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
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.
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 architecture80. 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.
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.”
CHAPTER III.
Mount Moriah.—Site of Solomon’s Temple.—Surrounding Walls.—Great Fosse.—Pasha’s Palace.—Council Chamber of the Jewish Sanhedrim.—Jews’ Place of Wailing.—Their cruel Treatment.—Scene on Friday Afternoon.—Mournful Spectacle.—High-priest.—Prophecy fulfilled.—Solomon’s Bridge.—Its Antiquity.—Temple Area.—Tower of Antonia.—Shrines within the Inclosure.—Imposing View.—Dome of the Chain.—Mosque of Omar.—Its grand Exterior.—Its History.—Its Portals.—Its magnificent Interior.—Sacred Rock within the Mosque.—Traditions.—Scene of the Offering of Isaac and of other Scriptural Events.—Mosque of El-Aksa.—Its Interior and History.—Solomon’s subterranean Passageway.—Extraordinary Workmanship.—Mosque of Jesus.—Solomon’s great Vaults.—They reflect his Genius.—Evidence of their Antiquity.—Solomon’s great Lake beneath his Temple.—His Work.—Vicissitudes of Mount Moriah.
Great events monopolize great names. Originally the term “Land of Moriah” was applied to Jerusalem and its environs, but in the lapse of ages the name “Moriah” became more restricted, and is now employed to designate the smallest of the five hills on which the Holy City stands. Mount Moriah was formerly a continuation of the Bezetha ridge, from which it is now separated by a deep fosse, traditionally called Bethesda. Bounded on the west by the Tyropean Valley and the broad depression coming down from the Damascus Gate, it has the Fosse of Antonia on the north, the Valley of Jehoshaphat on the east, and Mount Ophel on the south. Ophel is also a part of the Bezetha ridge. Its summit is 100 feet lower than the top of Moriah, and is separated from the latter by the Haram wall. Having a length of 1560 feet, it is 300 wide from brow to brow. It is the fifth hill of the city, and is at present terraced like Mount Zion, and planted with fruit-trees. In the reign of Solomon it was included within the city walls, and after the return of the Jews from captivity under Nehemiah it was occupied by the Nethinims, or Temple servants.
What is now known as the Temple area is a beautiful inclosure of thirty-six acres, surrounded by a wall nine feet thick at the base and three at the parapet, and ranging from fifty to eighty feet high on the exterior, and from ten to fifteen on the interior, according to the surface of the ground. It is composed of large blocks of limestone, many of which are of great antiquity. The area being inclosed on the east and south by the city walls, which have already been described, it only remains to consider those on the north and south.
A hundred feet south of St. Stephen’s Gate the north wall of the Haram commences, running westward 1060 feet, nearly the whole of which is encumbered with buildings clinging to the side and top. Judging from the description of the extent and form of the Temple area as given by Josephus,108 this wall has been carried some 600 feet north of the line of its original location. It is now penetrated by three portals—the largest and most beautiful one is reached by a path from St. Stephen’s Gate. Extending from this portal east and west is one of the most remarkable excavations in Jerusalem, supposed to be the fosse mentioned by Josephus for the defense of the Tower of Antonia.109 In length 460 feet, 130 broad, and seventy-five deep, its sides are constructed of small stones covered with cement, suggesting that in times of peace it served as a reservoir, and in war as a moat. In the southwest corner are two high-arched vaults, extending side by side under the modern buildings. Whether the water which supplied this reservoir came from the clouds, or was conveyed by a subterranean conduit from the Pool of Hezekiah, or from the aqueduct of Pontius Pilate, is an undecided question. The fosse itself is one of the greatest monuments of antiquity, pointing back to the days of national grandeur, and to those sanguinary sieges when Antonia, rising from the “abyss,” stood a tower of strength against the assaulting foe.
