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JERUSALEM THE HOLY

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2011 with funding from

Princeton Theological Seminary Library

http://www.archive.org/details/jerusalemholybriOOwall

Jerusalem the Holy

A Brief History of Ancient Jeru-
salem; with an Account of the
Modern City and its Conditions
Political, Religious and Social

EDWIN SHERMAN WALLACE

Late United States Consul for Palestine

With Fifteen Illustrations from Photographs
and Four Maps

New York Chicago Toronto

Fleming H. Revell Company

M DCCC XCVIII

Fleming H. Revell Company

To My Mother

At Rest in the Heavenly Jerusalem,

and

To My Wife

Who Shared with Me the Varied Experiences

of Five Years' Residence in the

Jerusalem of Earth

Preface

BOOKS about Jerusalem are sufficiently numerous. Many-
volumes within recent years have recorded the impres-
sions of tourists with such adequacy for their purpose as a
few days' sojourn in the city permits. These, while generally
too long for the careless, are too superficial for those really in-
terested in the past and present of the Holy City. Some fifty
years ago the appearance of Williams' " Holy City " and Bar-
clay's " City of the Great King " gave the English public two
real histories of Jerusalem. But the great length of these excel-
lent treatises has confined them in great measure to the shelves
of large libraries, while the flight of time and the growth of
knowledge is, slowly but surely, rendering them antiquated.

In the present volume the author has sought to combine
completeness with brevity, and thus to place in the hands of
those who are interested in this city of sacred memories and
holy sites a book of such facts as are ascertainable. The opin-
ions expressed are based upon careful study of recognized
authorities, supplemented by diligent personal investigation,
carried on during a residence of five years in Jerusalem. In
many conversations with travellers the writer has learned what
is of greatest interest to those who have but limited time for
their own observation. The attempt is here made to give the
benefit of his studies to those who are interested, to answer as
briefly as possible the questions that have been so often asked,
and thus to prepare intending visitors for an intelligent com-
prehension of what they shall see when they arrive in the Holy
City. At the same time the work, it is hoped, will benefit
those whom circumstances prevent from beholding the present
remnant of the once great city, by giving them a picture of

8 Prefc

ace

what it is and narrating the experiences through which it has
reached its present condition.

For the historical parts of the work I must acknowledge my
indebtedness to many, but especially to Professor Sayce's
" Patriarchal Palestine " ; Edersheim's "Jesus the Messiah " ;
Doctor Robinson's " Biblical Researches" ; Williams' " Holy
City," and Barclay's " City of the Great King." So many
books have been consulted that it would be useless to mention
all. I have not hesitated to draw from every source, and those
who are acquainted with the publications of the Palestine Ex-
ploration Society will find that these papers have assisted me
very materially. The illustrations are from photographs taken
by Rev. Putnam Cady and Prof. E. Warren Clark.

Edwin Sherman Wallace.

United States Consulate, Jerusalem, 1898.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The City of the Canaanites 13

II. The City of David and Solomon 27

III. Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 47

IV. The City as it is To-day 69

V. The New Jerusalem 89

VI. The Walls and Gates 101

VII. The Hills Round About 115

VIII. The Valleys 129

IX. The Temple Hill 147

X. Church of the Holy Sepulchre 171

XI. The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 199

XII. Some Places of Special Interest 215

XIII. Excavations in Jerusalem 231

XIV. Climate and Health 247

XV. Passion Week and Easter 261

XVI. The Jews 287

XVII. Christians in Jerusalem 311

XVIII. The Moslems , 329

XIX. The Future of Jerusalem : . . 349

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Mosque of Omar Frontispiece

Robinson's Arch Facing page 60

Native Water Carriers )

Street Market Scenes )

United States Consulate

Consular Guards

Interior of Damascus Gate

Gate of St. Stephen

I ..."

East Wall and Moslem Cemetery I

The Golden Gate J

Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane . "

Old Olive Tree in Garden of Gethsemane . . "
The City as Seen from the Summit of the New Calvary "
Southern View of the New Calvary ..."

Syrian Bishop of Jerusalem "

Maps. following11

19
94

106

118

139
199
209
320
359

THE CITY OF THE CANAANITES

Jerusalem — The Name — Its Origin — Salem — Testimony of
Egyptian Monuments — Tel-el-Amarna Tablets — Melchizedek
— Ebed-Tob — Abraham in Canaan — Civilization of the Ca-
naanites — Debir — Modern Explorations — Jerusalem always a
Sacred City — Jebusites — Hittites — The Confederates — Adoni-
Zedek — Victories of Joshua — Division of the Land — Judah and
Benjamin — Moral and Religious Degeneracy — Jebusite Su-
premacy— Judges — Samuel — Founding of the Monarchy —
David — Conquest of Jerusalem.

THE CITY OF THE CANAANITES

JERUSALEM as a name and as a place has given students
of archaeology much concern. The origin of the name
and of the people who first employed it to describe their
city has been a fruitful source of speculation. Diligent ques-
tioning of the monuments of Egypt and the tablets of Babylonia
has succeeded in making these long silent witnesses give up
their secrets. Periods of time, the history of which conjecture
has supplied, are now positively known. Fact has taken the
place of supposition. The inquirer as to the origin of the
word Jerusalem is no longer told that the word was coined at
the time of David ; he learns that it was in existence centuries
before, that it was known as the name of a city of importance
in the days when Babylonish influence was felt as far west as
the shores of the Mediterranean.

Until within very recent years one might have accepted any
of several definitions of the word Jerusalem. The rabbis in
their zeal to connect the founding of the city with Abraham
asserted that he, the father of their faith, first called the place
Jireh and that Shem contributed the latter half of the name ;
in order that there might be no unpleasantness between these
two worthies, God himself combined the two words into the
one by which the city has since been known. Reland and
Ewald derived it from two Hebrew words meaning "the in-
heritance of peace." Gesenius translated it "foundation of
peace." Others have held the opinion that originally there
were here two separate cities, one known as Jebus, the other
Salem ; that eventually they were united and their names re-
solved into one, which, for the sake of euphony, became Jerusa-

16 Jerusalem the Holy

lem instead of Jebussalem. A similar view was held by those
who give the Hebrew dual form to the word, reading it Jeru-
shalaim, a form that occurs in five places in the Old Testa-
ment. When the Greek influence predominated, a Greek der-
ivation made it mean " the holy place of Solomon."

All these hypotheses had their value when no positive infor-
mation was at hand : now the facts are before us. In the
cuneiform documents the city is called Uru-Salim, the city of
Salim. In the early language of Canaan as we learn from a
Nineveh tablet "uru" was equivalent to the Babylonish
"alu,"a city. The Semitic "uru" represents the "eri,"
"a city," of the pre-Semitic language of Babylonia. As to
"Salim" there has never been a doubt: it means "peace,"
and was the name of the God of Peace. So we have Uru-
Salim, Jerusalem, the city of the God of Peace.

The information furnished by the monuments and tablets
makes us reasonably certain as to another long-disputed sub-
ject. When Abraham returned after defeating the kings who
had despoiled Sodom and carried Lot away captive, he was
met "in the valley of Shaveh, which is the King's dale" by
"Melchizedek, king of Salem," and " priest of the most High
God." This Melchizedek was king of Jerusalem. From the
history of Absalom we know that the " King's dale " was near
Jerusalem. Salem was frequently used for the longer name,
and so appears several times on the Egyptian monuments.
One of the victory-inscriptions of Rameses II. on the walls of
the Rameseum at Thebes, describing that monarch's conquests
in Southern Palestine, mentions Salem. Rameses III. at
Medinet Habu, tells us that he conquered "the district of
Salem " between " the country of Hadashah " and " the dis-
trict of the Dead Sea " and " the Jordan."

Salim, the God of Peace, was the patron deity of Jerusalem,
the city of peace. Melchizedek, priest of the most high God,
officiating in the city of peace, came out to welcome and bless
the returning conqueror Abraham, who had routed the ene-

The City of the Canaanites 17

mies of the land and restored peace to its inhabitants. The
offerings of bread and wine made by the priest were tokens,
the one that peace had been established, the other of
gratitude to him whose prowess had effected this desirable
consummation. The story of Melchizedek can no longer
be subject to critical doubts. The Tel-el-Amarna tablets give
their corroborative testimony of illustration and explanation.
Salem was Jerusalem.

Among the Tel-el-Amarna tablets are found letters written
by a king of Jerusalem to Amenophis, the then reigning
Pharaoh in Egypt. This king, Ebed-Tob, was not a governor
appointed from Egypt, but, as he himself says, was a tributary
ally of the empire of the Nile. There are some striking points
of resemblance between this king, Ebed-Tob, and the royal
priest Melchizedek. He claims his kingdom not by human
appointment, nor by succession from royal progenitors, but
through the oracle of the "Mighty King." The Pharaoh is
called " the Great King," so that when " the Mighty King "
is spoken of we see in Him "the Most High God " of Mel-
chizedek. In this early day, fifteen centuries before our era,
Jerusalem had a religious monarch who confesses that he owes
the honor of his appointment and the dignity of his royal posi-
tion to his God.

When Abraham journeying from Ur of the Chaldees, came
to Canaan, he found a people not entirely strange to him.
The civilization of his native land had preceded him ; in the
cities of Canaan the people worked and worshipped as in his own
country. Babylonia was the predominant power in " the land
of the Amorites." In the cities of the West the language of
Babylon was commonly known ; there were schools for the
study of it, and scribes who copied on tablets of clay the rec-
ords that were to be preserved. With two or three notable
exceptions the cuneiform characters were used in all diplo-
matic and polite correspondence.

It has been taken for granted that the land to which Abra-

18 Jerusalem the Holy

ham came as an immigrant was sparsely settled by barbar-
ous people; the Tel-el-Amarna tablets show us that this as-
sumption was far from the truth. And yet the real condition
of the land and the people might have been inferred from the
Old Testament, in the names by which some of the cities of
Canaan were known: for example, Debir — " the sanctuary"
was known by two other names, Kirjath-Sannah, " the city of
instruction," and Kirjath-Sepher, " the city of books." It is
more than probable that in these names we receive a charac-
terization of the place according to the employment of its in-
habitants. Debir was situated in the mountainous parts of
Judah ; if its exact location ever be discovered, a library of in-
formation about these early times may be given to the world.

The results of modern exploration in Palestine, while they
have disappointed expectations in some respects, have been
of great value in assisting in the formation of correct opinions
of the early periods of history. As each discovery corrobo-
rates the Biblical narrative, the hope grows that the labors of
explorers may be rewarded by some great "find." Professor
Petrie and Doctor Bliss in their work at Tel-el-Hesi demon-
strated the possibility of such a hope being realized. If Tel-
el-Hesi could reveal the work of men's hands wrought from
3,000 to 1,500 years b. c, and one letter in cuneiform char-
acter of the same date as the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, there is
no limit to the hopes that those interested in such discoveries
may be permitted to entertain. Palestine is a land of mounds,
or tels, the sites of ancient cities. They are waiting for the
pick of the excavator to disclose their hidden treasures of in-
formation concerning the pre-Israelite dwellers in this land.

The excavations made under the direction of the Palestine
Exploration Fund, by Conder and Bliss have settled some dis-
puted questions of topography, but, carefully and industriously
as the work has been done, have added little to our knowledge
of the city's builders and inhabitants previous to the Jewish
conquest under David. Our information, limited as it is, has

The City of the Canaanites 19

been derived from other sources, the discovery of which war-
rants the belief that, when existing obstacles to excavations
within the present city walls and near the Holy Places of the
Moslems are removed, discoveries equal in importance to that
of Tel-el-Amarna will be made.

This much is now positive knowledge, that when Abram,
the Chaldean sheikh, pitched his tents in the land of Canaan
he was in a country that was settled and reasonably well gov-
erned, that the Babylonish culture and civilization predomi-
nated, that Jerusalem was a city whose ruler was recognized as
king over a district, probably the lord of Canaan, to whom
the neighboring princes paid homage, and that Jerusalem was
already a sacred city. We cannot yet say to which of the
numerous Canaanitish tribes Melchizedek, the king of Right-
eousness, belonged. From the Book of Numbers 1 we learn
that "the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell
in the mountains." It can further be inferred with reason
that the dwellers in the city in Abram's time were either Hit-
tites or Amorites, or both, for the Jebusites were a local tribe,
in possession of the city at the time the Israelites under Joshua
entered Canaan, and were either Amorite or Hittite in origin.*
Ezekiel 3 confirms this opinion when in charging the Jerusalem
of his day with inconsistency, he says : " Your mother was an
Hittite and your father an Amorite." The two nations occu-
pied the entire land at one time, Kadesh on the Orontes being
the stronghold of the Hittites. Hittites and Amorites dwelt to-
gether at Hebron, and Kadesh -barnea was " in the mountains
of the Amorites."

Knowing this much generally about these two large tribes,
or nations, does not enable us, however, to say which one of
them occupied the rocky summit of Zion, nor when the Jebu-
site took possession. A theory as to time, based upon the
records of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, has much in its favor. In

> Num. xiii. 29. 8Sayce's " Patriarchal Palestine," pp. 50, 51.

3 Ezekiel xvi. 45.

20 Jerusalem the Holy

the list there given no mention is made of the Jebusites. The
name Jebus further does not appear. The fact that Urusalim
is the common appellation leads to the conclusion that the
Jebusitic occupation was of later date. At the time the tab-
lets were written, the king, Ebed-Tob, was being hard pressed
by enemies, whom he calls Khabiri, or " Confederates." To
assist him against those who were seeking to conquer his terri-
tories and to dethrone him, he writes in urgent terms to the
reigning Pharaoh to send him help. But affairs in Egypt
were in a critical condition and no forces could be spared.
The result Ebed-Tob feared actually happened, as one of the
tablets informs us. Jerusalem was finally assaulted and taken,
and the king captured. There is no record that informs us
who these early enemies of Jerusalem were. Among the Kha-
biri, or "Confederates," was a Bedouin chief, Labai, and
his sons. These confederates overran and took all of southern
Canaan. When next we hear of Jerusalem it is a Jebusite
stronghold. Doubtless in the partition of the spoils of their
combined victories the city was allotted to this new tribe, or,
following the suggestion given by Ezekiel, we may say that
the Jebusites were a tribe formed by a union of part of the
Hittite and part of the Amorite tribes.

All this, however, is in the nature of conjecture based upon
the correspondence of time of the appearance of these Con-
federates and the change of the city's name. The Khabiri
were in possession of Hebron at this time and philologists tell
us that the words Khabiri and Hebron have the same origin.
Other explanations as to who the "Confederates" were and
whence they came are offered, but to follow them would lead
us from our present purpose. Enough that they succeeded in
taking the city and making themselves complete masters of it
and the surrounding country. Here we find them, secure in
their possession and boastful of their security for some cen-
turies.

Five centuries after Abraham made his offering to Mel-

The City of the Canaanites 11

chizedek, at that time King of Jerusalem, his descendants,
after generations of servitude in the land of the Pharaohs and
forty years of wilderness wandering, entered Canaan as con-
querors. The name of the king of Jebus who opposed them
suggests that the city still retained its sacred character, and
his calling upon the neighboring princes of Hebron, Jarmuth,
Lachish and Eglon to come and help him to resist the invaders
indicates that they were in some sense subservient to him.
These five kings are all called Amorites in Joshua x, 5.
Adoni-zedek, the righteous lord, was this king's name, and
from it we infer that he, too, combined in his person the office
of king and priest. The alliance of the kings was, however,
unable to resist the invaders under Joshua. They gave battle
at Gibeon, about three miles northwest of Jerusalem and were
completely routed. The victory of the Israelites was decisive.
Adoni-zedek and his four vassal princes were taken and paid
the penalty of their resistance with their lives.

Following up his victory at Gibeon Joshua immediately took
the cities, whose kings he had hanged near the cave of
Makkedah,1 and slaughtered all their inhabitants. Of Jerusalem
no mention is made at this time. It was not assailed ; or
the assault was not successful. It was then, no doubt, being the
capital city, a much more strongly fortified place than any of
the other cities and regularly to invest it would have consumed
more time and required more formidable enginery of war than
the Israelites had at their disposal. It was left for a more
opportune season. In the meantime other alliances of the
native princes commanded the attention of Joshua and his
men-at-arms.

In the division of the land made subsequently by Joshua the
northern boundary of Judah's allotted territory ran "south of
the Jebusite";2 and so Jebus was counted in Benjamin's
portion. However, the Benjamites seem to have permitted the
forces of Judah to do the fighting necessary to obtain possession.
'Joshua x. 15, etc. * Joshua xv. 8.

22 Jerusalem the Holy

Doubtless for this reason many passages in the Bible speak of
Jerusalem as a city of Judah. At any rate Judah did success-
fully assail Jebus,1 with the assistance of the forces of Simeon.2
When this successful assault was made cannot be discovered,
for in the list of cities which fell to the lot of Judah, as given
in the fifteenth chapter of Joshua, the city of the Jebusites was
the one exception to the universal conquest. It was strong
enough to make terms of peace, and, as the writer of Joshua
puts it, " The Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at
Jerusalem unto this day."3 How long these terms of peace
were satisfactory cannot be learned, for the next record *
mentions that Judah had taken Jerusalem, " smitten it with
the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire." From this
conquest Judah's forces went to the south and east of their
territory to overthrow the Canaanites, and seem to have left
Jerusalem in the care of their brothers, the Benjamites, it be-
ing in reality one of the cities which had been assigned to
them.5 But Benjamin was not strong enough to keep the
Jebusites in subjection. They made the mistake of permitting
the conquered race to remain in their old habitation. Expul-
sion of the Jebusite was the only method which would have
allowed Benjamin to enjoy the benefits of Judah's victory.
This not having been employed, the Jebusite soon raised him-
self to a position of equality, and, though Benjamin wished
to expel him, he could not. So the next record 6 informs us
that the Jebusite and Benjamite are dwelling together in
Jerusalem.

An effort has been made to reconcile these rather difficult
passages, which appear to contradict each other, by assuming
that at this early period the city was, what it certainly became
at a later date, double in form, that is that there were two
divisions of the city, an upper and a lower. In this
case the children of Judah were able to dislodge the

1 Judges i. 8. 3 Judges i. 3. 3 Joshua xv. 63.

* Judges i. 8. 6 Joshua xviii. 28. fl Judges i. 21.

The City of the Canaanites 23

Jebusite from the lower city, which was less strongly fortified,
and the Benjamites dwelt in this part, while the Jebusites from
their stronghold on Zion repelled all assaults. The Hebrew
dual form which the name sometimes has, i. e., Jerushal«z>«,
has been thought to support this hypothesis. But it gives
weak support. On the two occasions 1 when the last half of the
word is used for the whole it is written Shalem and not
Shalaim. In five other places where the dual form is used,
and which the Masoretic points indicate, no support is given
this theory ; for these are of a much later date when the double
form of the city was well established and was so familiar as to
be reflected in the name.

