls
are the Diocesan school-house, the Armenian Convent, the Tomb of David,
and the Protestant Cemetery.
Emotions of joy and sadness are awakened as one stands upon the site
of those great historic events which have filled the world with their
renown, and impressed their inevitable results, for “weal or woe,” upon
the opinions and actions of mankind. As the religious sensibilities
of our nature are most susceptible of excitement, so no spot on earth
excites the mind to the same degree as where the events of sacred
history occurred. Around Mount Zion cluster memories of human shame
and glory. Here the defiant words of the Jebusites kindled the martial
soul of David, who, summoning all his military skill and courage for
the attack, captured the “stronghold of Jebus.” Here he reigned for
thirty-three years in unrivaled wealth and glory, and here he penned
many of his sublime psalms. Here the ruder palace of the father gave
way to the grander palace of the son. Here, in regal magnificence,
unequaled in the annals of kings, Solomon held his court, displaying a
wisdom as vast as his wealth was exhaustless, and achieving for himself
a name that was borne to the uttermost parts of the earth in accents
of praise and gladness. Here, for a thousand years, their descendants
reigned in power and glory; and here, on the very summit of their
pleasures and greatness, they, with fourteen of their successors to
the throne, were entombed. Here stood the palace of Caiaphas, in whose
judgment-hall Jesus was tried and Peter swore. To gratify personal
ambition, and perpetuate the memory of his royal favorites, here Herod
the Great reared those three massive towers which were the pride and
admiration of the triumphant Titus. Calling one Mariamne, in honor of
his queen, whom he afterward slew in a passion of jealousy, he named
the second Phasaëlus, after his friend, and the third Hippicus, in
memory of his brother, both of whom were slain in battle, fighting in
his behalf.[91]
Of these towers but one remains, that of Hippicus, which is the citadel
of the modern town. Spanning the moat is an old bridge leading to the
castle. Several flights of stone steps lead to the parapet, on which
a number of guns are mounted, fit only for firing occasional salutes,
and from the top an extraordinary view is gained of Jerusalem and
its environs. Aside from its dingy appearance, Hippicus is invested
with thrilling associations. With an antiquity unquestioned, the most
reliable authorities agree that it occupies its ancient site. As it
now stands, it represents two great eras in the world’s history――that
of Herod and that of the Crusaders; the foundations belonging to the
former, the superstructure to the latter. Composed of a group of square
towers, it resembles a quadrangle, though not a perfect square, its
sides varying from sixty to seventy feet in length. The tower next to
the Yâffa Gate is the most interesting, as it is the most ancient. The
height of the antique portion, from the bottom of the broad fosse, is
forty feet, and, being entirely solid, it has for nineteen centuries
resisted the battering-rams of the Romans, the cannon of the Egyptians,
and the prying curiosity of the modern explorer. Recent excavations
have shown that for several feet upward from its base the foundation
is formed of the natural rock, hewn into shape, and faced with immense
stones, distinctly beveled, indicating their Jewish origin, and
evidently remaining where they were originally placed. In addition
to its antiquity, this tower is of great importance, as it marks the
starting-point of the first and second walls of the ancient city, and
unmistakably points out their general direction.
Illustration: MOUNT ZION AND TOWER OF HIPPICUS.
Leading from the Hippic Tower to the south wall of the city is a
spacious and grand avenue. On its western side are the _Caserne di
Sion_ and the residence of the Armenian patriarch; opposite are the
English Church and the Armenian Convent. The entrance to the convent
is through a large but simple portal, opening into a court around which
rise the dormitories, capable of accommodating 8000 pilgrims. Adjoining
the monastery is the Church of St. James, the most sumptuous building
of the kind in the East, and, next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
the largest religious edifice in Jerusalem. Belonging formerly to
the Georgians, who failed to pay the enormous tax levied upon it, it
was sold to the Armenians in the fifteenth century. The interior is
gorgeous to a fault. The floor is inlaid with rich mosaics; the pillars
supporting the roof are incased with tiles of blue and green porcelain,
and ornamented with gilded crosses, and the walls are decorated with
pictures of the Byzantine school. The high altar is indescribably
grand, adorned with silver vases filled with flowers, with pictures
representing scriptural scenes, and with golden lamps suspended from
the ceiling.