Surmounting this wall on its western end, and extending a distance of 370 feet, is the Pasha’s Palace, a pile of irregular and ill-shaped buildings externally, but containing within all the magnificence and luxuries of an Oriental abode. From the Governor’s House the western wall of the Haram runs southward 1528 feet, and is nearly hidden from view by the structures built against it. Seven streets approach the sacred inclosure from the west, having at their termini as many gates, most of which correspond in their location to the sites of the ancient portals of the Temple. Attached to this wall, near the Gate es-Silsilah, is the Hall of the “Turkish Divan,” which is identical with the council-chamber of the Jewish Sanhedrim. It is a square stone building, with arched ceiling and flattened domes, wearing the aspect of great age, and without violence will endure for ages to come. Here, in all probability, the apostles were arraigned for trial,110 and here “stood up Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and advised the council touching these men.”111
Adjoining the building on the south is the “Jews’ Place of Wailing,” a spot no less remarkable for its antiquity than for the touching scenes which there transpire. It is reached by a narrow lane running out of the Jewish Quarter, and consists of a small quadrangular area 112 feet long, thirty wide, and is inclosed by common dwellings on the west and the Haram wall on the east. Well paved and cleanly kept, it is so secluded as to allow the worshipers to lament their departed national greatness undisturbed. The chief attraction of the spot is the five courses of large stones, bearing the well-known bevel, and remaining in situ where they were placed thousands of years ago. Time has dealt gently with them, and, though slightly displaced by the shock of earthquakes, and worn smooth by the kisses of pilgrims, they are well preserved.
Here, as before an altar, on each returning Friday the descendants of Abraham assemble to bewail their once mighty but now fallen nation. Proscribed by their Moslem masters, this is the nearest point of approach to which they are allowed to come, and even for a boon so humble Mohammedan cupidity demands an exorbitant sum. Unparalleled in their history, seldom have a people been treated with such unmitigated cruelty as the Jews. From the time of Adrian to the age of Constantine they were expelled from Jerusalem, and it was only by the clemency of the latter emperor that they were permitted to behold their native city from the neighboring hills; and it was by bribing the Roman guard that they at length gained admission to Jerusalem once a year, on the anniversary of its capture by Titus, to weep over the ruins of their fallen Temple. Though now suffered to dwell within the walls of the city, it is instant death to a Jew to cross the threshold of the sacred inclosure. From the beginning of the twelfth century it has been their custom to linger around these ancient stones and make their complaint to Jehovah.
JEWS’ PLACE OF WAILING.
It was two o’clock on a lovely Friday afternoon when, for the first time, I threaded the narrow streets leading to this mournful spot. About seventy men and women of all ages were engaged in their devotions. In their midst stood the high-priest, whose tall and majestic form distinguished him from those around him, and whose open and intelligent face was pale and sorrowful as he mingled his prayers and tears with a people whose ruined fortunes he was powerless to retrieve. Accustomed to see him, attended by his two sons, walking thoughtfully the streets of what was once the imperial city of his fathers, I had become familiar with his noble bearing and with the calm expression of his Jewish countenance; but, moved by the reflections of his own powerful mind, and touched with sympathy by the scene before him, he lifted up his voice and wept.
Around him were groups of his people, some of whom were standing, some sitting, some kneeling, while others were lying prostrate upon the stone pavement. Here sat a group of Jewish matrons, whose black tresses time had whitened, weeping as if broken-hearted; there stood an old man, leaning, like the patriarch Jacob, upon his staff, reciting, with faltering voice, his complaint before the Lord. Nearer the wall were men in the prime of life, absorbed in their recitations from the Prophets; while along the whole length of the wall, with their sacred books resting against it, were men and women of all ages, reading, weeping, and ever and anon smiting their troubled breasts.
In the northeast corner of the inclosure, half hidden by the pavement, is one stone more sacred than the rest. Around it were gathered the rich and elegantly attired mothers and daughters of Israel, waiting to bow low and affectionately kiss the relic as a thing of love.
Some, with a copy of Isaiah before them, audibly read, “Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever; behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore?”112 Others, reading from the Psalms, would passionately break forth, “O God, the heathen have come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about. How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry forever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?”113
It is the opinion of the Jews that this portion of the wall belonged to the court of the Temple, and not to the Temple itself; but, in conceding with them the great antiquity of these stones, and that they remain intact, we do not thereby affect our Lord’s prediction touching the destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus informs us that such was the unevenness of Mount Moriah, that in laying the foundation of the wall for the western court of the Temple it was necessary to lay it far below the general surface of the ground, which is evident from the fact that while the inside of the wall is only twelve feet high, the outside is seventy feet high.114 To this circumstance is due the preservation of this wall as it was originally laid, and also to the fact that the Romans, beginning their work of destruction within the area, first removed the upper layers, throwing the broken fragments over the outside, which, accumulating at its base, inhumed the lower courses, and literally fulfilled the Savior’s words, “And shall lay thee even with the ground.”115 In every particular that fearful prediction was fulfilled. The Romans cast a trench about the devoted city, keeping the inhabitants in on every side; and such was the utter destruction which followed their capture of the city, that, in the words of the historian, “there was nothing left to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited.”116
Owing to the rapid descent of the ground in the direction of the southwest corner of the Haram wall, lower courses of stones are there exposed to view. Measuring thirty-one feet in length, seven in width, and five in height, the chief cornerstone is no doubt identical with the one placed there by order of Solomon, and now marks the southwest angle of the area which inclosed his Temple. Thirty-nine feet to the north is the foot of the ancient bridge which once spanned the Tyropean Valley. Viewed casually, these stones appear to have been pushed out from their places by some violent concussion within, but, when examined with care, they indicate the design of an architect, and the occupancy of their original position. Consisting of three courses of huge stones, projecting one over the other as they rise, they form the segment of an arch. With their external surface hewn to a regular curve, they each measure from twenty to twenty-four feet long, and from five to six high; and extending along the wall about forty feet, they spring therefrom nearly the same distance. From the apparent width of the valley from this arch to the precipitous rocks on the eastern brow of Mount Zion, this bridge was 350 feet long, and consisted of five arches, supported by four intervening piers.