This difficulty will remain until further records, if any such
exist, are discovered. For the present it can only be said that
in the troublous times of the Israelitish conquest of the land
there were periods when first one and then the other of the
contending parties held the supremacy.

A period of moral and religious degeneracy succeeded the
death of Joshua. The Israelites of the next generation forgot
their divine commission and are found serving " the gods of
the people that were round about them." * The martial spirit
that made them conquerors had sunk so low that they could no
longer maintain what they had won. They were even sold as
slaves by the nations that had stood in fear of their fathers.3
Occasionally a man of great personal power arose among them
and revived their old spirit for a time. But with the decay of
their sublime religion they degenerated as men, and for a time
their national existence was threatened ; they were sinking to
the level of the Canaanite. During this period of disgrace the
Jebusites were strong enough to expel them entirely, and for
nearly three hundred years the city was regarded by the
Israelites as " the city of a stranger " in which it was neither
desirable nor safe for an Israelite to tarry.4

1 Gen. xiv. 18; Psalm Ixxvi. 2. s Judges ii. 12.

3 Judges ii. 10-14. 4 Judges xix. 12.

24 Jerusalem the Holy

The period of the judges, until the authority of Samuel, the
greatest of the judges, was recognized, was a time of political
and religious anarchy. " Every man did that which was
right in his own eyes." * As a consequence the record of the
period is a story of corruption involving, except in a few cases,
even the priests and judges. Under such circumstances no ad-
vance could be made, and we may pass rapidly over an epoch
the study of which tells us nothing of Jerusalem. Secure in
their rock fortress on Zion the Jebusites remained, doubtless us-
ing past experience to make more safe against attack the city
for which nature had done so much. And they would have
remained in insolent possession, had not a great leader ap-
peared.

In the midst of this national degeneracy Samuel, second
only to Moses as a ruler and guide, came upon the stage of ac-
tion. With the duties of a judge he combined those of a
teacher and a prophet. In time he shamed the Israelites out
of their idolatry and delivered them from the power of the
Philistines. The spirit of Jehovah came upon them again and
their departed glory returned. In the hands of Samuel the
theocracy became a fact, for he was virtually a dictator. And
yet, so long as the various tribes retained their individuality
and the numerous princes and princelings and leaders were
under no universally acknowledged head, there were petty
jealousies and internal strifes which seriously weakened the na-
tion. In fact up to this time, and after it, there was no Jew-
ish nation. Each tribal leader was nothing more than a con-
dottiere in Italy in mediaeval times and maintained his posi-
tion only by his ability to overpower his rivals and to gratify
the propensity for spoils of his clansmen.

Amid such adverse conditions the task of Samuel was not an
easy one; and it took him forty years to accomplish it. The
details of his efforts to educate and elevate the lawless chief-
tains and dispirited people are unknown ; history records only
fudges xvii. 6.

The City of the Canaanites 25

the grand result. He aroused fresh courage and inspired new
hope; he combined the factions into a harmonious whole; he
laid upon them the responsibility of conquest and incited in
them a belief in their own powers to accomplish the mission to
which he as God's spokesman called them. He revolutionized
the state by reviving the religion of the people and thereby
prepared them for that advance in civilization, — a political
revolution, and the founding of a monarchical government.
This was not the result Samuel had desired. In fact he was
opposed to the establishment of the monarchy, fearing lest the
change in government should wean the people from their
newly awakened devotion to their religion and draw them
from that simplicity of life and manners which he, as a wise
judge, felt to be their real security. He warned them of the
loss of liberty that would follow the crowning of a king, but
the popular voice assented to a curtailing of its liberties in the
hope of having greater individual protection and of being able
to take its place among nations. Despotism is preferable to
anarchy.

Saul, the first king, was a man of royal bearing. The early
years of his reign were marked by military successes; but
tribal jealousies did not immediately disappear. It was not
until David was made ruler that the tribes really united to
form the Jewish nation. Hebron was the first capital, and
here it was that the leaders came and offered their allegiance
to the new monarch ; but Hebron was too far to the south to
remain the centre of government. The stronghold of the
Jebusites would meet the local requirements for the new capi-
tal, and to expel these hated strangers from the midst of the
land would be a signal victory with which to establish David's
reign over united Israel and instill a wholesome respect for his
arms among the surrounding nations. These nations on the
other hand were already jealous of the advance Israel was
making and, fearful of their own security, were ready to
thwart her by every power at their command.

26 Jerusalem the Holy

Everything being in preparation for the siege, David moved
northward from Hebron in command of the very flower of the
armies of united Israel, who had come to Hebron "to turn
the Kingdom of Saul to him." It was an army of which any
commander might well be proud. For that early period the
numbers are startling. Two hundred and eighty thousand
warriors,1 skilled in the use of arms, seems an overwhelming
number to send against one city. Doubt has been expressed
of the accuracy of the figures given by the author of Chron-
icles. It is much easier, however, to raise a doubt than to
prove an inaccuracy. The size of David's army gives us an
idea of the strength of Jebus. During the centuries of their
undisturbed occupation the Jebusites had doubtless grown in
numbers and power, and, adding to their city's fortifications,
would invite the greatest effort Israel could make to dislodge
them. Even this tremendous force did not daunt the spirit of
the Jebusites. They beheld it coming and expected a result
similar to the outcome of past attempts.

David probably assailed the city from the south. The
lower city was immediately taken, but the inhabitants, retiring
to the stronghold in the upper city, heaped reproaches upon
the king and showed their contempt for him and his by the
manner of their defiance. They insulted him from the battle-
ments, placed the city's lame 2 and blind upon the walls, and
informed him in ridicule that these would have to be taken be-
fore he could enter. The insult was soon avenged, for the
intrepid Israelites, with Joab at their head, soon scaled the
walls, put the Jebusites to the sword, and were masters of both
the lower and upper city, including the citadel of Zion. This
capture was made about the year 1040 b. c, and from it dates
the history of Jerusalem as the city of the Jews.

» 1 Chron. xii. 23-39. * 2 Sam. v. 6; 1. Chron. xi. 5, 6.

THE CITY OF DAVID AND SOLOMON

Effect of David's Victory — Establishing the Kingdom —
War and Peace — "City of David" — Wealth — Arc — Taber-
nacle— King's Palace — David's Thought to Erect the Temple
— Temple Site — Threshing Floors — Collecting of Materials —
Closing Years of David's Reign — Solomon's Inheritance —
Temple Building — Hiram of Tyre — Number of Workmen —
Cost of Construction — Size of Temple — Origin of Design of
Temple — Location — Brief Description — Solomon's Other La-
bors— Colonnade on the East — Royal Palace — House of the
Forest of Lebanon — Mural Improvements — The "Ascent" —
Water Supply — Commerce — Ophir — Extent of the Kingdom —
Insufficiency of Revenue — Solomon's Apostasy — Internal
Weakness of the Nation — Solomon's Death.

THE CITY OF DAVID AND SOLOMON

THE effect of the fall of the Jebusite stronghold was felt
throughout Israel and among the surrounding nations.
By this victory the warrior king had established himself firmly
on his throne and overcome any opposition that still lingered
among those of his subjects who favored the succession of the
house of Saul. Neighboring powers began to fear him and
sought by allying themselves against him to check his progress.
The Philistines led their forces against David,1 but were not
permitted to come to the walls of Jerusalem, the king meeting
them in the valley of Rephaim and defeating them. Later a
strong alliance was effected of " all Syria and Phoenicia, with
many other nations besides them."2 These were met in the
same valley and effectually routed. These successes won for
the new monarch the friendship of Hiram, king of Tyre, from
whom an embassy soon appeared in Jerusalem offering David
the usual gifts of one royal personage to another and promising
materials and artificers to assist in the erection of a palace.

While these wars on the one hand and peace negotiations on
the other proceeded, David was further occupied by the forti-
fying and embellishing of his capital. It was to be made a
seat of government worthy of a strong and progressive nation.
To make it more impregnable, the two cities — the upper and
lower — were united and enclosed by a wall. This wall crossed
the intervening valley on an artificial embankment to which
some authorities have given the name Millo. On Mount Zion
the royal palace was built, and this, the stronghold of the
Jebusites, was afterward known as " the City of David."

'3 Sam. v. 17-21 ; I Chron. xiv. 8-12. 2Jos. Ant. vii. 4, \ I,

30 Jerusalem the Holy

During the thirty-three years of David's reign there was lit-
tle peace for the armies of Israel. But the result of the wars
added to the glory of the nation and increased the territory
over which the supremacy of the king was acknowledged.
The city grew in numbers and in wealth. The trophies of
victory and the tribute from vassal princes filled the royal
treasuries. In the midst of this material prosperity and out-
ward glory there was one thing lacking which was essential to
the peace of the royal mind and to the religious ideas of the
nation at large. Though a human king was on the throne, the
theocratic idea was still strong. David was the nominal
ruler, but only as the servant of Jehovah, Israel's real sover-
eign. The Ark of the Covenant still witnessed to the divine
Presence though it had as yet been provided with no perma-
nent resting place. Since it had crossed the Jordan after the
desert wandering, it had had a varied experience, being carried
from place to place as the movement of the tribes necessitated.
Now the nomadic period was over. The tribes were a nation,
settled in their own land, with a permanent seat of govern-
ment at Jerusalem. A habitation suitable to its character must
be provided for the ark — that most sacredly significant emblem.

The old "tabernacle of the congregation" was at this time
with the altar of burnt-offering at Gibeon. It had been taken
there after the destruction of the priestly city of Nob.1 Since
it could not be removed, a new tabernacle was prepared for
the reception of the ark on Mount Zion. Since the return of
the ark to the Israelites after its capture by the Philistines at
the battle of Aphek it had been kept at Kirjath-jearim in the
house of Abinadab. David resolved to bring it to its newly
appointed place and, amid the rejoicings of the entire people
the attempt was made. But their joy was checked and the re-
moval of the ark to the city delayed for three months because
of the irreverence of Uzzah.2 During these three months it
was deposited in the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite.* Re-
1 I Sam. xxii. 19. 22 Sam. vi. 7. 32 Sam. vi. II.

The City of David and Solomon 31

ports coming to David of the signal manner in which the Lord
was blessing the house of Obed-edom, the king took it as an
evidence that the divine displeasure was appeased. Accord-
ingly " David and the elders of Israel and the captains over
thousands went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the
Lord out of the house of Obed-edom with joy." On this oc-
casion the Levites, the appointed bearers of the ark, carried
it. With sacrifice and song, with dancing and the music of
many instruments,1 "all Israel brought up the ark." With
burnt-offerings and peace-offerings and gifts to the people the
king placed the sacred relic in the tent in the city of David.

The tent for the ark on Mount Zion was a temporary struc-
ture, to be used only until such time as the plans which
the king had for a more noble sanctuary could be carried into
execution. The thought of his own palatial residence and the
comparison that followed between it and the curtain-protected
ark disturbed David's peace of mind.2 On communicating
his intention to erect a worthy edifice in which to place this
emblem of the divine presence it appears that he received from
the prophet Nathan a sanction.3 However, on the night fol-
lowing David's avowal of his plans and Nathan's encourage-
ment the "word of the Lord " altered the plans by informing
the king that not during his own reign, but during that of his
son should the actual construction be done. Not discouraged
by this change David immediately began with royal generosity
and sublime faith to prepare the material for a structure he was
never to behold.

The place where the house of the Lord was to stand was
chosen by divine direction in David's lifetime. At the thresh-
ing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the angel of the pestilence
that followed the sin of the numbering of the people put up his
sword and there by command of the angel, David " set up an
altar to the Lord " and offered " burnt-offerings and peace-of-
ferings" which were acceptable unto the Lord. This thresh-
> I Chron. xv. 29. * 2 Sam. vii. 2. 3 2 Sam. vii. 3

32 Jerusalem the Holy

ing floor was purchased from the Jebusite for six hundred
shekels weight of gold.1

The threshing floor of Araunah was doubtless similar to
many that may be seen on the rocky hilltops of Palestine to-
day. It was an exposed summit where, when the grain had
been tramped out, the winnowing could be done easily by
means of the unhindered breezes that would blow over it.
But its level surface would not be at all sufficient for the needs
of the temple. One of the works of preparation was to elevate
the sloping sides of the hill and make a level platform.
"The strangers that were in the land of Israel" which David
commanded to gather together2 may have been set to this
work, though it was left to Solomon to complete this truly
wonderful piece of engineering. David's real work, however,
was in amassing gold and silver, iron and brass " in abundance
without weight."3 Cedar wood was brought from the
Lebanon by the Zidonians and Tyrians. Precious stones for
temple ornamentation were stored up. Special taxes were
levied and masons were set to hewing wrought stones. So
that when Solomon came to the actual work of construction
he found at his hand a supply of materials that numbers could
not indicate.4

Besides all this prepared material David handed over to his
son and successor the plan of the entire structure that was to
be "The pattern of all he had by the spirit,"5 the temple
with its porches, chambers and courts. No details were lack-

' I Chron. xxi. 25. About $5,250. This appears a large amount for a
mere Oriental threshing floor, but in the purchase was doubtless included
all that part of the hill of Moriah that was afterward enclosed by the
temple precincts. This place, now occupied by the mosque of Omar and
known as the Haram area, has the singular distinction of being the only
sacred place within the walls of Jerusalem whose identity has not been
seriously disputed in modern times.

2 I Chron. xxii. 2. 3 Ibid. xxii. 3.

*Ibid. xxii. 14-16. 5 1 Chron. xxviii. 12— 2\,

The City of David and Solomon 33

ing even to the prescribing of the orders of the priests and
Levites and the porters at the gates.

Of the other public works of David only the names are
known. Of his making probably were the " royal gardens," as
Josephus calls them, which were located near Joab's well, at
the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Kedron, just south
of the city. He also prepared in the fortress of Zion the
sepulchre which in time received him and most of his success-
ors.

The closing years of David's reign were free from foreign wars.
There was indeed little to fear from the enmity of his neigh-
bors : the power of Assyria was broken ; Egypt, under the last
kings of the twentieth dynasty, was in decay ; Philistia had
been humbled and was confined to a narrow section of her
former territory; the friendship of Tyre was sincere. The
kingdom Solomon inherited reached from the Maritime plain
to the Euphrates, toward the north including Damascus, and
as far south as the Red Sea.

David's death occurred about the year 1015 B. C. Under
God he had been the founder of Israel's greatness and of the
glory of Jerusalem. He was the very soul of Hebrew enter-
prise. He was great ! If at times he forgot his honor as a
man he repented in sincerity and with the humility of a great
soul. He had that rare gift, knowing how to rule as an abso-
lute king and be loved as a friend by those over whom he
ruled. He had another faculty, still less common, being able
to touch the heart-strings of humanity in all ages and make
them throb in unison with his own Godward emotions. These
inspired songs of David would have made his name great even
though he had no other claims upon posterity.

Solomon succeeded to the throne of a nation united in itself
and at peace with the world. With the exception of a few
petty factions which were soon reconciled, his inheritance was
all that could be desired. Soon after his accession he began
the erection of the Temple. The plan which had been given

34 Jerusalem the Holy

him for the new structure was not original ; the temple was to
be little more than a large copy in stone of the ancient wilder-
ness tabernacle, the pattern of which God showed to Moses at
Sinai. The arrangement of parts in the tabernacle and tem-
ple were identical ; they differed only in size ; the measure-
ments of the temple were just double those of the tabernacle.
An examination of these measurements will reveal to us that
the temple — wonderful in many respects — was of meagre di-
mensions. It was only ninety feet in length, thirty in width
and forty-five in height; yet the finished work was deserving
of all the praise that has been bestowed upon it. It was not
size — though we shall see that some parts of the work con-
nected with it were cyclopean — but exquisite workmanship
and splendor of ornamentation that have made this temple
world-famous for all time. To the Hebrews of that early day
it was a most impressive structure, both for the splendor of its
architectural appointments and for its religious significance.
They were not then and never have been a nation of great
builders, and without foreign assistance it is not likely that
they could have brought their temple to completion. At Solo-
mon's request ' Hiram, King of Tyre, sent his master-work-
men of every class to superintend the construction and perform
much of the labor. Thirty centuries ago the Tyrian workmen
were forgotten, but on the Temple Hill their work may still be
seen with the unmistakable Phoenician marks upon it.

" Incredible " has been the exclamation of many who have
considered the biblical account of the number of men em-
ployed and the wealth expended on the preparation for and
construction of that temple. The spoils of thirty years of
successful warfare, the revenues of the richest of kings, costly
presents from neighboring monarchs, all these were consumed
in that work. The treasures David had collected were so
enormous in value that the brain is bewildered in an attempt
to compute them. It has been estimated that Solomon in-

1 I Kings v.

The City of David and Solomon 35

herited from his father thirteen millions of pounds (Troy) of
gold and one hundred and twenty-seven millions of pounds of
silver. No less amazing is the number of men employed.
Ten thousand hewers of wood were in the forests of Lebanon,
felling the cedars and working them into the desired shapes.
This force worked for eleven years. There were seventy
thousand common laborers whose duty was to bear burdens.
Eighty thousand quarrymen and dressers of stone were kept
busy, while over them were three thousand superintendents.1
In all there were one hundred and eighty thousand men en-
gaged. Some idea of the immensity of the work necessary to
prepare Mount Moriah for the temple can be gained from these
figures. The sides and summit of the mountain were com-
pletely altered. Therefore in expressing an opinion as to the
reliability of the biblical figures, the greatness of the substruc-
tures— almost equal to mountain building — must be borne in
mind ; it must be remembered that it was, so far as we know,
all hand labor, and that, though much of the work cannot now
be traced, there is evidence that it was far greater than is
usually supposed. The immensity of some of that masonry,
still remaining where Solomon's builders placed it, causes
more wonder in the fact that it was built at all than that it
took so many thousands of men years to do it. Some of those
stones were brought from the Lebanons and some from Bethle-
hem, though the greater part were quarried near the city,
probably in what is now known as Solomon's Quarries. But
whether brought from near or far the puzzling thing about
them is how they were brought.