But the chief attraction of the church is the chapel of St. James,
marking at once the scene of his martyrdom and the place of his
burial. All that affection could suggest, art produce, and wealth
procure, adorns this splendid mausoleum. The doors are enameled
with a mosaic-work of coral and mother-of-pearl, dazzling with their
brilliancy the eye of the beholder, and charming him with their
extraordinary beauty. The interior is faced with polished marble;
from the ceiling hang golden lamps, ever burning; while from a costly
censer incense ascends in perpetual memory of the sainted dead.
Around this sepulchral church are lovely gardens, dressed and
beautified by the monks of Armenia, whose love for flowers and
trees is only excelled by the taste displayed in training them. From
these gardens an iron portal opens toward the Zion Gate, 100 yards
beyond which is the traditional House of Caiaphas, dating back in its
authentic history to the fourth century, and now a dependency on the
large establishment within the walls. Within this house is a small
cell, richly decorated with pearl and porcelain, in which Christ is
said to have been kept in durance the night previous to his crucifixion.
Near the prison is a marble statue of Jesus tied to the pillar of
flagellation, which devout women were approaching on their knees and
kissing; and just beyond is the legendary stone which closed the mouth
of our Lord’s sepulchre.
Not far to the south is the Tomb of David, now a mosque, whose
graceful minaret never fails to attract the traveler’s attention as
he approaches the Holy City from the south. The edifice was once a
Christian church, and, besides covering the tomb of the renowned King
of Israel, contains the “upper room” where Christ ate the Passover
with his disciples,[92] and where he washed their feet;[93] where,
after his resurrection, the disciples were assembled with closed doors,
and, Jesus appearing in their midst, said, “Peace be unto you;”[94]
where the doubting Thomas was permitted to thrust his hand into the
Redeemer’s side;[95] and where, on the day of Pentecost, the apostles
received the Holy Ghost.[96] The “upper room” is a large chamber,
fifty feet long and thirty wide, with ribbed ceiling and pendents. Its
appearance indicates great age, and though, through neglect, it wears
a dreary aspect, it is so firmly built that, without violence, it will
stand for a thousand years to come. In the middle of the fourth century
it was regarded by Cyril, then Bishop of Jerusalem, as the scene of the
Pentecost, and a few years thereafter it was seen by Epiphanius, who
declared it one of the few buildings which had escaped destruction when
Titus captured the city. Whether this is the “guest-chamber” where so
many great events occurred or not, Zion is the designated place whence
were to go forth the conquering forces of the Messiah: “Out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Zion was always the place of convocation, and the only one in the Holy
City, excepting Mount Moriah, where great assemblies could gather;
and somewhere on its broad summit the representative Jews out of all
nations were in solemn convocation when, “hearing a sound from heaven
as of a rushing mighty wind,” the vast multitude came together, unto
whom the promise of the Spirit had been made.[97] In the east end of
the room is a small niche where it is said Christ sat at the “Last
Supper,” and where the Latin monk now sits when, at stated periods, he
is permitted to celebrate mass within its consecrated precincts; and
here, in imitation of our Lord, the Franciscan monks wash the worn feet
of the pious pilgrim, who, from the uttermost parts of the earth, has
come to worship at these holiest of earthly shrines.