SOLOMON’S BRIDGE.
Without giving us the date of its construction, Josephus speaks of this bridge as existing in his day,117 and the colossal proportion of the remaining blocks, together with the manner in which they are dressed, evince their great age, and also their Jewish origin. It is older than Herod, as it is mentioned in connection with Pompey’s siege of the Holy City, which occurred twenty years prior to the accession of the Idumean.118 It is not, therefore, unreasonable to suppose it as old as Solomon, whose wonderful works have ever been the admiration of mankind. Attended by a gorgeous retinue of princes and soldiers, he often passed over it from his palace on Zion to the Temple of the Highest on Mount Moriah; and to this magnificent structure the sacred historian probably alludes, who, in describing the effect of Solomon’s works upon the mind of the Queen of the South, declares that when she beheld “the ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.”119 Centuries later, it was no doubt the way by which the Redeemer frequently passed from the Temple to the “Upper City;” and when the day of retribution came, and the hour of the destruction of Jerusalem drew nigh, the triumphant Titus stood upon one of its remaining sections and addressed the infatuated Jews, appealing to the remnant to spare themselves from farther carnage by submitting to Rome.
These mural examinations awakened a desire to stand, if possible, upon the very site of Solomon’s Temple. This, however, was both difficult and expensive. For many centuries the inclosure, together with the Mosque of Omar, had been closed against all Christians, but, thanks to the civilization of the West, the fanaticism of the East has yielded to a superior power, and many places hitherto inaccessible are now open to the Christian traveler.
The Temple area is an oblong quadrangle, extending north and south 1600 feet, and more than 1000 east and west. Since the reign of Herod the Great it has been enlarged, and now includes the space formerly occupied by the Tower of Antonia. It is only on this supposition that its present dimensions can be made to correspond with the measurements of Josephus, who describes it to have been a square,120 and such it is if the above-mentioned space is excluded. If a line be drawn from the south side of the Golden Gate, and at right angles to it, to a point 150 feet north of the modern gate, called Bal el-Katanên, an area is left for the Temple and its courts 1018 feet long and 926 wide, which, in popular language, would be called a square, and to the eye presents such a figure.
On the space north of this imaginary line stood the famous Tower of Antonia, constructed by Judas Maccabeus, or by some other member of the Asmonean family, and which, at a subsequent period, was enlarged and rendered exceedingly grand by Herod the Great, who called it Antonia, in honor of Anthony, his benefactor. Quadrangular in form, it had a tower at each angle, three of which had an elevation of 87½ feet each, while the one at the southeast corner rose to the height of 122½ feet, uniting in this structure the strength of a fortress with the splendor of a palace. The interior was adorned with baths, courts, and porticoes. In the very centre of the inclosure was an open space for encampments, from which extended elegant passage-ways, connecting the tower with the colonnades of the Temple. From a rock eighty feet high, situated in the northwest corner, rose the Acropolis, seventy feet higher, which was incased with polished stones. As this was the fortress of the Temple, here was stationed the military guard; and, during the jurisdiction of the Romans, it was the seat of public justice. On the exterior of the present wall are two arches, now walled up, where the Scala Santa, or Pilate’s Staircase, which led to his judgment-hall, formerly stood. Regarding it with religious reverence, Constantine removed it to Rome, where it was placed in the Basilica of St. John Lateran; and, believing that it was once pressed by the Savior’s feet, the pious Catholic now ascends it upon his knees. A few paces to the west of these arches, and spanning the Via Dolorosa, is the Ecce Homo arch, traditionally marking the spot where Pilate, having brought forth our Lord, exclaimed, “Behold the man!”121
Yielding to the conquering arms of Titus, the Tower of Antonia was taken by the Romans, who, razing it to its foundation, left it a mass of ruins. Cutting away the Acropolis rock, they left but a projecting fragment, now the site of the Pasha’s Palace. Removing the elegant courts and porticoes to plant their engines of war against the Temple, they cleared an area 500 feet long and 1000 wide, which is now in part a scarped rock, and the rest is dotted with patches of grass. Inhumed beneath the ruins lay the deep fosse, the foundation of the northeast tower, and the base of the loftier tower at the southeast angle, all of which remain to our own day, pointing to Antonia as one of the grandest of human structures.