The actual work of temple construction began in the third
month of the year 1012 B. c, the fourth year of Solomon's
reign and the four hundred and eightieth after the Exodus. It
was completed in eight years and five months.2 Language has
been exhausted in attempts adequately to describe it when
it was completed and stood in its grandeur. In richness

1 I Kings v. 13-18. s I Kings vi. 38.

36 Jerusalem the Holy

and exquisite finish, though not in size, it surpassed the
great temples of Egypf and Babylon ; it transcended all that
the world had seen. In contributing artificers Hiram of Tyre
thus introduced Phoenician ideas into the construction of this
temple. It is true that but little is known of the architecture
of this great commercial people, but wherever on coin or vase
a design of one of their sacred edifices has been found, it is
fronted with a pillar, or pillars, similar to those that graced
the front of Solomon's temple. It has generally been con-
ceded, also, that from Egypt the builders of Israel received
suggestions. That there is a resemblance is true, but the ef-
fort to prove the entire indebtedness of the Jews to the tem-
ple-builders of the Nile valley has not found warrant in the
facts. This resemblance is confined to the courts and clois-
ters, the porch and the dark adytum. In the mural decora-
tions there is also a likeness, but the "figures of cherubim and
palm-trees and open flowers" are a contrast to those figures of
gods and goddesses and men which were the chief ornaments
of the temple walls of Thebes and Karnak. Some see an
Egyptian idea in the pyramidal form of the towers.1 Admit-
ting these apparent resemblances there is one respect in
which the House of the Lord on Moriah differs from all the
others. Its courts were " pleasant " ; there was nothing defiling
near them. In or near there was nothing suggestive of im-
morality or impurity. What little imagery there was, detracted
in no way from the spiritual significance of the whole. It was
a fit resting place for the ark and the tabernacle, and here
they were fixed,2 never to be separated until the temple was
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

The temple proper stood on the highest part of Mount Mo-
riah, a little to the west of the present Kubbet es-Sakhra, or
Dome of the Rock. The rock at the surface had been cut
away to make a level platform. On this platform none but

1 Stanley's "Jewish Church," Vol. II. , p. 174.

2 1 Kings viii. 4, etc.

The City of David and Solomon 37

the priesthood were ever admitted. Within the sacred walls
of the temple there were but two small rooms, that to the east
the Holy Place, that to the west the Holy of Holies. Plates
of beaten gold hid every particle of woodwork. Into the
carvings, representing the cherubim and the lily-work, gold
was beaten. Darkness reigned in the Holy of Holies, no light
entering it except through the portal from the Holy Place,
over which a heavily wrought curtain hung. Within this most
sacred place were two massive figures of solid gold whose wings
reached from wall to wall and were emblems of protection to
the Ark of the Covenant which found rest beneath them.
Here was the earthly abode of Jehovah and it was accepted
" amidst evident tokens of the Divine Presence." No eye was
to peer into the sacred enclosure and no foot pollute it except
those of the high-priest and that but once a year on the great
day of Atonement.

A "wall of partition" stood between the Most Holy and
the Holy Place. This latter was never to be entered except by
priestly feet. It was but dimly lighted from without by small
windows,1 but this lack of natural light was made up for by an
array of golden candlesticks. Ten seven branched golden
candlesticks stood on as many golden tables. They gave all
necessary light and must have made very effective in appear-
ance the sculptured forms of winged creatures and palm-trees,
which, carved in the cedar walls, were overlaid with beaten
gold and garnished with precious stones.2 In the "greater
house," as the Holy Place was also called, stood the altar of
incense and the table of shew-bread, from which ascended
daily the cloud of incense and on which was presented the
offering of consecrated loaves. The whole was a vision in
pure gold.

Fronting the Holy Place was a porch, "the most startling
novelty of the building." 3 It extended along the entire front

1 I Kings vi. 4. * 2 Chron. iii. 5-7.

3 Stanley's " Jewish Church," Vol. II., p. 178.

38 Jerusalem the Holy

of the temple, was elaborate and complicated in design and
more than any other part of the structure reveals the ideas of
foreign architects. It was more than a porch, as the term is
now used, and was out of all proportion to the height of the
building proper.1 The most striking feature of this "startling
novelty" were the two large pillars that stood one on either
side of the entrance, known as Jachin and Boaz. These pillars
were of finest brass, resting upon pedestals of gold and crowned
with chapiters of brass, wrought with "network interwoven
with small palms and covered with lily-work." Around the
chapiters, festooned in double rows, were two hundred pome-
granates. Jewish writers are unwearied in their praise of the
grand effect of these pillars; but the object of this device and
its symbolic significance are in doubt, though theories as to
their significance are not lacking.

Another feature of the temple, having no counterpart in
the tabernacle, were the rooms built around it abutting on
the temple walls. These were thirty in number and in three
stories.2 One room opened into another and a winding stair-
case led from story to story. No communication was possible
between these rooms and the temple itself. The rooms were
necessary adjuncts to the temple, being used as storehouses
for the utensils employed in the services' and for the deposit-
ing of sacred and historic trophies. There appear also to
have been rooms above the Holy Place and Holy of Holies.

Such was the temple ; on the outside a combination of
stone and wood ; on the inside a mass of gold and precious
stones. It had been erected without the sound of the work-
men's tools being heard within the sacred enclosure. The
plan was so well understood by the architects that the various
parts were made in different places, then brought to the sacred
mount and fitted each to each in silence. The stones had
been so accurately dressed that when laid one upon the other
the line of meeting could hardly be traced. It was the per-
1 2 Chron. iii. 4. s Jos. Ant. viii. 3, § 2. 3 2 Chron. v. I.

The City of David and Solomon 39

fection of architecture as then understood, and the perfection
of beauty. No structure ever made a greater and more lasting
impression on the minds of any people than their first temple
made upon the Jews ; none has received such generous praise
in all ages and from all people, or been regarded with such
tearful reverence by the living representatives of the race
whose fathers built it.

To speak in detail of all Solomon's work on the Temple
Hill would carry us beyond the province of a work of this
kind. The courts, the altars, the lavers, the rooms for the
priests, the implements and vessels of gold, silver and brass,
running into the thousands in number, all these are interesting
as works of art and as expressive of the complexity of the
temple service. In the native rock, or built in the substruc-
tures that brought the lower levels up to the desired height,
were immense cisterns. Canals for the conveyance of water
for the numerous ablutions connected with the service and
drains for the carrying away of the refuse were constructed
and undoubted remains of them may still be seen.

There are two features of the temple surroundings which
must at least be named. These were the altar of burnt-offer-
ing and the colonnade on the eastern side of the enclosure.
The former was on the highest part of the rock of Mori ah
and stood just a little in front of the temple. It contrasted
strikingly with the splendor of the other appointments, being
but an enlargement of the altar used during the wilderness
wandering. It was thirty feet square and fifteen feet high.
The exterior was of brass, while the altar itself was of earth
and stones. The top was covered by a brass grating on which
the fire was made and the victim for the sacrifice laid. This
was "the Hearth of God," where was daily illustrated the
e;:piatory idea of the Jewish religion.

The colonnade was on the east side of the enclosure facing
tl e Mount of Olives. In later times succeeding kings added
to this until it surrounded the entire temple area. Solomon's

4-0 Jerusalem the Holy

work was confined to the one side, and long centuries after-
ward, even when Herod's temple had taken the place of this
first one, the name of Solomon was applied to this part. The
colonnade consisted of three rows of marble columns protected
by a roof, thus forming a cool retreat in summer and a pro-
tection from the storms in winter.

The temple, while by far the grandest of Solomon's build-
ing operations, was but one of many princely works. Every
part of his capital felt the touch of his lavish hand. His own
palace, erected in the City of David, was a royal residence in-
deed. The time used in the construction of this — thirteen
years, — together with the number of apartments in connection
with it, mark it as second only in grandeur to the House of
the Lord. The main building was only one hundred and fifty
feet long, seventy-five wide and forty-five high. It was in
three stories and had a grand porch supported by lofty pillars.
The adjacent buildings were those in which the king resided
with his court and harem. To the main building was given
the name of " the house of the forest of Lebanon " ; this be-
cause of the material used in its construction.1 Next to this
was the judgment hall, built of cedar and squared stones.
This was the "gate of judgment," where from a throne of
ivory the wise king decreed righteousness and administered
justice. This throne was unique. The ivory had been brought
from Africa or India. On each side of the steps that led up
to it were six golden lions. The throne itself was on the back
of a golden bull.2 The lions were emblematic of the lion of
the tribe of Judah, the bull of Ephraim. This combination
of ivory and gold into a seat of judgment made the famous
throne of the House of David, " the theme of many an Ara-
bian legend."3 In the house which Solomon built for his
Egyptian queen nothing was lacking that skill and wealth
could supply.

1 I Kings vii. 2. * Jos. Ant. viii. 5, § 2.

3 Stanley's "Jewish Church," Vol. II., p. 166.

The City of David and Solomon 41

Of all the apartments connected with the palace it is im-
possible for us to speak with any degree of accuracy. The
Bible and Josephus are our only authorities and Josephus adds
but little to the sacred record. A difficulty in the way of ex-
actness is due to our ignorance of the precise meaning of
Hebrew architectural terms. This makes all descriptions little
better than theories. However, enough is known to assure us
that in the city as Solomon left it nothing was lacking that
could add to its grandeur. It was the capital of an Oriental
monarch and despot whose will was law and whose every wish
must be gratified no matter what the cost. His servants and
retainers were numbered by thousands, his table was weighted
with service of gold, and the world was levied upon for deli-
cate viands. His household, with his guests, consumed daily
thirty oxen and a hundred sheep, with game of all kinds.
This extravagant use of unlimited wealth excited the wonder
and aroused the envy of contemporary monarchs.

In the midst of his other labors Solomon saw the necessity
of strengthening the defences of the city. Pride had a place
in these improvements, for Josephus informs us that Solomon
" thought the walls that encompassed Jerusalem ought to cor-
respond to the dignity of the city." Accordingly the walls
were made stronger and higher, and great towers were built
upon them. At this time also the Temple Hill was brought
within the city. Some of the remains of these walls still
stand, revealing the character of the mural work of that day.

The ascent by which the king went up to the House of the
Lord was a gigantic and splendid work. This was a bridge
that crossed the valley that intervened between Mount Zion
and the Mountain of the House, or Mount Moriah. This is
the "ascent" that excited the admiration of the "Queen of
Sheba."

Another of Solomon's great works was the procuring of an
abundance of water for city and temple use. It has been a
continual wonder how Jerusalem was supplied with this most

42 Jerusalem the Holy

necessary commodity. The "Virgin's Fountain" is the only
living spring near, and unless its flow was considerably more
copious than at present it would not suffice for the needs of
very many of the residents of the city. It is a matter of history,
however, that Jerusalem never suffered from lack of water even
during periods of drought or long protracted sieges. Famine
has raged within the walls and slain its thousands, but only
once did the besieged want for water. This, as Josephus re-
ports, was in the one hundred and sixty-second Olympiad,1
during the siege of Antiochus.

The sources of Jerusalem's water supply were the heavy
rains of winter, which were caught and preserved in cisterns,
and the springs in the valley of Urtas, about eight miles south
of the city, whose abundant flow was conducted by an aque-
duct along the Judean hillsides and emptied into a reservoir
within the temple enclosure. The making of this aqueduct
was, for that day, a wonderful piece of engineering. The
three large pools in the valley of Urtas, which are still called
Solomon's Pools, give an idea of the immensity of this work.
In many places along the hillsides the aqueduct may still be
seen and to this day the Bethlehemites use it to bring water to
their city. This conduit, connected with the "Fountain
sealed," was the source of that continual supply which the
temple and city enjoyed, and its great resources gave to later
visitors the idea that there was a perennial spring bubbling up
within the temple area. Not knowing of the connection be-
tween the Urtas fountain and the cisterns, and hearing the
water running, or perhaps seeing it at some opening, it was
not unreasonable to infer that there was a natural spring near.
There are still people who are inclined to this belief, though
there is nothing whatever to support it. If there were such a
spring there would have been no need for the immense labor
and expense of making the pools and aqueduct.

The city was improved and beautified by these princely
1 Jos. Ant. xiii. 8, £ 2.

The City of David and Solomon 43

operations when "all that Solomon desired to build " was
completed. But his works of construction were not confined
to the city proper. Temples and fanes dedicated to the wor-
ship of the gods of his various wives, were the ornaments of
the neighboring hills. Though considered as abominations by
the more orthodox Jews of that time, they were allowed to re-
main to the latest times of the monarchy. On the southern
spur of the Mount of Olives was the temple of the worship of
his Egyptian queen, and because of this defilement that part
of the mount is still called " the Hill of Offence."

Much labor was spent on the roads leading to the city.
These were well made and paved with hard black stones, per-
haps the basalt from east of the Jordan or from Galilee.
Josephus speaks of these roads in the highest terms.1 The
building of them gave the king another opportunity for the
display of his wisdom and his wealth.

During Solomon's occupancy of the throne Jerusalem be-
came a commercial centre. On the great highway of trade
between the East and the West, caravans were continually
coming and going ; the roads running in from every direction
looked like the spokes of a great white wheel of which the city
was the hub; commercial transactions were carried on with
nations most remote ; the royal vessels were seen on all seas ;
a fleet was constructed at Ezion-Geber, a city on the western
arm of the Red Sea, which controlled the eastern trade; its
vessels sailing as far as Ophir — the extreme East ; Jewish
merchantmen vied with those of the maritime city of Tyre for
the trade of the West, and that Tyre lost by this rivalry is in-
dicated by Ezekiel.2

How far eastward and westward the ships of Solomon sailed
is not known. Ophir may have been in India, though some
locate it in Africa, because of the latter's reputation as a gold-
producing country. Tarshish was a city of Spain, though
having journeyed thus far there is every reason to suppose that
1 Jos. Ant. viii. 7, \ 4. 3 Ezek. xxvi. 2.

44 Jerusalem the Holy

they went further, passing beyond the fabled Pillars of Her-
cules and reaching Britain. Centuries later, when Columbus
sailed westward and discovered the islands lying east of
North America, he believed he had found the lands whence
the wealth of Solomon had come, and named the islands the
West Indies. It has been suggested as an explanation of the
length of time — three years 1 — that it took to make some of
their voyages, that the Jewish vessels must have circumnavi-
gated Africa. The nature of the cargoes brought back favors
the suggestion, for they consisted of "gold and silver, ivory
and apes and peacocks," aloes, almug wood and cassia. This
commercial enterprise was one of the fertile sources of Israel's
great wealth at this time ; it may also have helped to hasten
that degeneracy which before long was to result in the disrup-
tion of the nation.

The kingdom over which the word of Solomon was law,
was greater in extent than that governed by any succeeding
Jewish monarch. The promise of God to Abraham was ful-
filled during the reign of this king or not at all. Scripture
language is sufficiently exact on this point to warrant us in
saying that the territory over which Solomon ruled did include
" the Land of Promise." The covenant with Abraham reads,
"Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Of Solomon
the record says, "He reigned over all kingdoms, from the
river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the borders of
Egypt." In the thirty-fourth chapter of Numbers, Moses gives
the boundaries of the land the Israelites were to possess. The
southern border was the "wilderness of Zin " ; the northern
border was unto the " entrance of Hamath." Under Joshua
this described territory was conquered by the soldiers of Israel.
When the ark was to be brought from Kirjath-jearim, " David
gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto
the entering of Hamath." 2 At the dedicatory services of the
I Kings x. 22. s I Chron. xiii. 5.

The City of David and Solomon 45

temple, " Solomon held a feast and all Israel with him, a great
congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river
of Egypt." 1 The language of prophecy and of fulfillment is
strikingly similar, and whatever may be one's opinion as to
the return and resettlement of the Jews, we certainly do not
have to look to the future for a redemption of God's promises
to Abraham.

All this extent of country was under the sceptre of the
mighty and magnificent king. Every part of it contributed to
the maintenance of the throne and the fulfillment of the royal
ideas of grandeur. But the enormous revenue was not suffi-
cient. To supply the want the taxes were increased and mo-
nopolies for the benefit of the royal treasuries were established.
Compulsory labor, similar to the hated corvee of Egypt, was
laid upon Solomon's subjects. With good cause the people
complained, and thus were sown the seeds of revolt, which
ripened during the reign of Solomon's son, and whose fruit
was a disrupted nation. Added to his oppression of his peo-
ple was his apostasy from his God. In their belief in the
unity of God and their worship of Him alone lay the unity
and strength of the Hebrew nation ; to destroy that belief was
to endanger the existence of the nation. In his later days
Solomon departed from the purity of his early faith, and with
a desire perhaps of conciliating neighboring princes, he turned
from Jehovah to ' ' Gods many and Lords many. ' ' Famed for his
great wisdom, renowned for his magnificence, proverbial for his
"glory," Solomon nevertheless bequeathed to his followers the
destructive heritage of luxury, selfishness and oppression, of
extravagance, sensuality and apostasy — a double trinity of sins
any one of which was fatal. As one has said2 "Not less
truly than the son of Nebat might his name have been written
in history as Solomon the son of David who ' made Israel to
sin.' "

1 I Kings viii. 65.

sPlumptre in Smith's Bib. Diet, article " Solomon."

46 Jerusalem the Holy-

Solomon made Jerusalem grand in external appearance, but
its temple of "snow and gold," its palaces of surpassing
splendor, its gardens of delight, its tower-embattled walls
could not conceal its inherent weakness. He had sacrificed
his nation for his personal glory. He came to the throne of a
united people at peace with the world. He lived to see the
forces at work that were to bring national dissolution and make
his proud capital an easy prey to ambitious monarchs. His
own magnificence was no compensation for such disaster. As
he contemplated the coming wreck well might he say, " What
profit hath a man of all his labor" and, "On all things is
written vanity."

After ruling forty years " He died ingloriously," "and was
buried in the city of David, his father." *

1 1 Kings xi. 43.

JERUSALEM AS CHRIST SAW IT

Changes in Topography — Rehoboam — Jehoram — Jehoash —
Ahaz — Rezin and Pekah — Assyrians — Hezekiah — Manasseh —
Jehoiachim — Zedekiah — Disastrous Siege — Cyrus the Persian —
Return of the Jews — Temple and Walls Rebuilt — Alexander —
Ptolemy Soter — Antiochus — Mattathias — Maccabees — Aristob-
ulus and Hyrcanus — Antipater — Pompey — Antigonus — Herod
the Great — Grandeur of Jerusalem — Comparison between Sol-
omon and Herod — Grecian Influences — Herod's Temple — Its
Arrangement — Appearance and Condition of the City — Tyro-
pean Bridge — Porches of Temple — Cloisters — Temple Courts
— Gentiles Forbidden — Beautiful Gate — Nicanor Gate — Altar
of Sacrifice — Brazen Laver — Description of Temple Proper —
Business District — Kinds of Business — Life — Laborers — Wages
— Population — Pharisee — Sadducee — Language — Schools —
Seeds of Decay.

Ill

JERUSALEM AS CHRIST SAW IT

DURING the thousand years that intervened between the
reigns of Solomon and Herod the Great, Jerusalem had
been the victim of many a siege by foreign conquerors, and
many a disastrous internal strife. These had had their effect
upon the appearance of the city ; if the royal sleepers in the
tombs in the City of David could have looked upon its streets
and palaces and temple, they would not have recognized
them as parts of the city they once knew. The very hills
had been altered and the deep beds of the valleys raised by
the debris of repeated wars. The same old walls were still
standing, but they had been broken and repaired so often that
the original builders would hardly have known their work.
New walls had also been built.

It may be well to give a brief account of the causes of these
changes before the changes themselves are noted.