Beneath this mosque is the reputed Tomb of David. Of its antiquity
there can be no doubt, as no historic fact is better attested; of its
identity there is no dispute, as Jews, Christians, and Moslem revere
it as only second in holiness to the site of the Temple. At all hours
of the day venerable Jews and beautiful Jewesses may be seen there,
silently standing at its closed portal, as if half expectant that their
Great King will again awake to power, and vindicate their rights. With
undying affection the Jews have ever regarded the sepulchres of their
fathers, and Nehemiah assigned as a reason for his sad countenance in
the presence of Artaxerxes “that the place of my fathers’ sepulchres
lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.”[98] And
when that noble prophet returned to his beloved Jerusalem, he completed
the wall which Shallum had commenced, extending it “unto the place over
against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and
unto the house of the mighty.”[99]
According to Josephus, Solomon interred his father here “with great
magnificence, and with all the funeral pomp which kings used to be
buried with;”[100] and deposited immense wealth within the tomb,
which remained undisturbed through all the revolutions of the kingdom,
down to within 150 years of the Christian era. Driven by the stern
necessities of war, Hyrcanus, the son of Simon Maccabeus, and successor
of his father to the high-priesthood, plundered the royal vault,
extracting therefrom the enormous sum of 3000 talents of silver, which
he gave to Antiochus Pius to raise the siege of Jerusalem and grant him
terms of peace.[101]
Finding the treasure in an adjoining vault, Hyrcanus did not approach
the dust of David; but years later, hearing of the success of the son
of Simon, and wanting means to complete his magnificent works in the
city, Herod the Great made a similar attempt; but failing to discover
the treasure, he essayed to enter the very chamber which contains the
bodies of David and Solomon, and was only deterred in the consummation
of his purpose by the accidental death of two of the guard, who were
killed by a flame suddenly bursting upon them.[102]
In his interpretation of the Messianic prophecies, on the day of
Pentecost St. Peter refers to this venerable monument, declaring
that “his sepulchre is with us unto this day.”[103] At the close of
the twelfth century, one of the walls of the building covering the
tomb gave way, and, in order to repair it, the patriarch of the city
commanded his workmen to take stones from the original wall of Zion;
in gathering them, they uncovered the mouth of a cave; on exploring
it, they reached a large hall supported by marble pillars incased with
gold, and in it were two tablets, and on each lay a crown and sceptre
of gold. Near the sarcophagi were iron chests carefully sealed, and,
when they were on the point of opening them, a blast of wind issuing
from the cavern drove them back, throwing them senseless to the
ground. Recovering, they heard a voice commanding them to depart. On
reporting their adventure to the patriarch, he concluded that what
they had mistaken for tables were the tombs of David and Solomon, and
immediately ordered the vault to be closed. In 1839, Sir Moses and Lady
Montefiore were permitted, by paying an immense sum, to look through
the “lattice of a trellised door,” and behold the tombs of their
renowned ancestors.[104] Of the size and appearance of the sepulchre
it is impossible to speak with accuracy, as the fanatical Moslems,
who guard it with religious superstition, only suffer the traveler to
approach the outer entrance. Like most of the tombs of that age, it
is probably hewn in the solid rock, and decorated in a manner becoming
royalty; but of its proportions and grandeur the world must remain
in ignorance till the Holy City shall have passed into the hands of
Christians, when those of every faith shall be permitted to linger
around the dust of Israel’s great kings, who sleep in death amid the
scenes of their greatest glory.
A few paces within the wall, and to the east of the Zion Gate, are
the “quarters of the lepers.” Though formerly excluded from the city,
they are now suffered to build their wretched huts along the wall.
In obedience to a law prevalent throughout the East, all lepers are
compelled to live together in three colonies, and it is a coincidence
no less singular than true that the cities in which these colonies
are located were the residences of three historic lepers――Naaman
of Damascus,[105] Gehazi of Nablous,[106] and King Azariah of
Jerusalem.[107] Numbering in all 200, those on Mount Zion are supported
by charity. Their homes are miserable huts, low, dark, and loathsome.
Allowed to marry only with each other, their offspring, when born, are
usually fair, and apparently healthy. Retaining their health and beauty
up to the period of puberty, the fatal disease, like a scrofulous spot,
then makes its appearance on a finger, on the nose, or on the cheek,
and, spreading over the system, it ultimately reaches some vital organ,
and the unhappy victim dies.
Preparing their evening meal, men and women moved with feeble step from
hut to hut, exchanging articles of food, and also their rude cooking
utensils. Their garments were old and torn, their voices were dry and
husky, their faces were red like a coal of fire half extinguished,
their eyes swollen and restless, their hair was gone, their lips and
cheeks, nose and ears were corroded with ulcers, and the flesh of their
hands and arms had been eaten away, leaving the bone red and bare.