Equally superstitious with the Latins and Greeks, the Moslems have many shrines within the Temple area consecrated either to the memory of their great Prophet, or to that of some eminent saint. Near a graceful minaret, which rises from the scarped rock, is a small dome, marking the spot where Solomon, after the completion of the Temple, stood and prayed. Along the western side of the Haran are cloisters, with square pillars and pointed arches, devoted to meditation and prayer, and to the accommodation of dervishes, eunuchs, and serpent-charmers. In a small room beneath one of the cloisters is the legendary iron ring to which Mohammed tied his Alborak on the night of his ascension.
In the centre of the oblong area within the walls is a raised platform fifteen feet high, 550 long north and south, and 450 wide east and west. It is paved with Palestine marble, and reached by eight flights of stone steps, spanned by light Saracenic arches. Ascending the platform by the northern steps, we lingered for a moment to enjoy a scene of extraordinary beauty. On either side rose massive walls, with parapet and tower; beneath the platform, and extending to the farthest verge of the inclosure, were fields of grass adorned with flowers; decked in all their vernal beauty were sombre olives, lofty palms, and graceful acacias, and near them were marble fountains sparkling in the morning light; beneath the trees white-veiled women reclined, and turbaned Turks moved softly through the foliage; around the platform rose airy arches; on it stood elegant pulpits, carved niches for prayer, and miniature cupolas of faultless symmetry; while from the very centre rose the Mosque of Omar, enameled with tiles of intricate patterns and of variant hues, reflecting the colors of the rainbow, and surmounted with that dome of domes, resplendent with the early light. Secluded from the outer world, peace reigned within, and no sound was heard save the solitary call of the muezzin from the balcony of a neighboring minaret. Among the minor objects of interest within the Haram is the Kubbet es-Silsilah—“the Dome of the Chain.” Situated twenty feet east from the great mosque, it is a small fane of rare beauty. From seventeen slender marble columns spring semicircular arches, supporting a dome of great elegance, which is adorned with porcelain of different colors and curious devices. According to the legend, here Mohammed obtained his first view of the enchanting damsels of Paradise, and hither the faithful now resort to meditate on love.
MOUNT MORIAH, WITH A VIEW OF THE MOSQUE OF OMAR.
But the great attraction within the Temple area is the “Mosque of Omar”—the pride of the Mohammedan, the contempt of the Jew, and the grief of the Christian. Though bearing the name of the celebrated Khalif Omar, who captured Jerusalem in 636 A.D., yet some Arabian writers suggest the name of Khalif Abd-el-Melek Ibn Marwan as the more probable founder of the present mosque. But so confused are the accounts of historians, and so contradictory are the prevailing traditions touching its origin, that it is difficult to reach a correct conclusion on the subject. It is stated, however, by the best authorities, that when Jerusalem capitulated to the arms of Omar, the khalif, on entering the city, refused to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but inquired for the site of Solomon’s Temple. Led by the venerable patriarch Sophronius to the sacred rock which forms the summit ridge of Moriah, Omar, with his own hands, removed the filth which Moslem contempt for the Jew had heaped upon it, and over it he ordered the erection of a mosque at once worthy the wisdom of Solomon and the conquests of Mohammed.