In the fifth year of Rehoboam, 1 successor to his father,
Solomon, on the throne of Israel, Shishak, king of Egypt ad-
vanced to Jerusalem, threw open the city gates apparently
without resistance, appropriated the treasures Solomon had
collected, and carried off the rich decorations of the temple.
The son of the great Solomon became the vassal of Egypt for
a time. This was the first and one of the least destructive of
seventeen sieges before Herod was in possession of the king-
dom.

The next was under the reign of Jehoram about 889 b. c. 2
A coalition of the Philistines and Arabians were the assailants.
Again the temple with its accumulated riches was their prey.
The king's house was also entered, "and all the substance

1 I Kings xiv. 25 ; 2 Chron. xii. 9. * 2 Chron. xxi. 16.

£0 Jerusalem the Holy

that was found " was carried away, together with the king's
wives and sons, except the youngest of the latter.

These two entrances of foreign foes were simply for the pur-
pose of plunder. At least there is no account of their having
had any other object. The wealth of the city aroused their
cupidity, and when they had secured all they could of this,
they departed without doing injury to the city itself. But the
next attack was more disastrous. It was made by Jehoash, 1
ruler of the Northern Kingdom, who broke down four hun-
dred cubits of the north wall, plundered the temple of its
gold and silver vessels, and also the treasures of the royal pal-
ace. Uzziah repaired this breach and further fortified the
walls. 2 During his reign the city was visited by an earth-
quake, which shook it to its foundations, caused a breach
in the temple and almost destroyed the king's gardens near
En Rogel.

In the reign of the wicked Ahaz, 3 about 740 b. c, the next
attack occurred. A coalition of the forces of Syria under
Rezin and of the Northern Kingdom under Pekah was ef-
fected. The comparatively small realm of Judah and Benja-
min was not able to withstand such a combination, and great
numbers were slain. It does not appear that the city itself
surrendered and was given over to the hand of the spoiler.
Later Ahaz called upon Tiglath-pileser 4 to assist him against
the Edomites and Philistines — a fatal invitation, for the Assyr-
ian king as the author of Second Chronicles tersely puts it,
"came unto him and distressed him, but strengthened him
not." Ahaz then in a fruitless effort to buy his friendship,
stripped the temple of its costly vessels, which were carried
to Assyria.

Under Hezekiah (740-700 b. c.) the country was invaded
by the Assyrians under Sennacherib,5 though what damage, if
any, was done to the city is not known.

1 2 Kings xiv. 13, 14. 2 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. 3 2 Chron. xxviii.
4 2 Chron. xxviii. 16, 20. 5 2 Chron. xxxii.

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 51

About 667 B. c, Manasseh, king of Judah, was carried a
prisoner to Babylon.1 On his restoration to his kingdom he
entered upon some great building projects. In the valley of
Gihon and on Ophel the greater part of his work was done.
Parts of the great wall on Ophel may still remain, though
where his wall "without the City of David, on the west side
of Gihon in the valley " 2 was is an unsettled question.

Under Jehoiachim and Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon, besieged and took Jerusalem, despoiled the tem-
ple of all its remaining treasures, which were replaced after
each spoliation, and stripped the palaces of the king and no-
bles. The royal family and nobles were deported, along with
ten thousand of the chief men, to pass the remaining years of
their life in Babylon.

In the next reign, that of Zedekiah,3 the siege by the "king
of the Chaldees" was most disastrous. When this warrior had
finished his work Jerusalem was depopulated and her temple
and palaces were nothing but heaps of charred ruins. The
walls were broken down and all the citizens who had escaped
the sword were deported to the great capital of Assyria ; only
a few peasants were left to till the ground. This first great
overthrow of their city has been considered so great a calam-
ity by the Jews that on its anniversary it is commemorated by
solemn fasts. This destruction occurred about the year 588
B. c. ; for fifty years the city and temple remained in ruin and
desolation, visited, perhaps, by pilgrims who came to weep
over the departed glories and pray for their return, as they do
now at the Wall of Wailing.

In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia, a de-
cree 4 was issued permitting the exiled Jews at Babylon to re-
turn and build again their temple and city. Not all of the
expatriated chose to return, but 42,360 did. Nor did they
come empty handed, for they were given " the vessels of the

1 2 Chron. xxxiii. II. z Ibid. 14.

3 2 Kings xxv. 4. 4 Ezra i. I. et seq.

£2 Jerusalem the Holy-

house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth
out of Jerusalem." 1 The work of reconstruction of the temple
began immediately on their arrival. Hindrance from out-
siders and lack of zeal on the part of the builders prevented
its completion until twenty years had passed, when it was fin-
ished and dedicated in the year 516 b. c.

Fifty-eight years more passed away and no effort was made
to protect the city itself. The walls lay in heaps as the Assyr-
ians had left them. It was not until the time of Nehemiah
that sufficient influence was secured at the Persian court to al-
low the Jews to rebuild the walls. In 445 b. c, one hundred
and forty years after the destroyer had left, Nehemiah came to
Jerusalem with the royal permission. Work was soon begun
and in the incredibly short period of fifty-two days, in spite
of much opposition, the walls were again in condition to fur-
nish protection.2 They were built on the old foundations
with much of the old materials.

For a long time afterward there was comparative peace, dur-
ing which the city grew and prospered. Then Alexander of
Macedonia " rolled back the tide of war across the Helles-
pont " and humbled the pride of the Persian monarchs.
Having defeated Darius at the battle of Issus, this conqueror
reduced to submission all the cities and provinces whose im-
portance attracted his attention. After the maritime cities of
Tyre and Gaza had fallen, the Macedonian hero led his forces
against Jerusalem. About three miles out of the city he was
met by the people carrying garlands, by the priests dressed in
the white linen indicating their sacred office, and preceded
by the high-priest, resplendent in his robes of purple and scar-
let and wearing his mitre, on which was a plate of gold in-
scribed with the not to be uttered name of the God of Israel.
This peaceful reception secured the city from attack. Alex-
ander is said by Josephus to have prostrated himself before the
high-priest and then to have gone to the temple and offered
1 Ezra i. 7. * Neh. vi. 15.

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 53

sacrifices in the name of God : this is doubted, but at all
events the city was especially favored by the conqueror.

At the death of Alexander and the disintegration of his king-
dom Judea fell to Ptolemy Soter of Egypt. He succeeded in tak-
ing Jerusalem which he ruled with an iron hand. Many of its
inhabitants and of the Samaritans were carried off to Egypt,
where under this ruler and his successor they attained posi-
tions of influence and trust. Their number increased in the
land of the Pharaohs till Alexandria became the capital of
Western Judaism and no doubt exercised considerable influ-
ence over the eastern capital. By way of Alexandria Greece
and her civilization were making inroads into the private and
religious life of the Eastern Jews. Then in 203 B. c, Antiochus
the Great took the city. Four years later it fell before the
Alexandrian general Scopas who left a garrison to protect his
interests. The very next year Antiochus again came and the
Jews assisted him to expel the Egyptians. But as it turned
out the Syrian monarch was no friend of the people or their
religion. Taking advantage of a quarrel between rival claim-
ants for the high-priesthood, he treated the city as seditious,
and in the year 170 b. c, demolished the walls, burned the
palaces and stripped the temple of all that was worth taking.
A citadel was erected where it could command the temple en-
closure and garrisoned with soldiers, among whom were many
apostate Jews. Added to this sacrilege was an attempt on the
part of Antiochus to exterminate the people and thus stamp out
their religion. Ten thousand captives were deported and the
sacred altar was daily defiled by the offering of swine upon it.
Reading of the Law was forbidden and to practice its injunc-
tions brought cruel tortures upon the faithful. Under this
severe pressure the greater part of the inhabitants apostatized
from the religion of their fathers.

When the city and nation had reached their lowest stage of
degradation a deliverance was effected through the family of
Mattathias, the great grandson of Asmoneus, from which an-

54 Jerusalem the Holy

cestor they are called by Josephus, Asmoneaus. Mattathias
was a priest whose home was at Modin, the present Midiyeh,
an eminence about eighteen miles west of Jerusalem, near the
union of the hill country with the Plain of Sharon.

Mattathias, with his five illustrious sons, belongs to the
number of Israel's most justly celebrated heroes. He origi-
nated, and his sons sustained, a successful revolt against Greek
oppression. The account of their campaigns forms one of the
most picturesque chapters to be found in history. Under them
the temple was repaired and reconsecrated, the Macedonian
garrison dislodged from its fortress on Acra and the fortress de-
stroyed, even to the cutting away of the hill on which it stood.
Another stronghold was built to the north of this site and
named Baris. The Asmonean family descended through John
Hyrcanus, son of Simon Maccabeus. Simon was murdered at
Jericho in 135 b. c. Shortly after John Hyrcanus was be-
sieged in Jerusalem by Antiochus Sidetes, king of Syria. The
valiant spirit of the Maccabees was diminishing, for this repre-
sentative stooped to purchase peace from Antiochus with the
proceeds of the desecration and robbery of the sepulchre of
David.

The next few years are marked by internal troubles — civil
and religious. The successor of John Hyrcanus was his son
Aristobulus who was at the same time king and high-priest.
After reigning a year this ruler died of remorse for his unnat-
ural crimes. The reign of his brother Alexander Jannseus —
the Jewish Nero — which occupied the next twenty-seven years,
was marked by wars at home and abroad. Aristobulus and
Hyrcanus, sons of Alexander, made a peaceful settlement of
their disputes by dividing the offices held by their predeces-
sors, Hyrcanus, the elder, retaining the high-priesthood and
his brother the kingly crown. The peace did not last long
however. A new power began to be felt in the state. Antip-
ater, an Idumean, enterprising and unscrupulous, was high in
the favor of the young Hyrcanus. He used this favor to plot

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 55

against the interests of his benefactor. By continually work-
ing upon the mind of the gentle and unsuspecting high-priest,
Antipater made him believe that his brother Aristobulus was
seeking to destroy him so as to unite in his own person the
priesthood as well as the kingship. Hyrcanus fled to Petra
where he put himself under the protection of Aretes, king of
Arabia. Antipater had already let this ruler into the plot.
Judea was invaded and Aristobulus defeated. After his defeat
he fled into the city and took refuge with his supporters in the
temple. The party under Hyrcanus besieged the temple.
At this juncture the Roman general Scaurus, acting under
commands of the great Pompey, appeared and ordered that
the siege be raised. This was in 65 B. c.

Both factions had requested the assistance of the Romans.
The cause of Aristobulus was favored, but for some reason this
prince was dissatisfied and took up arms against his protectors.
Pompey himself on his advance to Arabia invaded Judea.
Aristobulus promised submission, but soon violated his prom-
ise and caused Pompey to return and begin a siege of Jerusa-
lem. The followers of Aristobulus took refuge in the temple
again and offered stubborn resistance. They would not, how-
ever, defend themselves on the Sabbath and Pompey taking
advantage of this moved his engines, made a breach in the
north wall of the sacred enclosure and was master of the entire
city. The slaughter of the inhabitants amounted to twelve
thousand. Antigonus was established in the high-priesthood.
This was in the year 63 b. c. For twenty-three years there
was comparative rest. Antipater, father of Herod, assisted in
ruling the city. In the year 40 b. c. Antigonus, son of Aristob-
ulus, with the assistance of a Parthian army took Jerusalem
and plundered it. The family of Antipater had by this time
become well established in the governing office, but it was
with the greatest difficulty that Herod escaped from the plots
of his enemies. After much adversity and an appeal in person
to Rome, Herod was made King of Judea. But he had to con-

56 Jerusalem the Holy

quer his kingdom. With a large body of Roman soldiers he
entered Jerusalem after a five months siege. Then began that
reign conspicuous for two things — its great splendor and its
awful crimes. The Idumean king was as he has been well
termed by Williams1 a " splendid monster."

Under this monarch — half barbarian, half Jew — Jerusalem
rose again and attained a grandeur equal to if not surpassing
the glory it had in the days of Solomon. But there was this
difference, that under the latter it was a strictly Jewish metrop-
olis, while under Herod it became in fact, though not in
name, a second or eastern Rome. And yet there was much in
the later city that resembled the earlier. Herod, as did Solo-
mon, ruled over the entire land. Herod, as was Solomon,
was given to extravagance and adorned the city with numerous
monuments of splendid architecture. Each king was in-
fluenced by foreign ideas, Solomon by those of Egypt and
Tyre, Herod by Greece and Rome. The early and later city
were the resort of strangers from all lands and in their streets
could be seen representatives from every known land. Each
king fortified his capital and each adorned Moriah with a
temple. Solomon's was the first, Herod's the last; but the
former was built in honor of Jehovah and to win the divine
favor, while the general belief is that the latter was designed
to add to the glory of its builder and to win the favor of his
suspicious subjects.

Great changes were to be seen in the buildings and the pur-
poses to which they were devoted. In the Jerusalem of Solo-
mon— at least in the city proper — there were no structures
dedicated to the worship of the gods of the nations, or to the
exhibition of heathen games. After the revival of pure reli-
gion under the Maccabees the office of the high-priest was filled
by several unprincipled men who used their high position to
corrupt the people. Joshua, one of them, dissatisfied in the
possession of a Jewish name, changed it to Jason, and still un-
1 Holy City, Vol. I., p. 116.

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 57

satisfied sought by every means in his power to supplant
Judaism by Hellenizing his countrymen. He went so far as to
build a hippodrome and circus in the valley just west of the
temple, near enough so that the voices of the priest chanting
the service, could be drowned by the tumultuous shout of the
rabble cheering the victors in the games. What a contrast
and in Jerusalem !

On Herod's accession these foreign notions of religious and
social life obtained among a considerable portion of his sub-
jects. His own inclinations favored them and for his gratifi-
cation, as well as to win the approbation of this class of peo-
ple, he spared no expense in adorning the places of amusement
with gold and silver and the trophies of victories. He added
an immense amphitheatre outside of the second wall to the
northwest, where were witnessed chariot races, gladiatorial
combats and entertainment of all sorts appealing to the senses.
Side by side with this element, representative as it was of a
lack of religion and a laxity of morals, was an intensely Jew-
ish element seeking in the midst of surrounding heathenism to
guard the sanctity of religion, and, by obedience to the
Mosaic institutions, preserve from heathen contamination
the Hebrew life and character. This element was at enmity
with Herod, whose Idumean blood was reason sufficient. But
no matter what his origin, he was king of the Jews. He would
not allow them to forget this nor give them cause for com-
plaint that he was wholly unmindful of them and their reli-
gion. If he had any religion it was the same as theirs. In
honor of it, but more to reconcile the Jews to himself he built
that wonderful temple on Moriah. It was a worthy suc-
cessor to that of Solomon, and of it Jewish tradition records,
" He who has not seen the temple of Herod has never known
what beauty is."

This temple was a larger structure than the first one that
graced Mount Moriah 's rocky summit. The enclosure in
which it stood was also larger. From investigations made on

58 Jerusalem the Holy

the spot by Captain Warren it is reasonably assured that the
temple area as enlarged by Herod was a square of nearly a
thousand feet, nearly a half greater than that of Saint Peter's
in Rome. This enlargement was made at an immense cost of
labor and money. But the motives for it were many. The
king had a passion for building. In this great work it was
gratified. He had a desire to surpass the greatest triumph of
Solomon and be known as " the great builder." The rabbis
of his time said that he was doing this to atone for the slaugh-
ter of so many of their number. But no doubt one of the rea-
sons, if not the chief, is that already given, that he might win
a place in the affections of his Jewish subjects. In this latter
he was unsuccessful ; they despised him to the end.

The temple did not stand in the centre of the square. It
was somewhat to the north and west of the centre. In general
arrangements its courts were as those that surrounded the first
" house of the Lord." They were not on a level, but rose in
a series of terraces, on the highest of which, facing the east,
was the ' ' golden fane ' ' itself. To collect the material for it
Herod employed ten thousand men under the direction of a
thousand priests for two years. A thousand vehicles were
needed to convey the stone. And yet he did not live to see
it finished in all its parts.1

It was not in size that this temple was conspicuous though
its dimensions were somewhat greater than that of the first
Holy House. It was ten cubits longer. The general arrange-
ments were the same. There was the Holy of Holies and the
Holy Place ; the candlestick, table of shew-bread and altar of
incense. The finest of needlework was to be seen in the rich
texture of the veil that divided the Holy of Holies from the
Holy Place. In the former apartment there was nothing. It
was a simple room, ten cubits in each measurement, but void
of ornament or vessel of use since the ark and its contents had
been lost in the Babylonish wars. In the erection of the
ijohn ii. 20.

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 59

temple proper only priests labored. It was considered too
sacred a place for the feet of the Ionian artificers to touch.
These skilled "barbarians" could be employed at any other
part of the work, but not here. The priests completed their
part in eighteen months. The work on the courts and porti-
coes employed Herod eight years ; and the colonnades, en-
trances, halls, offices and other subsidiary structures required
thirty-eight years longer.

A better idea of the arrangement of all its parts might be
obtained if in imagination one entered the. sacred area at one
of the principal entrances. Of these there were four all lead-
ing in from the west. By far the most imposing was the one
crossing the Tyropean on the arches of a colossal bridge and
entering at the southwest angle. It joined the ancient city of
David with the " Royal Porch of the Temple." This bridge
was a wonder in its day, and probably survived all the vicissi-
tudes of the city through the decade of centuries extending
from Solomon to the siege of Titus. Its ruins are a wonder
in this present day. The spring-stones in the arch in the
temple wall are twenty-four feet in length and six in thick-
ness. Forty-two feet from the wall Captain Warren discovered
a pier on which one of these arches rested. The present re-
mains of this pier are forty-two feet below the surface.1 The
stones in the pier are of the same quality, of the same height
and have the same mason marks as those found in the south-
west angle of the temple wall.

From this bridge a splendid view of the city could be ob-
tained. Looking toward the south one could see on the left
Ophel, the priest's quarter with its high walls and towers, the
wall running southward, crossing the Tyropean near the pool
of Siloam and circling the southern brow of Zion. Turning
westward the observer would see the Upper City, or the
"City of David." Then it was a city of palaces, rising ter-
race on terrace, till in the northwest corner stood the citadel-
1 Recovery of Jerusalem, p. ioo.

60 Jerusalem the Holy

palace which Herod had erected for his own safety and com-
fort. It stood in the midst of gardens and was protected by
three imposing towers. Other residences of dignitaries were
here, as the palace of the Maccabees and that of Annas the
high-priest. To the north was the Xystus, a large enclosure
with many colonnades, where important public assemblies
were held ; while further on stretched the new city, or Beze-
tha, which was yet unenclosed by walls. Beautiful villas em-
bowered in luxuriant gardens, graced the view in this direc-
tion. The street which led to the important northern gate was
lined with columns and could be traced to the point where it
merged into the great north road, along which caravans and
pilgrims were continually coming and going. But the most
imposing and most suggestive sight of all was that on the east.
This swept the temple enclosure with the Mount of Olives for
a background. Of this let me quote the words of the learned
Alfred Edersheim,1 " The temple — oh, how wondrously
beautified and enlarged, and rising terrace upon terrace, sur-
rounded by massive walls : a palace, a fortress, a sanctuary of
shining marble and glittering gold. And beyond it frowns
the old fortress of Baris, rebuilt by Herod, and named after
his patron, Antonia."