Standing afar off, as in the days of Christ, they stretched out their
hands, and begged in tones so piteously that none could resist their
entreaties. In the plaintive accents of their native Arabic, they
hailed me, “Pilgrim, give me; for the Lord’s sake, give me.” Dropping
a few piastres in the folds of their infected robes, I hastened away,
hearing their tones of pity, and seeing their horrid forms in memory
days after the spectacle had been withdrawn. Alas for them to whom this
world is one great hospital, and life the vestibule of the grave!
In a country where sanitary regulations are ignored, it is not strange
that such persons are allowed to marry and propagate their unfortunate
progeny. Their marriage, like that of idiots and lunatics, should be
treated by the government as a crime against humanity. Were marriages
among them prohibited, this leprous race would soon become extinct,
and society would be relieved of one of its worst maladies. In cases of
spontaneous leprosy the victim is banished from his home, and, becoming
a denizen of the infected quarter, he contracts matrimonial alliances,
and perpetuates the evil. Though the continuance of the disease is
mostly hereditary, yet occasionally it is contracted. While only the
proximate cause of leprosy has been determined, the Scriptures assume
it to be an evil inflicted upon the guilty for the commission of
heinous offenses against the divine law; and, if modesty permitted, it
could be easily shown that the unmentionable crimes too prevalent in
the East justly merit such a condemnation. Retaining all its ancient
characteristics, leprosy still infects the garments worn by leprous
persons, and also the stones and mortar of the buildings they occupy.
Two centuries ago, Calmet made the suggestion that the former was
caused by vermin infecting clothes and skins, and the latter was caused
by animalculæ which, like mites in cheese, erode the stones and mortar.
Connected with Mount Zion on the north by a small isthmus is the Hill
Akra. Though not mentioned in the Bible by a name at present known, it
holds a conspicuous place in Jewish history as the scene of some of the
most fearful struggles between the defenders and the assailants of the
city. Called by Josephus the “Lower City,” to distinguish it from the
“Upper City,” situated on Mount Zion, it is described by him as being
separated from the latter by the Tyropean Valley, the buildings on the
two hills facing each other, and terminating at the intervening ravine.
At present Akra is a long, stony ridge of a gibbous shape. Extending
from the Yâffa Gate to the northwest corner of the town, and including
the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it extends eastward
to the western wall of the Haram. It is now the Christian quarter of
the city, and the site of several fine convents. Though covered with
buildings, its gibbous form is perceptible, both in ascending from
St. Stephen’s Street, and also from the Yâffa Gate. Originally it was
crowned with a lofty rock, which proved such a strong position that
the Syrians under Antiochus Epiphanes successfully resisted the attacks
of the Jews for twenty years, and, after the enemy had been dislodged,
it “required the constant labor of all Jerusalem during three years to
level it” to its present height.
Separated from Akra by a valley which the Asmoneans partially filled
up is the Hill Bezetha, a long, irregular ridge running north by west
from the Temple area. On the east it rises abruptly from the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, on the south it is separated from Mount Moriah by a deep
fosse, while on the north it has been cut into two parts by a broad
and deep excavation. When carefully compared, the two parts exactly
correspond. The north wall of the city crosses the southern half of
this ridge, and in the face of the opposite section is the famous
Grotto of Jeremiah. It was to inclose this entire hill, then extending
1000 yards north and south, and from 500 to 1000 east and west, that
Herod Agrippa built the third wall of ancient Jerusalem. Up to that
time it was the suburb of the city, and, though the last of the five
hills to become inhabited, it ultimately became the most populous,
receiving as its name Bezetha――“The New City.” It is now the Moslem
quarter of the town. On the traditional site of Herod’s palace
stands the Mosque of the Dervishes. True to their low conceptions
of architecture, the Mohammedan dwellings are destitute of taste and
design. On the northeast corner of this ridge there is a large area
devoted to pasturage, where the pasha’s elegant horses are kept. Not
far from St. Stephen’s Gate is the Gothic Church of St. Anne, recently
presented to the Emperor of the French by the Sultan for services
rendered during the Crimean War. It has been repaired by order of its
new proprietor, and around it the Latins are erecting a nunnery for the
“Sisters of the Sacred Heart.”