In the estimation of devout Moslems, this mosque is next in sacredness to the mosques of Mecca and Medina, and, with the exception of a brief interval, it has remained in their possession since its construction. In 1099 A.D. the Holy City yielded to the triumphant arms of the Crusaders, whose heroic faith was only excelled by their unwavering courage. Overpowered by their Christian conquerors, the followers of the Prophet retreated within their sacred edifice, from which they were at length driven with terrible slaughter. Some, creeping to the summit of the dome, and clinging to its gilded spire, were pierced with arrows; others, leaping into the deep cisterns beneath the mosque, were drowned or sabred in their attempt to escape; while so great was the number slain, that the whole area flowed with blood ankle deep.122 Having removed the dead, and cleansed the mosque from the stench and stains of the slaughtered, the Crusaders consecrated it to Christ. Within they erected a choir and an altar, and on the spire which surmounts the dome they substituted the Cross for the Crescent. Receiving authority from the sovereign pontiff, they established a regular chapter of canons, endowed with all the immunities belonging to the Catholics of the West, and calling the holy house, by way of excellence, Templum Domini, they organized a special guard for its protection, to whom they gave the name of Knights Templars.
But in less than a century thereafter the Mosque of Omar reverted to its former masters, and, true to his religious faith, the proud Saladin, having driven the Crusaders from the city, transferred the mosque from Christ to Mohammed. The golden cross gave place to the gilded crescent; the altar and choir were removed; the edifice was cleansed with rose-water brought for the purpose from Damascus; and from its lofty dome the muezzin announced the hour for prayer, while on his royal mat, spread beneath that dome, Saladin performed his devotions.123 As the Egyptian conqueror left it we now behold it.
Consisting of three sections—the walls, the drum, and the dome—the lower story is a true octagon, forty-six feet high and 170 in diameter. Penetrated by fifty-six pointed windows of the Tudor style, the light passes through stained glass, rivaling in the beauty and brilliancy of its colors that of the famous cathedral windows of Central Italy. From this section rises the drum, thirty-four feet high, pierced by sixteen windows, and on which rests the dome, rising seventy feet higher, and having a diameter of sixty feet. A graceful spire surmounts the dome, supporting a gilded crescent. The exterior of the first and second sections is incased with marbles of different hues and with porcelain tiles of intricate patterns, while that of the dome is covered with lead.
Corresponding in position to the four cardinal points are as many doorways, three of which have inclosed marble porches, and the fourth has a portico formed of slender columns, with a roof of the same material. Two corridors encircle the interior of this noble edifice. One, thirteen feet wide, is formed of eight massive piers and sixteen Corinthian columns, connected at the top by a horizontal architrave; the other, thirty feet wide, is formed of twelve columns and four inner piers, from which spring the arches that support the dome. These columns are polished porphyry of a purple hue, and are crowned with richly gilded capitals. The walls and ceiling are covered with gilt stucco, on which are traced, in the graceful curves and lines of the Arabic characters, quotations from the Koran. Rising 150 feet from the marble pavement, the interior of the dome is no less impressive than the exterior is imposing; and though less in altitude than St. Peter’s at Rome, it is more symmetrical, and from the dimness of the light the eye wearies in searching for its loftier portions.
But the great attraction within the mosque is the celebrated rock called by the Arabs es-Sukhrah. Situated directly beneath the dome, it is unquestionably the summit ridge of Mount Moriah, and consists of a naked limestone rock of a grayish color, sixty feet long, fifty-five wide, and rises five feet above the surrounding floor. Over it, suspended from the piers, is the war-banner of Omar, made of the richest crimson silk; around it is an iron railing, with arrow-headed points tipped with gilt, and on it stand metallic candlesticks resembling Syrian lilies.
The fertile imagination of the Asiatic has invested this rock with peculiar sanctity. According to a Mohammedan legend, it descended from heaven when the spirit of prophecy was withdrawn from earth, and attempted to return to its native quarry when the Prophet ascended to glory, but was only restrained by the powerful arm of Gabriel. Refusing to touch the earth again, it remains suspended in the air seven feet above the top of Mount Moriah! Arrogant in their spirit as they are legendary in their taste, the Moslems believe that all the water on the earth flows from beneath this rock; and that in one of its unvisited caves are still preserved the armor of Mohammed, the saddle of his favorite beast, the scales for weighing the souls of men at the last judgment, the birds of Solomon, the pomegranates of David, and a silver urn which was thrown from its pedestal by Gabriel’s wing on the ever-memorable night of the Prophet’s ascension.
Reached by a flight of stone steps is the “Noble Cave,” excavated in the heart of the rock, which is of irregular shape, eight feet high and sixty in circumference. To deceive the unwary, and sustain the story that the rock is suspended in the air, a plastered wall incloses the sides of the vault, which, on being struck, emits a hollow sound, indicating a vacant space beyond. In the centre of the floor is a marble star, said to cover the mouth of Hades. It is more probably the entrance to that great cavern beneath the city, which, according to tradition, extends to this point.