This bridge of the Tyropean, connecting Zion with Moriah
was three hundred and fifty-four feet long and fifty feet broad.
It was probably " the ascent . . . into the house of the
Lord "which aroused the wonder of the Queen of Sheba.1
The roadway crossing it joined with the avenue of the Royal
Temple Porch. The " porches " were not what is now meant
when that term is used. They were rather cloisters, and ex-
tended all round the inside of the wall facing the court of the
Gentiles. No part of the temple was, from an architectural
point of view, finer than these. They were composed of
double rows of Corinthian pillars, monoliths thirty-seven-and-
a-half feet high. The roofs were richly ornamented. The
1 Jesus, the Messiah, Vol. L, p. 112. s 1 Kings x. 5.

Photograph by Rev. P. Cady.

ROBINSON'S ARCH.

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 61

Royal porch had a treble colonnade made up of four rows of
columns forty in each row. But as there were in all a hun-
dred and sixty-two it is supposed that the two odd ones served
"as a kind of screen where the 'porch' opened upon the
bridge." This was by far the highest of the porches. Its cen-
tral pillars are said to have been a hundred feet in height.
These formed a nave, forty-five feet in width. The two aisles
were each thirty feet wide with pillars fifty feet high.1 From
the top of this one looked down into the bed of the Kedron
four hundred and forty feet below.

The cloisters afforded a cool retreat in summer and in winter
were a protection against the heavy rains and occasional snows.
Teachers and pupils took advantage of them and those inter-
ested in public religions or civil questions here discussed them.
Audiences were gathered and orators here addressed them. It
was here that the earthly parents of the Christ-child found
Him disputing with the doctors ; and in the years of His public
ministry the common people heard Him gladly in these pre-
cincts as He taught them the " spirit " of the law. Solomon's
porch — the only remnant of the great work of this king — was
on the eastern side of the temple enclosure. In this particular
place " Jesus walked " and taught His unity with the Father.2
Here were the first assemblies of the early Christians, when
they continued "daily with one accord in the temple."

The largest of the temple courts was that enclosed by these
porches and on the same level with them. To this court is
given in Jewish writings the name " mountain of the house." 3
It was the outer precinct of the holy enclosure and was paved
with marble. It was public to the extent that any one of any
or no religious belief might enter it so long as he conformed to
certain prescribed rules. It served the purposes of a market
and about the time of the great feasts must have presented

1 Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," Vol. iii., p. 1462.

sJohn x. 30.

3 Relandus Ant., p. 78 ; Edersheim's " Temple and its Services," p. 22.

62 Jerusalem the Holy

scenes having little resemblance to, and perhaps little sympathy
with, the sacred observances so near. There were stalls for
oxen and sheep, cotes for pigeons and doves, and tables where
the crafty money-changers gave temple coins for the current
money of foreign lands, charging exorbitant rates of exchange.
At intervals in this court were notices in Greek and Latin
warning Gentiles that they were not to approach nearer to the
sanctuary itself — an offence punishable by death.

M. Clermont Ganneau had the good fortune to discover one
of the very signs of warning. On a stone set in the wall of
a little Moslem cemetery, just across the Via Dolorosa from the
Bab el-Aksa, Ganneau was able to read in Greek letters the
following inscription :

" No stranger is to enter within the balustrade round the temple and
enclosure. Whoever is caught will be responsible to himself for his
death, which will ensue."

This inscription, the oldest and perhaps most satisfactory
yet discovered amid the ruins of the city, can be seen in the
museum at Constantinople ; no treasure of this nature that the
Sultan or his agents can control is ever taken out of his domin-
ions.

Beyond these posts or " screens " of warning was a flight of
fourteen steps which led to a terrace fifteen feet in width.
Then came the inner wall that surrounded the temple, and be-
yond this the sanctuary itself with its three courts, each higher
than the former. Nine gates covered with plates of gold and
silver gave entrance to the sanctuary. Of these six led into
the court of the priests and three into the court of the women.
Four were on the south and four on the north , the ninth was
on the east and was the principal entrance as well as the richest
in ornamentation and most imposing in size. The gate itself
was of finely wrought Corinthian brass. So heavy were its
double folds on their hinges that twenty porters were necessary
to open and close them. It was known also as " the Beautiful

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 63

Gate" and is associated in the minds of Christians with the
" notable miracle " of the healing of the cripple by Peter and
John. The court of the women, into which it opened, was so
called because no women were allowed, except for sacrificial
purposes, to pass beyond this. In it both men and women
were free to worship.

Directly opposite the Beautiful Gate, in the western colon-
nade, was the Nicanor Gate. Fifteen steps led through this
gate up to the Court of Israel. These steps are generally
thought to have given the name to the "Psalms of Degrees,"
fifteen in number,1 which the Levites chanted at the Feast of
Tabernacles. As they ascended each step they stopped long
enough to sing the psalm that corresponded to it in number.
At the gate Nicanor, the worshippers came to perform that
which was ordered to be done "before the Lord."2 The
priests here received all who had come for purification. Pass-
ing through this gate the Court of Israel was reached, a very
narrow section, separated from the Court of the priests by a
low railing, or balustrade. Two steps led up to the latter. To
the right and left were chambers used for the vestments of the
priest. Directly in front and but a few feet distant was the
great altar of sacrifice — the exponent of Israel's religious life.
It was a square of nearly fifty feet and elevated fifteen feet
above the level of the court. Constructed of unhewn stones it
was void of ornamentation. By an inclined plane the offici-
ating priests reached the platform which extended around the
altar at a height of ten-and-a-half feet from the ground. "A
red line all around the middle of the altar marked that above it
the blood of sacrifices intended to be eaten, below it that of
sacrifices wholly consumed, was to be sprinkled." 3

Beyond the altar, and somewhat to the left as one ap-
proached the temple, was the immense laver of brass resting
upon the backs of twelve lions. Its water was used by the

1 Psalms cxx.-cxxxiv. 2 " Temple and its Services," p. 28.

3 Edersheim's, " Temple and its Services," p. 38.

64 Jerusalem the Holy

priests to keep themselves ceremonially clean. It was filled
every morning by machinery, having been drained the evening
before. The rabbis report that so immense was this machinery
and so great the noise made when it was being operated that
it could be heard even to Jericho. The water was abundant ;
brought from the hills near Hebron, from Etham and the Pools
of Solomon, by an aqueduct nearly forty miles long, it was
stored in the immense subterranean cisterns which had capac-
ity for ten million gallons.

The Holy House itself is now before the beholder — a gem
of the highest art known at that time. With its porch it was
one hundred and fifty feet long by as many broad. Without
including this porch, which extended thirty feet beyond each
side of the building proper, the length was one hundred and
twenty feet and the breadth ninety. As the Holy Place was
sixty feet long and thirty broad and the Most Holy thirty long
by thirty broad it will be seen that there was around the sides
and rear of the sacred edifice a space thirty feet in width
which has not been accounted for. It was occupied by rooms
devoted to sacred uses. Though the rooms were in three
stories they did not reach to the height of the main structure.
Rooms were also built over the Holy and Most Holy Places.
The entire building was then covered by a gabled roof of cedar,
each piece of which had been nailed into position by a golden
spike.

There it stood on the summit of Moriah in all its marvellous
beauty of "gold and snow," facing Olivet and the sunrising;
the pride of every Jewish heart, the centre of the nation's
thought, the earthly dwelling-place of their God. In concep-
tion and execution Herod's artificers had surpassed those of
Solomon. He to whom the credit for this restoration is due
and who fondly hoped that it would give him a place in the
affections of his subjects and in the memories of men was to
be disappointed. His people hated him and not once do the
rabbis mention his name in connection with the temple.

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 65

They praise without measure the completed work, but for the
one whose genius and ambition made it possible they have no
reward but silence.

To this temple the child Jesus was taken to be presented to
the Lord. Here His parents brought Him, that He might be-
come a " son of the law," on the first Passover after He had
reached His twelfth year. Here He came and taught the
people ; here He proclaimed His Messiahship, and here He
was rejected by " His own." Of this temple, with its mas-
sive masonry, built as if for eternity, He, in answer to the ad-
miring remark of His disciples, " What manner of stones and
what buildings are here," foretold a speedy and complete de-
struction. It has been fulfilled. Of the buildings as they
then were, there is " not left one stone upon another that
has not been thrown down."

After passing out of the temple enclosure by the north-
western gate the observer was soon in the centre of the business
district of the city. Here the streets were narrow and
crowded just as they were when Solomon made Jerusalem a
centre of traffic, and just as they are now though the present
is but the past in miniature. There was a noticeable difference
in this part of the city. During the reign of the first great
king the business and residence portions were separated. In
the city as Christ saw it the residences of merchant princes,
and of the princes of the ruling family rose above, but side by
side, with the bazaars and shops. On the street, as to-day,
the members of the various trades can be seen plying their
craft : the shoemaker preparing his leather ; the cotton worker
using his odd shaped tool which resembles a harp with one
string; the iron and brass workers hammering their wares into
the required shape, the scribe sitting on his mat ready to write
the letters of his patrons. On the more important streets were
the larger shops whose proprietors dealt in goods and fabrics
of foreign production and manufacture. Anything in the way
of necessity or luxury that was known at that time could be

66 Jerusalem the Holy

purchased in Jerusalem. Jewels and precious metals of rarest
design and perfectly wrought ; glassware, rich in color and of
attractive shapes ; silks, fine linens and woollen stuffs in costli-
est colors ; essences and perfumes of almost fabulous values, —
in fact everything to grace the person and please the palate,
brought from the remotest lands of the Gentiles and from the
distant " isles of the sea," were for sale and found purchasers.

Luxuries commanded enormous prices, but the necessities of
living were very cheap, or seem so to us at this age. And yet
necessities must be procured at low figures where labor brings
but fifteen cents a day. Skilled labor was paid something
more. This is but little less than the amount received by the
unskilled laborer of Jerusalem to-day. It enables him to live
much as the laborer of Christ's time must have lived. Lodg-
ing was almost free and bread and vegetables sufficient for the
day could be purchased for a few cents. Thus the two ex-
tremes of society met in the city and were increased by travel-
lers who had come to see the glory of the place or to worship
at its world-famed temple, and by laborers who hoped to find
employment in the public works. The resident population has
been variously estimated at from 200,000 to 250,000, which was
increased to more than five times that number during the great
annual feasts. At such times the city must have been densely
crowded, even assuming that it covered twice the area of the
modern city, or four hundred and twenty acres.

In the city as Christ saw it there were two extremes of re-
ligion . The long-robed Pharisee represented orthodox Judaism,
the haughty Sadducee liberal Judaism; but both were Jews and
were jealous of their beliefs. Jehovah was supreme and His law
was obeyed by each as it was interpreted for him by his reli-
gious leaders. There was another party conspicuous for its lack
of religion, at least certainly opposed to Judaism, made up of
renegade Israelites and Gentiles from many lands. Its mem-
bers were the patrons of theatres and amphitheatres, favorers
of the ideas of Greece or of any country or people that con-

Jerusalem as Christ Saw It 67

tributed to the pleasures of the senses. The former found its
chief exponent in the august Sanhedrin, the latter in the king
and his court. The former was pious, the latter frivolous.
Likewise there were two distinct languages in common use.
The Semitic in the form of the Palestinian Aramaic was the
language of the common people, and was undoubtedly that
used by Christ and the disciples ; while the pure Hebrew was
employed by the rabbis and priests in the temple service.
Along with this was the polite Greek, the language of the
court and camp.

There were also to be seen side by side in the street and in
market and temple the ignorant, unlettered peasant from the
villages and the polished product of the Great College of the
Temple. The former looked with a feeling of reverence upon
the latter and received in return such consideration as is ac-
corded brutes. He who did not know "the Law" had no
soul, so thought and acted the leaders of Jewish thought.
The study of the Law then, as now in the Jewish schools of
Jerusalem, was the chief pursuit. The schools were numerous
in the city of Christ's time, and though Herod had placed
them under state control, were free to any who paid the fees
charged by the official porters. The Great College of the
Temple inspired and guided Jewish thought and no doubt acted
as a strong bulwark against the growing skepticism and the
learning of the Greeks.

Such was the city as Christ saw it, with its heterogeneous
population ruled over at the time of His first visit by a king
half Jew, half Idumean, on His last by a procurator of Rome.
Already it had in it the seeds of decay that were rapidly
germinating and would soon produce a harvest of destruction
to the city and of death to its inhabitants. Still it was the
city of David and Solomon, of the prophets and inspired
seers of the past — the City of God.

THE CITY AS IT IS TO-DAY

How many times described ! — A Mountain City — Position
— Disadvantages — First Impressions — Geological Facts — Ex-
tent— Character of Buildings — Streets — Cleanliness — Habits of
the Natives — Residences — Number of Inhabitants — Stores and
Shops — Turkish Bazaars — Methods in Business — " The Cus-
tom of the Country" — Religious Appearance of the City —
Synagogues — Churches — Mosques — Religious Indifference of
the Moslems — Street Scenes — Venders — Market Day — Moslem
Rule — Consulates — Justice — American Privileges — Treaty of
1830 — Amusements — Contrast between Day and Night in the
City — Modern Progress — Jaffa Jerusalem Railway — Hin-
drances to Improvements — Telephones — No Census — Sources
of Information as to Population — Number of Jews — Number
of Christians — Number of Moslems — Jerusalem Unique.

,70

THE CITY AS IT IS TO-DAY

HOW many times has it been described ! How many
volumes of travel, by the amateur and professional
tourists, make a specialty of the Jerusalem chapter ! How
many letters to religious and other papers, in every Christian
land, tell the story of the city as it now is ! The number of
such publications proves that the reading public has been inter-
ested in the subject. In the belief that this wide-spread
interest still continues this chapter on the general condition
and appearance of the city is here introduced.

Jerusalem is a mountain city. Its position is on one of the
high points of that broad ridge which runs north and south
through the Holy Land from fertile Jezreel to barren Idumea.
Of this range which abounds in peculiar hill and valley
formations Jerusalem occupies two hills, or one hill partly
divided, and the valley of division. The higher of the two,
Mount Zion, is 2,593 feet above the level of the Mediterranean
and nearly 4,000 feet above the level of the Dead Sea, which
lies but eighteen miles to the east. The lower hill, Mount
Moriah, has an altitude of 2,440 feet above sea-level. The city
stands just east of the water-shed, and is in latitude 31 ° 47'
N. and longitude 35 ° 14' E. In a direct line it is thirty-two
miles from the Mediterranean and twenty-two from the river
Jordan. At the first glance one wonders why this site was
selected for an important capital ; and the only reason that can
be given is that the choice was made because of its great
natural advantages for defence. However, the city has always
suffered great inconvenience because of its limited water
supply. In earlier days this was overcome by immense labors

72 Jerusalem the Holy

in cisterns to preserve the rains of winter, and in aqueducts to
bring water from distant springs. ' The latter are now broken
and useless, though a little labor and money would make them
serviceable. Cisterns are still almost numerous as residences.
Every house, or group of two or three houses, has one in
which is stored the supply for the year.

On coming to the city the visitor is struck by the rocky
character of its surroundings. In many places on the plateau
on which it stands the outcropping of the limestone is a
common sight. The character of this formation varies in the
different strata. In the bottom of the Kedron valley, half a
mile south of the city is found a very hard pink-and-white
stratum of uncertain depth, called "Santa Croce " marble.
Just above it is a stratum of soft white limestone called
" Malaki" having a thickness of about forty feet. Just above
this is a hard silicious chalk, called " Missae," having a thick-
ness of seventy feet ; while above this again, and forming the
summits of the hills is nummulitic limestone 291 feet in
thickness. This is descriptive of the strata of the Mount of
Olives and Mount of Evil Council.1

The barren condition of the neighboring hills and valleys,
and in fact of the two hills on which Jerusalem is built,
detracts much from the beauty of the place. These hills and
valleys were once carefully cultivated and doubtless over them
trees and vines grew luxuriantly. Centuries of neglect have
caused the soil to be washed down into the valleys and the
hills are little more than bare rocks. Debris from the many
destructions Jerusalem has suffered has also helped to fill up
the two surrounding and one intersecting valley. This
process of denudation of the hills and filling of the valleys has
toned down the scenery and made it less abrupt and striking.
The modern visitor views a very different topography from that
which the visitors in the days of Solomon or of Herod beheld.
The surface is altered almost as much as the city itself. Still
1 See " Our Work in Palestine," p. 22.

The City as it is To-day 73

Mounts Zion and Moriah are quite prominent, the Tyropean
can be traced without difficulty and the Kedron and Hinnom
valleys are very decided depressions.

The location of the city has been changed, or rather it
occupies but a part of the ground covered by the Jerusalem of
Herod and his immediate successors. The old city, including
the Mosque area, covers only 209^ acres. At the time of its
greatest importance it must have embraced within its walls
nearly three times as much territory, and, judging from the
estimates of its population at that time, the houses must have
been even more closely built than now. That they are close
enough at present no one who has examined them will ques-
tion, and yet there are several quite good sized pieces of
vacant land. The houses are generally poor and patched, and
have a mottled and ancient appearance. The mottled aspect
is due to the fact that the stones composing the walls have
done previous duty in buildings or walls that have fallen be-
fore the besieger. The ancient look is genuine ; they are old ;
some of them were quarried thousands of years ago. Many
of the interior walls are supported by props stretching over-
head across the narrow streets and braced against some
stronger wall. They have an ominous " bulge," which means
that some of these days they are going to spill out over the
street in spite of their supports. The wonder is how some of
them resist the law of gravitation even now. There are old
arches in every part of the city which have some mysterious
way of keeping up, when from all appearances they ought to
fall immediately. The crowds pass and repass however un-
conscious of their danger. Some day the keystone having
crumbled to powder will let the whole structure tumble, upon
some devoted heads, whereupon the owner will say "It is the
will of God," and the bereaved will console themselves with
the same pious ejaculation.