Rejecting the idle tales of a false faith, the es-Sukhrah has a history replete with interest to every Christian. Forming the ridge of Mount Moriah, here Abraham offered his son;124 here stood the destroying angel when about to smite Jerusalem for the offense of an ambitious king;125 here was the threshing-floor of Ornan, which David purchased to offer thereon a sacrifice to stay the hand of the avenging messenger;126 and on it rested the altar of burnt-offerings in the first and second temples.127 Viewed in this light, the “Noble Cave” was no doubt the cess-pool of the altar of burnt-offerings, into which the immense quantity of sacrificial blood was conveyed by the drain that encompassed the altar.
From the southern portal of the Mosque of Omar a paved pathway leads to the Mosque of El-Aksa, lined on either side with olives, palms, and acacias. Near this avenue is the elegant Pulpit of David, from which prayers are offered for the health of the Sultan and the triumph of his arms. Extending a distance of 350 feet, the path terminates at the porch of El-Aksa. Standing near the southwest corner of the Temple area, and close to the southern wall, this mosque covers an area of 50,000 square feet. Measuring 280 feet long and 180 wide, its aisles and nave are forty-eight feet high, and its dome 130. Though in its general appearance the architecture is a compound of the Gothic and the Saracenic, yet, owing to the frequent alterations and numerous additions of the mosque, it is difficult to assign it a classification. Facing the north, the imposing porch extends the entire breadth of the building, and is divided into seven sections by arches supported by slender columns. It is paved with marble, and is reached by eight steps worn smooth by the feet of twelve centuries. The façade is penetrated by seven portals opening into the interior, which consists of a grand nave, three aisles on either side, and a transept surmounted with a noble dome. The aisles and nave are formed by forty-five marble columns, resembling the imposing colonnades in the magnificent basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo fuori le Mura in Rome. Springing from these columns are arches connecting aisle with aisle, and supporting the roof and dome. The pavement, now of stone, was once adorned with beautiful mosaics, the remaining fragments attesting the pristine grandeur of this ancient temple of Christian worship. Beneath the dome is the elaborately-carved Pulpit of Saladin, and near it is the gallery for the singers. Deriving their name from the daughter of the Prophet, the Fatimites ordered a large section of the mosque to be partitioned off and appropriated for the devotions of women. In the western end of the transept are two polished marble columns standing ten inches apart, and designedly arranged to discover the faith of him who essayed to pass between them; no one, according to the legend, but a true believer in the Koran could hope for success. Once regarded as an infallible test, the charm, however, is now broken, as many a Christian has succeeded in the attempt. Within this mosque is a fountain called the “Well of the Leaf,” receiving its name from the circumstance that centuries ago, one of the faithful, having descended to the bottom to recover a lost bucket, unexpectedly found a door opening into the delightful gardens of Paradise, into which he walked, and, plucking a leaf from one of its fair trees, returned, bearing with him the celestial memento, which proved its heavenly origin and nature by retaining its freshness.
With the ever-changing fortunes of the Holy City, the Mosque of El-Aksa has passed from master to master. Originally a Christian basilica, built by order of the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, and by him dedicated to “My Lady,” the Virgin Mary, a hundred years thereafter it was converted into a temple of Moslem worship. Four and a half centuries later, Tancred and his brave knights drove out the Arabians, and reconsecrated the Church of Justinian to the Blessed Virgin. In 1119 A.D. Baldwin II. gave it to his followers, whom he was pleased to call “the poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ,” and for whose accommodation he erected on its eastern side a dormitory, refectory, and infirmary. A gift so humble was the beginning of the wealth, power, and glory of the Knights Templars, whose mystic kingdom afterward extended to the farthest limits of Christendom, and who received the benedictions of pontiffs, the homage of kings, and the donations of the pious. Beneath the green sod in front of the venerable basilica were interred, in the year of our Lord 1170, the four knights who, at the instigation of Henry II., assassinated Thomas à Becket in the ancient cathedral of Canterbury. Remaining in the possession of the Crusaders for eighty-eight years, in 1187 A.D. Saladin marched against Jerusalem, captured the city, put the Templars to the sword, and reopened the portals of the mosque to the children of the Prophet.128
Whatever pleasure is experienced in recalling the ever-shifting fortunes of Moslem and Christian, and in reciting the legends of the one and the traditions of the other, the traveler turns away from scenes and memories so romantic to explore with deeper interest the works of Solomon.