The streets are in no way attractive ; they are narrow, tor-
tuous and bewildering, running here and there with as little

74 Jerusalem the Holy-

order and regularity as is manifested by the average mortal
who passes along them. The only thoroughfares whose situa-
tion and direction are capable of explanation, are David
street, which runs east from the Jaffa Gate and makes con-
nections which lead out at St. Stephen's Gate on the opposite
side of the city ; Christian street, which is the thoroughfare
from David street to the church of the Holy Sepulchre ; and
the through street leading from the Damascus Gate on the
north to Zion's Gate on the south. These are streets ; the
rest that bear the name are in fact something less than alleys
and something more than paths. As to cleanliness, all that
can be said is that it is noticeable for its continued absence.
The people who live along the streets use them as receptacles
for the refuse of their living, and when the street cleaning
brigade — consisting of two men and four donkeys — gets ready
to carry it away, it does so. Sometimes it remains for a
month and, being added to continually, makes a very unin-
viting passage for pedestrians — only for some pedestrians, how-
ever, for the native Jerusalemite minds it not. Long residence
has accustomed him to such visions and odors, and when he
cannot pass by it he passes through without a murmur. In
other respects the habits of the Arab and Jew residents are
most abominable and actions violating common decency are
tolerated — actions which in any city whose authorities had
any regard for the appearance or health of the community,
would land their perpetrators in jail. Here such punishment
would be considered a blow at personal freedom and therefore
resented with great positiveness. But until some such richly
deserved treatment is meted out, the modern city within the
walls will be considered by intelligent and reasonably cleanly
foreigners as a very good place to keep out of. There is a
sewer system, but so crude and badly managed that it is a
misnomer to call it a "system."

The residences are small, ill-ventilated and poorly lighted.
In the poorer Jewish quarters humanity has not breathing-

The City as it is To-day 75

room, and apparently does not desire it. I have found ten
persons sleeping in one small room with every door and win-
dow tightly closed ; it was a room to be looked into for curi-
osity, but not to be entered voluntarily. Even among the bet-
ter class of Hebrews, living in the less crowded quarters,
there is this same objection to fresh air and neat surroundings.
It has been remarked that an Ashkenaz Jew can thrive in an
atmosphere which would be deadly to an ordinary mortal.
There is similar crowding, though less filth in the Moham-
medan quarter. These people live more in the open air.
This does not mean that there is no room for improvement.
There are spots in Moslem Jerusalem too awful to be described.
One excuse for the Jew, which may also be offered for some of
the Christians who are none too clean, is the lack of water.
The Moslem need not suffer this lack, for there is at his dis-
posal the almost inexhaustible supply in the immense cisterns
of the Mosque area. It requires some labor to transport it to
his house, labor which many of them consider too great a
price to pay for comfort and cleanliness. The Christian quar-
ter is likewise sufficiently filled with inhabitants and suffi-
ciently neglected. This overcrowding seems to be necessary,
but no apology can be offered for the wretched condition of
many of the houses and yards and most or all of the streets.
Nor does it help matters to remark that the same filthiness is
characteristic of all Oriental cities, and that Jerusalem is not
worse than the majority.

In spite of these unfavorable conditions there are some
houses of very commodious and respectable appearance in
each of the three quarters, and, on entering them, it will be
seen that those who reside there have some ideas as to the
comforts of life and also the ability to illustrate them. In the
various convents, schools and buildings, used as residences for
the orders of the clergy of the various churches, there is also
comfort and plenty. Some of these, together with the churches
in connection, are very handsome pieces of architecture and

76 Jerusalem the Holy

would be ornaments to any city of the western world. They
stand out in striking contrast to the low, rough, irregular
houses and shops of the native population.

It will thus easily be inferred that there cannot be much
waste space in the old city. Altogether it covers only 209}^
acres of ground and out of this must be taken thirty-five acres,
which are enclosed within the walls of the great Mosque. At
least as much more is occupied by military barracks and fully
as much is the private and unoccupied land of the various re-
ligious orders. Subtracting from what remains that on which
stand the churches and other buildings not used as homes, and
it leaves something less than 100 acres of ground to furnish
the homes and the places of business for a population approxi-
mating thirty thousand. There may be more people than this
number within the walls; there are no means of knowing the
exact population, as no census is ever taken. A conservative
estimate, based on as complete a count as can be secured,
gives the entire city a resident population of 55,000 and di-
vides it almost equally between the Old and the New Jeru-
salem outside the walls.

The stores and shops are very primitive, but the methods of
doing business are something to be wondered at. Along Jew
street, which is in the centre of the city and runs south from
David street, can be seen on any day but Saturday a sight
which for variety of dress, language, features and goods, can-
not be paralleled. This is the main Jewish business street, and
you can buy here anything in the way of raiment or food that
a Jew of the Holy City is likely to want. The stores are
minute, some of them having only a few feet each way;
the largest not more than ten feet wide by fourteen long. The
way the goods are packed in, however, and the amount that
can be exhibited to a probable purchaser, is wonderful to the
uninitiated. Every type of Jew from the lithe, dark-skinned
and rather attractive Yemenite, to the heavy, fair-skinned and
generally very unattractive Russian, is here. Between these

The City as it is To-day 77

are the German, Spanish, Morocco, Persian and native Jew.
Each can speak the language of the land from which he has
come, and within the space of a few yards one may hear them
all, with the addition of Hebrew and English. It is a Jewish
cosmopolitan trading place.

North of David street and continuous with Jew street are
the Turkish bazaars, where can be found anything that the
Turk or Arab is likely to want. These are even more curious
to the western visitor than are the shops of the sons of Jacob.
Every large city has its Jew quarter where a pretty good idea
of the methods of that "peculiar people" can be got; but
the Turk and Arab are not so easily met. In these bazaars
there are always to be seen a profusion of richly colored stuffs.
The Turk is fond of gay apparel and brightly ornamented ar-
ticles. The dress of his wife or wives, the trappings of his
horse, his narghili, or smoking apparatus, must lack nothing
in the way of decoration that his purse can afford.

But the great thing in the bazaars is to see the buyer and seller
proceed to business. The former comes along as unconcernedly
as possible, as though the intention to purchase anything was
farthest from his thoughts. Coming to the bazaar he patron-
izes, the greeting is passed and some general conversation in-
dulged in. Seeing what he wants he may pick it up, examine
it indifferently and lay it down carelessly, all the time talking
about something else. Finally he ventures to ask, as though
the notion had just struck him, how much the desired article
is worth. The dealer is just as sly and asks about three times
what he is willing to take and expects to get, but he does it in
such a way as to convey his belief that the one about to pur-
chase has no intention of doing so. With the same indiffer-
ence the purchaser replies offering about a third the amount
mentioned. Then comes the battle, first quietly, then more
emphatically, until finally their voices are being used under
full pressure. You would imagine a real fight was imminent,
but there is little danger. The bargain-driving may last half

78 Jerusalem the Holy

an hour or half a day. The buyer may go away without the
article, but he is likely to return on the same or some succeed-
ing day and renew the business. When he does secure his
purchase it is at a price from a third to a half the amount first
asked. I once purchased some rugs from one of these Turkish
merchants. He came with his wares at a time when I was
busy with other matters. He had three rugs of good quality
which I wanted. I told him I had no time to bargain with
him and therefore he must name me his last price. After
pondering a moment he named it very solemnly, as though it
were wrenching his soul to let them go so cheaply. I pursued
the same tactics, thought a moment, then took another small
rug and added it to the three already selected and offered him
for the four just half the amount he had said was the last price
for the three. He was shocked and insulted, to judge from
the expression on his face, and said it was impossible to think
of selling them at the price I had mentioned. I started to go
and when he saw I meant it called me back and gave me the
rugs at my price and was glad to do it. I have no doubt he
made a fair profit on the sale.

This is the way of doing business at every place in the city
except in one or two European stores. It is annoying and un-
satisfactory, but objecting to it does no good. You are met
with the assertion, "It is the custom of the country"; and
that is final. He who attempts to reform the customs of the
Oriental gets little sympathy and less success. He has always
done a certain thing a certain way and will continue to do it
just that way " even unto the end."

Another characteristic, and perhaps the most striking one, is
the religious appearance the city has. It holds easily the title
of the Holy City for this reason if for no other. Look in any
direction you may and you will see the roof of mosque, steeple
of church or dome of synagogue, and here and there the tall
minaret overlooking all. Largest of the churches is that of
the Holy Sepulchre, but there are at least twenty-five others.

Photograph by the A uthor

NATIVE WATER CARRIERS.

Photograph by T. J. A lley.

STREET MARKET SCENE.

The City as it is To-day 79

Largest of the synagogues is that known as Khal Stamboul, or
Congregation of Constantinople, but there are two hundred
others scattered throughout the town. Largest of the mosques
is the El Aksa on Mount Moriah, but there are inferior ones to
the number of thirty-seven. Added to these are the religious
and eleemosynary institutions of priests and monks and nuns.
At nearly every hour some of the numerous bells are ringing
the call to service. At stated intervals, namely at dawn, noon,
middle of the afternoon, sunset, and at one-and-a-half hours
after sunset, the muezzin call is given "from the tapering
summit of tall minaret," and the faithful Moslem obeys. But
I am told the response to the calls is not nearly so general as in
former years, that among the younger generation of Moham-
medans there is noticeable a great lack of religious spirit and
a lamentable neglect of the outward forms. Nevertheless,
when the muezzin sounds, one can see in the public squares,
in front of their shops, by the roadside or in the field the
faithful going through their prostrations and genuflexions.

As in all other Oriental cities, there are venders of goods
along all the principal streets. In some quarters they are so
numerous as to occupy all of the narrow pavement and where
there is no pavement a large part of the street. This hinders
passenger traffic and forces man and beast to use the same way.
With water-skins or jugs of various shape strapped to them,
with a wide board carried on the head, or a basket in the hand,
the walking merchant transports his wares along the street cry-
ing their peculiar excellence and marvellous cheapness.

"Oh, ye thirsty ones, come and drink," calls the seller of
lemonade or other refreshment.

" Eggs and cakes for ten paras (about a cent). Here they
are, oh, for nothing."

" He who wants a good clean meal come buy of me. My
bread is fresh and made of whitest flour."

"Let him who is thirsty partake of my lemonade. It is
cold and refreshes the heart."

8o Jerusalem the Holy

' ' Buy of none but me. I sell for nothing and if you want
a special bargain be sure and let me know."

Such invitations never cease from early morning till dark-
ness.

Camel and donkey drivers hold sway on the streets. Laden
with various goods from every quarter the camel comes stalk-
ing through the city gates with that look mildly disdainful of
the opinions of human bipeds, whom his obstinacy invites to
move out of the way or be trampled on. Take him all in all,
the camel is the homeliest of God's creatures. Neither in face
nor form is there anything to commend him to the lover of the
beautiful. An American lady, celebrated as a writer of de-
lightful and helpful fiction, was in Jerusalem in the winter of
1893 and 1894. One of her remarks about the ungainliness
of this plain, but profitable animal, as a long caravan of them
went by, was, "Well, I do not like to criticise the Creator,
but it does seem to me that I could have attached the hind
legs of those animals to their bodies so as to make just as use-
ful and a much more graceful creature."

In spite of the fact that the railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem
is prepared to bring freight from the only Palestine seaport,
the conservatism of many of the people is so intense that they
preserve the old method of transportation. Accordingly
camel and donkey trains make the journey laden with every
variety of goods. Overland from Damascus, they come along
the great north road, bringing to Jerusalem and Egypt the
products of the Oasis City. From the country of Moab and
Ammon, east of the Jordan, they bring the " finest of the
wheat" for sale in the Jerusalem market or for shipment to
some far country, the name of which the raisers of the wheat
have never heard. One may ridicule the camel for his ex-
ceeding ungainliness, and in sarcastic tones, because of the
unpleasantness of his voice, term the donkey " the Jerusalem
canary," nevertheless, these two animals are deserving of the
highest consideration from the dwellers in this land. They

The City as it is To-day 81

make living here reasonably endurable, and the wretch who
treats them harshly is a " marble-hearted fiend," guilty of the
basest ingratitude, and deserving only of the contempt of
men.

Friday is the big market day of the week. Both the whole-
sale and retail dealers make the most of it. Whatever product
of the season is due will be found in abundance at every
prominent street corner and in every vegetable bazaar. Just
outside the Jaffa Gate to the northwest is the wholesale vegeta-
ble stand. The producer who can bring in several camel or
donkey loads disposes of them here. But to do so takes as
much energy in bartering — voice at highest pitch and arms
flying — as would sell a trans-continental railroad on the New
York Stock Exchange. In the basin of the lower pool of
Gihon the cattle market is now held every Friday. Here any
one wishing to sell or buy camels, cattle, sheep or donkeys,
may be accommodated. It is true that Friday is the Moslem
Sabbath. It is also true that a great deal of the business is
carried on by believers in this religion ; but to do so on their
holy day is not sacrilegious, provided the business may be
completed before, or dispensed with, during the noonday hour
of prayer. This they all manage to do.

For centuries the city and land have been under Moslem
rule. The nominal head of the local government is a pasha,
or mutaserif, who is appointed by the sultan. It depends al-
together upon the character of the pasha whether he shall be
anything more than a nominal head. A man of weak or
vacillating will is sure to be made the dupe of his underlings,
the majority of whom have received by inheritance and ac-
quired by years of constant practice capacities for deception
and sharp dealing that are truly wonderful. The pasha who
is pasha indeed, must be shrewd to see, and quick to execute.
The inferior officials can have only as much power as the pasha
allows them. They constitute a sort of municipal council, and
consist of nine Moslems, one Jew and one Christian. This is

82 Jerusalem the Holy

an exceedingly unfair division, seeing that the Moslem body
is the smallest.

The great foreign powers all have consulates in the city,
and the citizens of each power are responsible in all civil and
criminal actions to their respective consuls. This guarantees
them some certain protection. In all actions between parties
all of whom are foreigners the case must be tried before the
consulate of that power to which the defendant owes alle-
giance. In a case in which a Turkish subject is the plaintiff
against a subject of a foreign state or in which a Turkish sub-
ject is in any way involved either as plaintiff or defendant the
case must go before the local Serai, or court, for trial. There
is an exception to this rule only when an American citizen is
the defendant. By treaty entered into between the United
States and Turkey in 1830, and which has never been altered,
the right is reserved of having such a case tried before the
American consulate.

It is true that Turkey makes objection to the right of Amer-
icans to exercise this special privilege asserting that we base
our claim to it on a mistranslation of Article IV. of the treaty
of May 7, 1830, referring to it. But it is just as true that
competent Turkish scholars assert that the disputed clause does
grant to Americans this right. It is a question that was not
raised till after the treaty had been accepted by both powers.
American ministers and consuls go on exercising the privilege
as though there were no dispute. The local authorities in
Jerusalem make objection in nearly every case, but reference
to the treaty and suggestion of an appeal to Constantinople if
they are not satisfied cause them to acquiesce.

Were they some day to insist upon the carrying out of this
stipulation of the treaty, as they interpret it, a delicate ques-
tion of international importance would be raised. And if a
commission of other powers were appointed to settle the diffi-
culty it would decide, without doubt, in favor of the Turk.
Although each of the great nations of Europe should enjoy,

The City as it is To-day 83

according to its treaty with the Sublime Porte, the privilege
granted to " the most favored nation," the United States is
alone in possession of those privileges. Americans residing
in Turkish dominions care not how soon the representatives of
other countries are put on an equality with them, but they
hope that the day will never come when their own government
shall submit to a Turkish mistranslation of the treaty and sur-
render privileges that are necessities if Americans are to secure
what they consider their rights.

This is one of the very few advantages accruing to an Amer-
ican citizen resident in the Holy City. Unless such an one
is here engaged heart and soul in missionary work time will
hang heavily. In the way of amusement there is nothing :
not a place where an exhibition of any kind can be given,
were there anything worth exhibiting; not an opera nor a
play; not even a concert from one year's end to the other.
During my residence of four years there were four concerts
given by amateurs. Lectures are occasionally given in the
tourist season under the auspices of the local branch of the Pal-
estine Exploration Society. For the rest of the year the town
closes at sundown. The only places that keep open after this
hour are a couple of German beer-halls and some Arab coffee-
shops. The streets are deserted by humanity and all is quiet
until daybreak, except the canine part of the population.

Wonderful is the transformation that comes over the city
when night falls. The streets that were a few hours ago
crowded and noisy are deserted and quiet. I have walked
through the city and round the walls between the night hours
of ten and twelve and not met a single person, except the
silent watchman in his little garden. The effect of the times
when the city gates were shut at sundown and it was unsafe to
be out at night, is still felt. The people have nothing to stay
up for, so they retire early. The natives are early risers ; they
may have nothing to do, but no matter ; they are up before
the sun.

84 Jerusalem the Holy

The spirit of modern progress has not touched the city yet.
It has come from the west, swept across the Mediterranean,
left its impress on Alexandria and Cairo, but has passed
through the Suez Canal and on to the Far East. Jerusalem
has been passed by and, were it not for its popularity as a
stopping-place for tourists from Europe and America, would be
as Oriental as any one could wish. These visitors are leaving
some of their customs and costumes. Some of the rising gen-
eration of natives affect the European dress. The combination
of the man and the habit is not a success ; each detracts from
the other.

When the railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem was completed in
1893 it was the wonder of the year, not only of the day. The
great majority of the people had never seen such a thing as a
locomotive. It frightened them so that when some of them
saw it coming they could not get out of the way. It might
reasonably have been expected that other improvements would
follow rapidly. There has not been a single one.

Some of the letters of inquiry from our enterprising Ameri-
can firms which are sent to the consulate are laughable in the
light of present conditions. Electric engineers and manufac-
turers of electric goods want to know all about the system of
street railway now employed and what is the likelihood of in-
troducing their special improved appliances for rapid transit.
If they could only see what system is in use ! To go from
one part of the city within the walls to another, one must walk
or mount a donkey. A line of carriages runs from the Jaffa
Gate a mile west along the road. But such carriages ! He
who enters some of them does so at the expense of comfort
and safety.

Street illumination is still in its infancy. In the entire city
there are twenty-eight small oil lamps stuck up here and there
on the sides of the houses. They are uncared for and on a
dark night do nothing more than indicate that they are
lighted. To believe that they do anything in the way of less-

The City as it is To-day 85

ening the gloom is a freak of imagination. American com-
panies wish to put in electric lights if the way is clear. But it
is not ; several insurmountable barriers intervene. In the first
place the Turkish authorities do not desire so much light; it
would reveal too much. They would not permit the introduc-
tion of electricity for illuminating purposes if some company
should agree to furnish it gratis. Another reason is it would
never pay. With the great scarcity of fuel the expense of
operating the electric plant would be enormous. Another rea-
son is that the Turk fears electricity in any form. He only
admits the telegraph because he is compelled to. In Berg-
heim's flouring mill, however, and in the French Pilgrim's
Building, both in the New City, there are some incandescent
lights.

There are no telephones and not likely soon to be any. An
American missionary who had charge of some schools several
miles away and with which it was necessary for him to have
frequent converse had a telephone sent to him. When he
proceeded to put it in condition for service a Turkish officer
was sent to make inquiries. The affair and the benefit of it
was explained to him and he went away and reported it to his
superiors. Word soon came to the progressive missionary that
he must desist in its operations. Such an innovation could
not be allowed unless he had an order from the sultan. He
had no such order and was in no mood to pay the sum neces-
sary to obtain it. The telephone has been lying unused for
several years.

This is the kind of people who have control of the city. As
long as they retain it Jerusalem will be mediaeval in appear-
ance. The native and Jewish inhabitants do not care ; the
visitor prefers to see a city untouched by the hand of modern
improvement. The former are indifferent in the matter ; the
latter have a sentiment. The one will not be roused from
their indifference so long as the Turk is governor ; the other
is in no danger of having his sentiment destroyed.

86 Jerusalem the Holy

The population numbers fifty-five thousand. This is a con-
servative estimate and yet only an estimate ; nothing more
satisfactory can be had under present conditions. The
Turks never take a census. Certain individuals or societies
have attempted a systematic canvass, but have had too many
difficulties to meet in the way of overcoming fears and preju-
dices. The people look with suspicion upon any one who
comes to their houses and asks questions about the inmates.
They fear some new tax list is about to be prepared, and if
they must answer are sure to minimize their numbers. With
these difficulties to contend against it is not to be wondered
that estimators differ somewhat in their calculations and their
differences must not be charged to intentional error.

The estimate here given includes the permanent residents
of both the old and the new city, and is based upon careful
observation after a continuous residence of nearly five years
and upon the opinions of the various civil and religious au-
thorities. It was taken for granted in making the estimate
that the patriarchs and bishops of the various Christian bodies
would be in positions to know the exact number of their ad-
herents and would be honest in stating that number. On the
other hand great dissatisfaction resulted from efforts to learn
the real number of the Jewish population. The leading rabbis
know, but soon convince an inquirer that they wish to pre-
serve their knowledge. The inference from this desire to con-
ceal the number is that there are many more than the Jews
wish the Turkish authorities to believe. They have an object
in decreasing the number, or the report of the number of their
people, and I have no doubt that they do so, by from ten to
fifteen thousand.

The most careful estimate yet made was in 1892, by the
missionary workers of the London Jews' Society. The result
was as nearly exact as has yet been made and may safely be
depended upon. According to this there are just about forty-
two thousand Jews in the city and contiguous colonies, whose in-

The City as it is To-day 87

habitants are justly classed among Jerusalem residents. Since
that partial census there has been little variation in the num-
ber, for it was made just about the time restrictions were placed
upon Jewish immigration. Some have come since, but about
an equal number have left. Should the restrictions against
the immigration of the Jew be removed they would come in
ever increasing numbers, until the Christian and Moslem
dwellers in the Holy City would be so few as to be conspicu-
ous. As it is, nearly three-fourths of the entire population
are descendants of Jacob.

Next in numerical strength are the Christians, including all
sects who so call themselves. Of this part of the population
nearly a half are adherents of the Greek orthodox body. In
wealth as well as in numbers this is the leading sect. The
entire number of Christians is about 8,630, divided as follows :

Greek Orthodox 4,000

Roman Catholic 3,200

Armenian 600

Protestant (all branches) 500

Coptic 120

Greek Catholic 100

Abyssinian 60

Syriac 50

Total 8,630

The Moslems number about 6,500, and though the smallest
numerically, are the strongest officially. They look with a
measure of scorn upon Jews and Christians, and, were it not
for the financial benefit to them resulting from the presence of
these representatives of despised religions, would gladly be
rid of them.

There is less friction between members of these three great
religions than is generally supposed. In fact there is very
little. The worst exhibitions of intolerance are between cer-
tain of the Christian sects. Each devotee of religion enjoys

88 Jerusalem the Holy

full freedom to worship God as he wishes so long as he respects
the rights of the others. There are in the city Jews, orthodox
and reformed — though the latter are few. There are Ashken-
azim, or Jargon-speaking, Sephardim, or Spanish, and Caraites,
or repudiators of the Talmud. There are Christians of every
shade of faith, orthodox, unorthodox and peculiar. There
are representatives of the various sects of Islam. So in every
respect, civil and religious, physical and political, Jerusalem
is unique among the cities of the world.

THE NEW JERUSALEM

The Term — Its Application — Appearance and Age — Ancient
Architecture in the Old City — Modern in the New — Old City
Streets — New City Streets — Dust — Street Sprinkling — Growth
of the New City — Jewish Immigration — Condition of the Peo-
ple— Their Character and Nationality — Estimates of Robinson
and Williams — New Jerusalem Residences — Jewish Colonies
— Names of Colonies — Jeremiah's Prophecy — Zechariah —
Conclusions.

THE NEW JERUSALEM

THE term is old ; the application of it here made is new.
When the Seer of Patmos was "in the spirit on the
Lord's Day " he beheld a city where all was perfect ; he called
it the New Jerusalem. To his mind Jerusalem was the queen
of cities, and when there arose before his vision the indescrib-
able city of God no name was better suited to it. That name
brought to his mind a suggestion of all that was beautiful and
all that was sacred. The contrast between his home on the
sea-washed rock of Patmos and " the holy city, New Jerusa-
lem, coming down from God out of heaven" was far more
decided than that between the Old and the New that stand
side by side on the hills of Judea to-day, but the latter con-
trast is striking enough to warrant the application of the term
" old " to that city within the walls, and " new " to that which
has grown up during the last few years outside the walls toward
the west and north.

The contrast is one of appearance as well as age. In the
old city the buildings have an ancient look. And their looks
do not deceive, for some of them have seen twenty generations
of frail humanity appear and disappear ; indeed, some of these
walls, I am sure, were standing in the time of Constantine.
Some of these houses may go back to the time of Christ, if we
are to believe some observers, who see in the claim no violation
of the Saviour's prophecy, " They shall not leave in thee one
stone upon another."1 The architecture is ancient, even in
the buildings which have been erected in recent years. The
scarcity of timber and the expensiveness of iron have forced

• Luke xix. 44.
91

Q2 Jerusalem the Holy-

builders to resort to the arch, and with very few exceptions
the houses in the city proper have vaulted ceilings and dome
roofs. As one looks over the city from the terrace of the
Grand New Hotel the entire place seems to be made up of
little mounds, very quaint and very picturesque. In the new
city new ideas in building are illustrated. The houses are
modern. Iron rafters take the place of the arch, and flat, or
slanting roofs with the ordinary red tile so common in German
villages, are the order. This does away in many cases with
the amazing thickness of walls, but in some the old method of
a wall so thick that it will keep out heat in summer and damp-
ness in winter prevails, even in the newer quarters. A wall
four feet in thickness has a substantial appearance and great
powers of resistance to the elements.

Within the walls the streets are narrow, devious, and, for
two or three reasons, very uncertain. A stranger on entering
one of them never knows just where he will find himself after
a few minutes' walk. The street may make several turns in as
many minutes. Another uncertainty is that one never knows
on entering a street just how long he can continue on it. A
camel loaded with boxes or large sacks comes swinging along
and demands, and generally gets, the full right of way. He
who wishes to contest the ungainly creature's progress may do
so, but one experience of the kind is usually satisfactory and
on the next occasion the quiet demands of the brute are
quietly granted. There is only one piece of a street in the
whole city where carriages can pass. The place was laid out
as it now is before there was a carriage in the country.

The New Jerusalem differs in this respect. North of the old
city the streets are wide and reasonably well cared for — I
mean reasonably well for Jerusalem, for they are not paved,
and many loose stones make carriage riding somewhat more
violent exercise than most people care to indulge in. The
exception to this is the Jaffa road which is lined with houses
on both sides for nearly a mile beyond the gate of the same

The New Jerusalem 93

name. This road is well ballasted and comfortably smooth.
Its great drawback is the choking dust which covers it all
through the long rainless summer. A light yellow cloud
hangs over it all the time, sustained by the continual passing
and repassing of carriages, camels and donkeys. A little
public spirit in the way of street sprinkling would remedy
this, but public spirit requires the expenditure of a little
money and a little time. There are plenty of people who
will furnish the time if paid for it, but too few who will
contribute the money. There is a little sprinkling done,
but so little that it is ridiculous. A couple of water carriers
each evening go along with water skins on their backs and
scatter a little dirty water here and there. You can see in the
dust the mark of their passing, but there is no diminution in
the amount of dirt in the air.

All this new city has grown up within the last twenty-five
years. This is not a very rapid growth if it be compared with
some of our western cities, but it is rapid for this part of the
world, especially that on which the throttling Turk has his
grip. In a country whose government discourages all progress
by taxing every improvement beyond the benefit it can bring
to the one making it, that discriminates against certain classes
of its population and prohibits the entrance of many new
settlers the rapid advance of a city is a cause for wonder.
Visitors to Jerusalem now who have seen the city twenty or
even ten years ago, are amazed at the advance that has been
made. The improvement appears mostly in the new city.
Here many Jewish colonies have grown up and seem to be
thriving. They are continually being added to and yet the
Jewish authorities persist in saying that their numbers are not
increasing by immigration. But as the authorities have very
good reasons for wanting it to be believed that they are not
increasing in numbers their persistence in assertion has no
effect upon the opinions of persons who wish to see. The
new houses are occupied just as soon as they are ready for

94 Jerusalem the Holy-

occupation and the old houses are not vacated. The Porte
has issued an order forbidding the settlement of Jews in
Palestine. But the Jews are coming just the same. Not as
rapidly nor in such numbers, it is true, as before the order was
issued, but still rapidly enough to keep adding to their
strength in and about their ancestral city. An examination
into the methods of the customs officials at Jaffa would no
doubt disclose how this is done in spite of the law.

As in the old city so in the new the great majority are
Israelites. Take these away and neither city would be much
more than a village. In 1838 Doctor Robinson, whose state-
ments can usually be relied upon, estimated that there were
eleven thousand inhabitants in Jerusalem of whom three
thousand were Jews. In 1845 Doctor Shultz claimed that there
were seven thousand one hundred and twenty Jews. In the
second edition of his work, entitled "The Holy City," which
appeared in 1849, George Williams approves1 Doctor Robin-
son's computation. Accepting the estimate of Robinson and
Williams, we must account for a tenfold increase in forty-five
years, and this is a very conservative ratio. Any fair-minded
person will be convinced of its accuracy by a walk through the
twenty separate colonies of the New Jerusalem.

Here, too, are the finest residences. Many of the Turkish
officials and families of high social and financial standing
among the Moslems consider this a desirable location. The
European population generally has followed them, and on the
north ridge are the homes of the English and German, and the
few American missionaries, the hospitals and schools, and the
consulates of the various powers. On the highest part of the
ridge stands the consulate of our own great nation, and when
the "Stars and Stripes" are floating they can be seen from
nearly every part of the city. That flag of a nation undreamed
of two hundred years ago, waves over this city that counts its
age by decades of centuries, yet represents a civilization as far in
' Holy City, Vol. II., p. 614.

Photograph by T. J. Alley.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE.

WISH*

-•; .- — v?>-.;r

r-*

Photograph by the Author.

CONSULAR GUARDS.

The New Jerusalem 95

advance of what it sees as the parlor car is in advance of the
camel as a method of travel.

In this New Jerusalem the air is always pure. This is a
matter about which tourists can afford to be unconcerned for a
time, but which residents must consider. Because of its com-
pact nature, the narrowness of its streets and its lack of proper
drainage, the old city has at times a woeful lack of fresh air.
But on the high land on the north there is never any want of
this preventive of fever and other diseases. It comes up moist
from the Mediterranean and fragrant with the odors of the
hills, or down from the high Lebanon country bearing refresh-
ment and invigoration. Nearly every house has its garden or
small vineyard about it where the air can have full play. Yet
this is not true of all the Jewish colonies ; strange as it may
appear, some of these people certainly prefer villainous sur-
roundings. With every chance of having their precincts clean
and comfortable and wholesome, they manage to keep them
in the very opposite condition. They are satisfied to crowd
together in small ill-lighted houses, all of which front on a
court that too often is made the dumping place for the refuse
of the colony. But in spite of themselves they thrive.

Others of these colonies in the new city are about as at-
tractive and well cared for as they can be. Their founders
and residents have a pardonable pride in their settlement in the
Holy City. Notable among these is that one just west of the
Pool of the Sultan facing the Bethlehem road. This was
started by a fund raised in London in honor of the great Jew-
ish philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore. A committee in Je-
rusalem, working with a similar one in London, builds the
houses and sells them on easy terms to worthy families. The
number of houses is to be limited to one hundred and thirty,
and the limit is almost reached. This colony has a very
pleasant location along the eastern slopes of the hill and has
about it an air of thrift. During the lifetime of Sir Moses the
ground was purchased and thirty-two cottages erected. These

96 Jerusalem the Holy

are given free of rent to those Jews fortunate enough to secure
them, and a family once located remains without fear of being
removed. The entire population of this settlement amounts
to six hundred, and when all the residences are completed
will be a very comfortable little village of eight hundred souls.

Beyond the high wall which the Russians have built around
their property north of the city and along the Jaffa road the
houses are with few exceptions occupied by Jews. The names
they have given to their colonies are in many instances sug-
gestive of a degree of prosperity and glory that appearances
will hardly sanction. "The House of Jacob," "The Hundred
Gates," "The Glory of Israel," "The Right Hand of
Moses " are fair samples of these names. One called "The
Corner Gate " is regarded by many good people as a prophetic
indication, or rather as indication of the near fulfillment of proph-
ecy. The coincidence is at least striking. In the thirty-first
chapter of Jeremiah, thirty-eighth to fortieth verses, the prophet
exclaims, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the
city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel to
the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go
forth over against it upon the hill Gareb and shall compass
about to Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies,
and of the ashes, and all the fields, unto the brook of Kidron,
unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy
unto the Lord ; it shall not be plucked up nor thrown down
any more forever."

Now there may be some way to adopt the statements of this
prophecy to present conditions and those who say that it
plainly foretells the modern growth of the city toward the
north may be correct. The great difficulty is in identifying
the places to which Jeremiah gives these names. It is not
known just where the tower of Hananeel was ; the hill Gareb
and the place called Goath are uncertain in their location. If
we had any grounds for believing that the tower of Hananeel
stood near the northwest corner of the present city, and that

The New Jerusalem 97

the hill to the northwest is Gareb we might assert quite posi-
tively that the growth of the past few years has followed the
line marked out by Jeremiah. Gareb is the name usually
given to this long, sloping hill on which most of the new city
is built, and only by placing Hananeel where we have, can any
possible application of the above passage be made. But in
matters of this nature it is not wise to be too positive. In any
case the city is growing toward the north, including and cross-
ing "the valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes," which
are known places, and moving as if the intention were to
occupy " all the fields unto the brook of Kiedron."

Another prophecy1 foretells the growth of the city in this
direction, but in it we meet the same difficulty encountered in
the former. The gates of the old city have been the sport of
theorizers, and, though the prophets knew their exact location
and spoke intelligently about them we cannot. So when
Zechariah describes the coming city as extending " from Ben-
jamin's Gate unto the place of the first gate unto the corner
gate and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's wine-
presses," we may only know the general directions. The gate
of Benjamin was on the north side of the city in the time of
Jeremiah.2 To Anathoth, the city of this prophet, northeast
of Jerusalem, he was going when " the captain of the ward "
arrested him on suspicion as a deserter to the Chaldeans. So
the gate of Benjamin may have been on the east of the north
wall. If so, and we identify as "the king's wine-presses"
those ancient rock cuttings about a mile straight north of the
present Damascus Gate to which the name is now given, we
have the exact direction in which the new city is growing.
There are a good many " ifs " to be accepted, but it is a reason-
able method to permit the facts to interpret the prophecy,
and if we do so all the " ifs " may be omitted. Certainly no
one can read the many prophetic utterances about Jerusalem
in a rational way and hold that they all refer to a "spiritual
1 Zech. xiv. io, II. 2Jer. xxxvii. 13.

98 Jerusalem the Holy-

city," unless he accept a method of interpretation, which robs
the Bible of the greater part of its value as "the book" for
men.

He who sees in the growth of the New Jerusalem the fulfill-
ment of some of the visions of the inspired seers has plain
scripture with him and the stubborn facts of this new city as it
is and is fast becoming. Out in the direction of the so-called
king's wine-presses, it is moving slowly, but irresistibly.
Many fields between the last colony and the " presses " are
still in the hands of the husbandman, but ten years more of
progress, such as has been witnessed during the last decade
will see Zechariah's prediction realized. Once the Turk gets
over his animosity toward his elder brother, the Jew, there will
be nothing in the way of the increase of the new city. The
Jew wants to come. He is anxious to buy a plot of ground
and build him a home in or near the city of his fathers. He
simply asks to be let alone, freed from oppression and permit-
ted to enjoy his religion. The land of the new city is ready
for him. In all other directions growth is prevented by deep
valleys. Thus topography assists in the development of proph-
ecy.

The colony of Jews from Bokhara is the latest addition to
the new city, and, taking everything into consideration, the
most attractive and promising. These are a superior looking
people, being of much finer physique than their brethren from
the west. The men are tall and vigorous and the women at-
tractive in face and form. They are also people of means and
on the large tract of land they have purchased, almost a mile
north of the New Gate, are erecting some residences that
would be an ornament to any city. Only within a few years
have any of them been seen within the limits of their ancient
city. They are no doubt the descendants of those exiles who
preferred to remain in the land of the strangers after the
seventy years of captivity had expired. After twenty-five
hundred years something moves them to return to the homes of

The New Jerusalem 99

their fathers. Is not that "something" the hand of Provi-
dence ?

Thus the new Jerusalem grows by accessions from every
part of the globe. On its streets " all sorts and conditions "
of Jews and Gentiles meet and pass one another. They may
be strangers to each other and ignorant of the part they are
playing, but I cannot resist the belief that each is doing his
part in God's plan for the rebuilding of the city and its en-
largement far beyond the borders it has occupied in the past.

THE WALLS AND GATES

Circumventing the Walls — 48th Psalm — Walls of Jebus —
Solomonic Additions — Nehemiah's Account — Restorations —
Walls in Time of Christ— First Wall— Second Wall— Gate
Gennath — Third Wall — Josephus' Account — Modern Wall —
Sulieman — Jaffa Gate — Needle's Eye — Bethlehem Road —
Southwest Corner — Zion Gate — Inscription — Angles of Wall
— Double Gate — Triple Gate — Single Gate — Southeast Angle
— Excavations — Mason Marks — Ancient Arch — Golden Gate
— Ancient Masonry — St. Stephen's Gate — Northeast Corner —
Herod Gate — Bezetha — Damascus Gate — New Gate — Length
of Entire Wall.

102

THE WALLS AND GATES

WHEN visitors to the " City of the Great King," as is
their custom, take a walk around the walls, they
should bear in mind that they are accepting a very ancient in-
vitation. The patriotic author of the forty-eighth Psalm, glory-
ing in the safety of his capital, was anxious that the "genera-
tions following" should hear about her towers and bulwarks.1
Perhaps he felt that the day was coming when these mighty
defences would be unable to withstand the assaults of mightier
forces. Then they would have to depend upon the memory
of men for the honor that was their due. If so, he was not
mistaken. The walls of his day were battered down by
the enemy ; the towers and bulwarks and magnificent palaces
were levelled to the earth. It matters not at what period of
the city's history the writer of this psalm lived ; the statement
is correct. Repeatedly were the fortifications rebuilt by the
lovers of Jerusalem, and just as often were they overthrown by
her enemies.