Thirty feet to the east from the Mosque of El-Aksa is the entrance to a subterranean passage-way. A flight of stone steps leads down to a broad and well-made avenue 259 feet long, forty-two wide, thirty high, and having a gentle descent of 200 feet. Extending through the centre are two rows of monolithic columns, connected by arches supporting the ceiling, which is composed of flattened domes. These domes are formed of large blocks of limestone, and each one has a circular keystone six feet in diameter—a style of architecture nowhere else to be found, except in some of the ancient tombs beyond the city, indicating a contemporaneous age. Guided by the light of our wax tapers, we advanced a distance of 259 feet to a flight of nine steps leading down into an entrance-hall fifty feet long and forty-two wide. In the very centre stands a massive column twenty-one feet high and six in diameter, consisting of a single block of limestone, including a foliated capital, on which is carved a palm-branch. From this central pier, and from pilasters on the sides of the hall, spring arches on which rests a vaulted ceiling of extraordinary workmanship. And corresponding, both in its size and grandeur, is the original gateway in the south wall of the city, the exterior of which is seen in part where the city wall joins that of the Haram. Having a breadth of forty-two feet, it is divided in the centre by a rectangular pier eight feet broad, and, extending inward twelve feet, has a pillar-shaped termination. Both the pier and jambs of the gateway are constructed of bevel stones of great size and well finished. This is evidently one of the approaches to the ancient city, and no doubt up through this colonnaded avenue Christ and his disciples often passed to the House of the Lord. In some lateral vault leading from this covered way, the Jews believe the treasures and furniture of their Temple are now concealed; and so prevalent is this opinion, that a breach has already been made in the wall to discover the place of concealment.
SOLOMON’S SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGE-WAY.
Standing in the southeast corner of the Temple area is the Mosque of Issa (Jesus). It is a small, dome-like building, containing a large marble basin, not unlike in form a sarcophagus, called by some the “Cradle of Jesus,” by others the font in which the infant Savior was washed previous to his presentation in the Temple. Through this chamber is the true and easy entrance to the great substructions of Solomon’s day; but, hoping to deter us from exploring them, the guide led us to an opening in the area, down which we were compelled to leap more than ten feet. Nothing daunted, each in turn made the leap, and turning to the right, we stood beneath those grand vaults, unequaled in strength and grandeur by any thing of the kind either in Greece or Rome.
Originally the summit of Mount Moriah naturally and rapidly declined from the great rock which forms the ridge toward the southeast, leaving a narrow and uneven surface. To elevate the surface of the hill to a common level, Solomon constructed vaults supported by piers.129 Standing ten feet apart, and extending east and west 319 feet, and north and south 250 feet, are fifteen rows of massive columns, composed of beveled stones five feet square, and connected by semicircular arches, on which rest the vaulted ceiling, five feet thick, supporting the pavement above. These piers are from ten to thirty feet high, according to the elevation and depression of the ground, and on some of them has been chiseled a mason’s compasses, opened at an angle of forty-five degrees, but whether ancient or modern the silent sign of the honorable craft gives no response. The eastern wall of these substructions is the eastern wall of the Haram inclosure, the blocks of which are of the same material and of similar finish with those seen from without. Through openings in an arched gateway, now closed, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is distinctly seen. Through the thick vaults above some olive-trees have forced their powerful roots, which have taken hold on the soil below, uniting, by ligaments of life, the upper and lower surfaces, while the more slender roots hang like graceful pendents from the ceiling. Running along the wall in the western aisle is a large pipe, of similar material to Solomon’s aqueduct, which no doubt formerly served as a waste-pipe to carry off the refuse water from the Temple; and near it is an oval well, twenty feet in diameter. In the south corner of this aisle is a triple gate of curious workmanship, consisting of an arched central doorway and two lateral ones, so arranged as to form an obtuse angle. In the centre is an octagonal column two and a half feet in diameter, from which spring the arches of the side gateways. Though well preserved, this beautiful gate is now walled up. In the palmy days of Jerusalem it opened to the villages on the south of the city, and there is still a gradual ascent to the open area above, up which the victims were driven to the Temple for sacrifice.
Whether we consider the grandeur of these works or the wealth expended in their construction, they reflect alike the wisdom and glory of Solomon. The original declination of the hill—the measurements of the Temple area as given by Josephus—the size of the stones of which they are constructed, and the manner in which they are dressed, together with the absence of any information that either Herod or any of his successors ever touched the foundations of the sacred inclosure, suggest that these substructions are coeval with the Holy House.
Returning to the surface of the area, we turned to the northwest to explore the great lake beneath the Mosque of Omar. Any one who for a moment has reflected upon the quantity of water requisite for the frequent ablutions of the priests, and for the other demands of the Temple service, must have concluded that artificial means were employed to meet the demand. Ever fruitful in inventions, the genius of Solomon was equal to the emergency, and to the aid of nature he brought the mechanical art of his day. Near the mosque there is an aperture resembling the mouth of a well, down which an inclined plane leads to a flight of forty-four stone steps cut in the living rock. Descending, we found an excavation in the solid limestone rock forty-two feet deep, 736 in circumference, and capable of holding 2,000,000 gallons. The form of the cavern is irregular, and the rudely-arched roof is supported by large piers, which were designedly left at the time of the excavation. These columns are arranged to afford the greatest support, without regard to regularity or beauty, and an attempt had been made to arch the intervening rock, but the work is so crudely done as to give it a craggy appearance. Both the arches and upper portions of the pillars were formerly incased with brass, but the metallic covering has been removed by the Vandal captors of the city. Formerly there were eight apertures in the pavement above through which the water was drawn up; but only one remains open, admitting the light to the shades below. More than three feet of water now covers the entire bottom, which is perfectly clear and of a sweetish taste. Though at present the lake is partially supplied with rain-water, which flows through a small tank, from the Mosque of El-Aksa, yet originally the water was brought from Solomon’s Pools at Etham, seven miles to the south of Jerusalem, and the ancient aqueduct through which it flowed can now be traced to the western side of the reservoir.
Standing in such a cavern, where the light and darkness alternately chase each other, where no sound is heard save the measured tramp of pilgrim feet on the marble floor above, and where History silently but triumphantly points to her works in confirmation of her story, the mind is filled with admiration for the past. Of all the works of Solomon, there is nothing remaining which so impressively reflects his wonderful intellect, and so truly conveys to the mind an idea of his unbounded resources as this lake. Of its antiquity there can be no doubt; as to its design there can be no dispute; and of the glory it reflects upon the memory of its founder there can be no diversity of opinion. It was seen and described by Aristeas in the century preceding Christ, and it is subsequently mentioned by the Mishna, by Tacitus, and the Jerusalem Itinerary, and it now invites the modern traveler to its cavernous depths to drink of its crystal water, and thereby confirm those traditions which the lapse of time had transformed into fables.130
Though permitted to explore the Temple area the second time, yet I reluctantly left a spot where of old God had appeared to his people, and where the Redeemer often taught as one having authority. And where, on earth, have occurred events of greater grandeur and of more powerful influence? Within an area of less than forty acres the history of our religion may be said to have occurred, and there all that is now real in our faith was once foreshadowed by the most costly and imposing symbols; and to-day Moriah bears testimony no less to the fulfillment of the prophetic judgments demanded against her than to the veracity of her historians. In less than forty years after the Savior’s prediction of the destruction of the Temple, his words were fulfilled by Titus, who left the holy fane a mass of scorched and smoking ruins; and now spanning the Appian Way in ancient Rome, the Arch of Titus remains the monument of his terrible work. After a period of desolation lasting seventy years, the Emperor Adrian rebuilt Jerusalem, calling it Ælia Capitolina—the former after the family name of the emperor, and the latter in honor of Jupiter Capitolinus. Plowing up the surface of the area, he erected on the site of the Jewish Temple one to Jupiter, which he adorned with the colossal statue of himself, placing the equestrian one on the very site of the “Holy of Holies.” Nearly two and a half centuries later the Jews were permitted, by Julian the Apostate, to rebuild their Holy House, but they were deterred in the attempt by flames of fire bursting suddenly out from the earth upon them, and by other manifestations of the divine displeasure. For more than 150 years subsequently nothing is recorded of the Temple area till the middle of the sixth century, when the Emperor Justinian ordered the erection thereon of his magnificent church to the Virgin Mary, which, in 636 A.D., Omar converted into the Mosque of El-Aksa, and upon the site of Solomon’s Temple and of the Fane of Jupiter he reared the famous mosque which now bears his name. Subject to the sway of the False Prophet for 463 years, it was rescued from the grasp of the Moslems by the brave Crusaders, who converted the mosques into Christian churches, and who for eighty years worshiped Christ where Jupiter and Mohammed had been adored. Yielding to the victorious arms of its earlier captors, Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1189 A.D., and the Crescent was again in the ascendant on Mount Moriah, where it remains the symbol of Mohammedan power and glory, to give place at no distant day to the Cross of a world’s Redeemer.131