All that can be said of the walls of the original Jebus
must be largely hypothetical, and yet, if the opinion advo-
cated in the chapter on the " City of David and Solomon " be
correct, conjecture may here reach reasonable accuracy. Mount
Zion was a well defined elevation surrounded on all sides by
valleys. A people depending for safety upon the strength of
city walls, would place those walls where they would present
the most effective resistance to attack. This would be on the
very brow of the hill where the depression of the valleys would
be most precipitous. Accordingly we can hardly be far wrong
in asserting that the walls of Jebus skirted the brow of Mount
Psalm xlviii. 12, 1 3.
103

104 Jerusalem the Holy

Zion, so that one standing on them could look from any quar-
ter and see below him the steep hillside terminating in the bed
of the valley. Josephus' declaration, when speaking of the
place at the time of its capture by David, bears out this con-
jecture. He says that "The upper city (Jebus) was not to
be taken without great difficulty, on account of the strength of
its walls and the nature of the place." 1 As the valley on the
north was not so precipitous as the hillsides on all other quar-
ters, the fortifications would here be made doubly strong.
Support is given to this opinion by the fact that the attack was
made and the entrance effected on the eastern side, where the
hill was especially steep. Nature having here done so much,
the Jebusite trusted most in it ; herein lay his fatal mistake.

When Jebus became Jerusalem and Solomon reigned over
united Israel, the weak parts of the old walls were strengthened
and additions made. The language used in describing these
improvements is not definite enough to warrant positive state-
ments as to their nature or location. Solomon added much,
if we suppose his moral operations confined to that wonderful
masonry that surrounded the temple area. But he accom-
plished more than this, for " he built Millo and repaired the
breaches of the City of David," 2 and added "the wall round
about."3 Notices of repairs and improvements to the walls
are scattered and fragmentary, and no satisfactory conclusions
can be drawn from them. After the return from the Babylon-
ish captivity, the ruined walls were reconstructed ; as we read
in the third chapter of Nehemiah, the most important docu-
ment we have for the study of the city at that time. Those
who wish to investigate more thoroughly the varying interpre-
tations of this chapter, are referred to Thrupp's "Ancient
Jerusalem," Barclay's "City of the Great King," and Wil-
liams' "Holy City."

Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls was begun about 450
b. c. Sixty-five years previous to this the temple had been re-
1 Jos. Ant., v. 2, § 2. * I Kings xi. 27. 3 1 Kings iii. 1.

The Walls and Gates 105

built. Owing to the diminished population and wealth, these
walls were probably not so imposing as those whose place they
took. They were, however, the work of a zealous and patri-
otic people, seeking the return of their departed glory. As
they were constructed then, so probably they appeared in the
time of the Master's visits to the city. During this period —
450 years — Jerusalem passed through many fiery trials. One
destroyer followed closely upon the heels of another. Persian,
Egyptian, Syrian, Roman, each took possession, held it for a
time and was expelled. The walls fell, but in each case were
rebuilt, and probably without change of location.

In the time of Christ there were two walls on the north.
The most southern of these, now called the old or first wall,
began at the tower of Hippicus, near the present Jaffa Gate,
followed the northern brow of the hill, crossed the Tyropean
on the earthworks of Millo and joined the west wall of the
temple near the Council House, or quarters of the Sanhedrin.
According to Josephus this wall "was almost impregnable,
both on account of the valleys that surrounded it and because
of the hill above them, on which it was erected." In addi-
tion to the advantages of its position, it had been strongly
built ; David and Solomon, and the kings that followed them,
having been very zealous about the work.1 Of this wall noth-
ing that can be positively identified remains, though were ex-
cavations permitted in the heart of the present city, there is
no doubt that the exact course of the wall could be traced and
one or two of its important gates located. This permission
will not be granted, and, should it be, so much expense would
be involved that no exploration society would undertake it.

The direction and location of the second wall are questions
that have been warmly discussed, but not yet conclusively set-
tled. Of this Josephus says: "The second wall had its be-
ginning at the gate they called Gennath, one of the gates of
the first wall, and encircling only the northern part of the
1 Josephus' Wars, v. 4, § 2.

106 Jerusalem the Holy

town, reached as far as Antonia." Where was the gate Gen-
ii ath ? It has been located on paper at various points between
the tower of Hippicus and the " middle of the northern wall
of the upper city. ' ' It has not been located on ground by mod-
ern explorers, but there was found a few years ago some very
heavy masonry under the New Hotel that strongly inclines one
to the belief that Doctor Robinson was correct when, more than
thirty years ago, he located the Gennath Gate near the Hippicus
tower, at the northwestern corner of the upper city. There is
no doubt that these remains are part of an ancient city wall,
they tend in a northerly direction, and are in line with some
magnificent mural ruins now forming the foundation of the
Frere's College. These two fragments are identical in the
style of their stonework and in size with that at the present
Damascus Gate, which is acknowledged by all to be part of
the second wall. The only reason why all these are not so
acknowledged, is because of the result that would follow in
connection with some sacred sites. This wall included a con-
siderable space north of the first wall. Its western extremity
was at the present Damascus Gate, from which point it pro-
ceeded southward and united with the fortress of Antonia.
Josephus assigns no date to the building of this wall. It was
probably the work of the two kings, Hezekiah and Manasseh,
who added in this way much to the city's strength. A very
considerable part of this second wall stood just where the north
wall of the modern city stands, at least from the Frer6's Col-
lege to the Damascus Gate, thus leaving out the northeast cor-
ner of the present city.

The third wall was begun twelve years after the crucifixion
of our Lord. Herod Agrippa undertook this immense work
intending to surround certain parts of the city that had grown
up on the north and which were without any protection in
case of an attack. This included a great part of what is now
known as New Jerusalem. Beginning at the tower Hippicus
it proceeded " as far as the north quarter of the city and the

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The Walls and Gates 107

tower Psephinos, and then was extended till it came over
against the monuments of Helena, which Helena was queen of
Adiabene, the daughter of Izates ; it then extended further to
a great length and passed by the sepulchral caverns of the kings
and bent again at the tower of the corner, at the monument
which is called 'the Monument of the Fuller,' and joined to
the old wall at the valley called the Valley of Kedron." 1

This description of the Jewish historian was no doubt well
understood in his day. We of to-day know the starting point,
but are in doubt as to the whereabouts of the tower of Psephinos.
That tower was octagonal in shape ; hence the ruins under the
Frere's College are not, as some have claimed, the remnants
of it. The probability is that this tower was much further
north. But wherever it was, from it the wall of Agrippa
turned to the east, crossed the upper Tyropean valley and
went by the tomb of Queen Helena, of Adiabene. A remnant
of this wall is still to be seen in this neighborhood, just near
the residence of the Anglican Bishop, the masonry of whose
house is largely composed of stones derived from it. Reach-
ing the brow of the hill above the valley of Jehosephat the
wall turned toward the south and joined the temple wall at the
northeast corner.

The character of Agrippa's work was such as to excite the
suspicions of Marsus, Roman procurator of Syria, who feared
that the Jews were thus preparing for an insurrection against
the domination of the foreigner. Accordingly Marsus wrote
to Claudius Caesar expressing his fears as to the result if the
work was allowed to be carried on to completion. In reply
Claudius commanded Agrippa to discontinue his labors in this
direction. Agrippa had to obey the imperial mandate. Had
he been permitted to complete the undertaking there was no
enginery of war in those days that could have successfully be-
sieged it. The Jews afterward were granted permission to
carry out, at least partially, the plan of Agrippa. According
1 Josephus' Wars v. 4, §2.

io8 Jerusalem the Holy

to Tacitus 1 the Jews were able to buy this privilege of fortify-
ing their city from corrupt Roman officials. Josephus is loud
in his praise of this wall. " Its parts were connected together
by stones twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad, which
could never have been either easily undermined by any iron
tools or shaken by any engines." 2 " Now the third wall was
all of it wonderful."

Hardly a particle of this great work now remains in situ.
The succeeding wall and church and house builders used its
good material in their inferior structures. The disastrous ex-
periences through which the city passed shortly afterward
levelled all its pride of walls with the earth. Succeeding
rulers — Roman, Greek, Christian and Moslem — sought to give
the city some of its former glory of mural strength and deco-
ration ; they were not successful. Since the destruction by
Titus the recovery has only been partial and although the
walls of the modern Jerusalem are as substantial as were any
of their recent predecessors, they are altogether inferior to the
works of the early kings and of the Herods. The latter are
built of immense stones — many of them twenty feet long by
two feet thick and four feet wide — carefully and accurately
laid ; the former are composed of material but a foot or two
in each dimension.

But he who would seek to cast reproach upon the present
wall for the smallness of its stones and its inferior workmanship
has a serious fact to contend against. Three centuries and
a half have tested it, and work that even in times of peace will
endure through so many years is in no danger of losing by
comparison with similar work done to-day. Sulieman, the
Magnificent, was the builder of this wall and that he was not
ashamed of his achievement is attested by the inscriptions
found on several of the city gates. The date of their erection
was 1536 to 1542. There is a local tradition which narrates
that the construction was effected by two brothers who began
'Tacitus Hist. v. 12, 2 Josephus' Wars, v. 4, §2.

The Walls and Gates 109

work at the Jaffa Gate and did not see each other until seven
years later, as they worked in opposite directions, and at the
end of this time met on the eastern side of the city where the
St. Stephen Gate now is. The four lions on this gate are
the brothers' marks. These lions are not the work of the
iconoclastic Moslems, but rather of some previous Christian
occupants of the city.

The Jaffa Gate is the most convenient starting place for
making a tour of the walls. This gate is called by the natives
Bab el-Khaleel — the Gate of the Friend, because from it trav-
ellers from the city go to Hebron, the place of Abraham the
Friend of God. The road from Jaffa meets the Hebron road
here, making this the most important entrance to the city. A
crowd of carriages, donkeys and shouting men are always near,
and a constant stream of varied and variegated humanity is
passing in and out. An important gate has always been in
this vicinity, and writers generally locate here the site of the
Valley Gate of Nehemiah.1 From this point Nehemiah made
a circuit of the ruined walls. There is no question that a
valley did commence here and, tending to the east through
this part of the city, merged into the Tyropean valley.

Turning to the left after leaving the gate one passes a little
' ' receipt of custom ' ' where a lynx-eyed Turk is supposed to
watch every camel, donkey, wagon or man bringing any ar-
ticle of merchandise into the city. The contraband goods are
wine, salt and tobacco and it goes hard with the individual
who tries to smuggle any in, if he is detected. Until within
a few years this and all the city gates were closed at nightfall
and any one unfortunate enough to be overtaken by night on
the road was obliged to do the best he could on the outside
and in those dangerous times the best he could do was some-
times very bad . Later a small door was cut through the large
gate, and a belated traveller who could give a satisfactory ac-
count of himself and a satisfactory "bucksheesh" to the
' Neh. ii. 13.

110 Jerusalem the Holy

sentry in charge could be admitted. This small door has been
used to illustrate the Saviour's saying of the camel going
through the needle's eye. There are two things against the
application, first that there were no such doors in the large
gates of the city in our Lord's time, and secondly, that no
camels would ever have been admitted if there had been such
doors ; they could not have been. Now the large gates are
never closed. At any hour of the day or night one can come
and go as he will, provided only that at night he must carry a
lantern or explain its absence to the police.

For two hundred yards we follow the Bethlehem road hav-
ing on our left the citadel and barracks. A fine escarpment
of smooth-faced masonry, which descends at an angle of forty-
five degrees to the ditch, is visible. A steep road leads off to
the left and brings us up to the wall near the southwest corner.
All along here the wall is admirably located and sufficiently
strong to resist the ordnance used when it was built. The
height here will average about forty feet, but is irregular owing
to the immense amounts of debris that have been allowed to
accumulate. In fact this is the average height of the entire
wall, though in some places it is twice this. At this south-
west corner we turn to the east and see just before us the
Mount of Olives. The wall along this south side bears strong
evidence of several ages and builders. Here and there is a
large bevelled stone, while near it will be a smaller smooth-
faced one, and perhaps one bearing signs of ornamentation
showing that its original place was in some palace or temple.
Just south of the wall here the various Christian churches have
their burial grounds each surrounded with walls almost as im-
posing as those of the city.

About two hundred yards from the southwest corner is the
Zion Gate — called by the Moslems the Bab en-Nebi Daud be-
cause it is near their tomb of David. Behind one of its doors
was discovered in January, 1895, an inscription dating from
Roman times. The walls had been carefully inspected for in-

The Walls and Gates in

scriptions but this one was hidden behind a solid gate, until a
winter storm, overturning the gate, gave us this interesting
proof that the Third Legion was at one time stationed in Jeru-
salem.

The architecture of this gate corresponds with that of the
Jaffa Gate. The descent of Mount Zion into the Tyropean
valley commences just a little east of here ; the wall makes a
right angle to the north for a short distance then turns again
to the east. In the middle of the valley is the Dung Gate,
much smaller and less interesting than any of the others.
Eight minutes' walk brings us to another angle which is made
to the north where the city wall joins that of the temple en-
closure. The wall just here is in very bad condition and looks
as if it might topple over on slight provocation. The union is
made just at the Mosque el-Aksa, near the ancient Double
Gate, where can be seen some fine Jewish stonework, though
the exterior has unmistakable Roman additions. The Triple
Gate is soon reached and a walk of ninety-three yards brings
us past the Single Gate to the southeast angle, the most inter-
esting because the least modern, part of the modern walls.
The immense stones I do not hesitate to date from the time of
Solomon. They are beginning to crumble in certain places,
though the great thickness of the wall they compose guarantees
that they can bear the burden resting upon them for a few
centuries longer.

At this southeast angle Captains Warren and Wilson carried
on some interesting explorations in 1868. They were ham-
pered a great deal by the Moslem officials, who were jealous
lest they should penetrate the walls of the Noble Sanctuary.
The character of the earth through which they had to drive
their tunnels also retarded them, but in the main they were suc-
cessful.1 The earth was composed largely of debris, " principally
of stone chippings, alternating with layers of fat earth, and in
some places rough stones about a foot cube."2 The most
1 See " Recovery of Jerusalem," p. 135, et seq. 2 Ibid. p. 137.

112 Jerusalem the Holy-

satisfactory discovery was the marking of the stones in the
lower layers, some eighty feet below the present surface.
Some of these markings were made with red paint, others by
the tools of the workmen and were pronounced by Mr.
Emanuel Deutsch, an authority on such matters, to be undoubt-
edly characters representing Phoenician numerals ; pieces of
pottery were also found at this depth bearing legible inscrip-
tions in the same characters ; so that the evidence that these
were the very stones put in place by the masons of Hiram,
king of Tyre, is, if not conclusive, very strong. One of the
stones found in this angle is estimated by Captain Warren to
weigh one hundred tons. A short distance from this angle
can be seen the spring of an immense arch. It is not quite so
evident as that known as Robinson's arch, which corresponds
almost exactly with it on the west wall of the temple enclosure,
but is just as certainly the remains of an arch. Standing
near it and looking across the Kedron valley one can see that
a bridge at this point was not impossible to those builders and
not much more of a feat than the one that crossed the Tyropean
from the temple enclosure to Mount Zion at Robinson's Arch.
The Rabbins speak of such a bridge.

Coming north from this point we pass some of the
ancient, but very much more of the modern wall ; there is
nothing of note till we reach the exterior of the Golden Gate ;
the interior has already been spoken of. Just before we reach
this, however, the filled-in masonry indicates that a small door
once opened into the temple enclosure. The history of this is
obscure, but it is supposed to have been made by the Crusaders,
and to have conducted by a flight of steps to the Kedron
valley. The Golden Gate projects six feet from the wall.
The double entrance and richness of ornamentation are notice-
able from this side. In the hope of securing some valuable
information Captain Warren sought to excavate here, but ow-
ing to the nature of the ground and the proximity of Moslem
tombs the results were not satisfactory. North of the gate for

The Walls and Gates 113

about 373 feet can be traced the magnificent and massive
masonry of the ancient builders. One stone measures five feet
in height and twenty-seven in length. At the northeast angle
of the temple the ancient stones are seen to the very top of the
wall. These are many of them not in situ, but have been
replaced by later restorers. Here once stood an important
tower, supposed by some to be the Tower of Hananeel.
About 200 feet north of this is the Gate of St. Stephen, known
to the natives as Bab Sitti Miriam, or Gate of the Lady Mary,
so called because it leads to the supposed tomb of the Mother
of Christ which is near it in the valley.

Its name, St. Stephen, was given to it in the fourteenth
century when it was somehow considered that a mistake had
been made in giving that name to the Damascus Gate. Ac-
cordingly, on the belief that near this eastern entrance the
proto-martyr was stoned the name was transferred from the
north gate. Just a short distance outside the east gate on the
Bethany road the spot where Stephen met his death by being
stoned is pointed out ; the place on the rock is worn smooth
by the lips of the devout. There is nothing of note about the
gate itself except the four crude lions cut in the stones let in
the wall, two on each side.

A ten minutes' walk northward brings one to the northeast
corner of the present wall. It is all modern along here and is
built on the face of the cliff, which has been cut away to form
a ditch which did the double service of furnishing material to
build the wall and assisting in the protection of it. The same
is true of the eastern part of the north wall, which, from this
corner west as far as the Damascus Gate, is nearly all modern.

Between the northeast angle and the Damascus Gate is the
unimportant Herod Gate called by the natives Bab ez Zahire —
Gate of splendor. Its splendor is confined to its name, for
there is nothing in itself or about its surroundings to warrant
the appellation. Until recently it was continually closed.

Between this and the great north gate is the deep cut

114 Jerusalem the Holy-

through Bezetha. This cut is nearly a hundred yards wide
and at some points must have been a hundred feet deep.
The ditch has been much filled in. Here is the entrance to
the royal caverns. A little further west is the Damascus Gate,
built on an old foundation out of all kinds of material. The
natives call this Bad el 'Amud — Gate of the column. Some
old masonry is to be seen here. There are two angles in the
gate. Coming out of the city and just before turning the
first angle one can see, nearly on a level with the present sur-
face, the top of the arch of the ancient gate. This gives some
idea of the filling in process that has gone on during the
centuries.

The wall now turns slightly toward the south and proceeds
to the northwest angle. The only break is at the New Gate
which is a modern improvement. This angle at which are the
ruins of the Kala't al Jolud, castle of Goliath, is the highest
point in the city, and from it a good view can be obtained.
It is now Latin property.

The wall then turns straight south until the Jaffa Gate is
reached. Between the corner and this gate it is almost hidden
from view by buildings, which are about the best in the city,
and are occupied by European shopkeepers, bankers and the
like.

The measurement of the entire city wall is two and a half
miles. To walk the distance gives one a very good idea of
the general topography of the place, and of the neighboring
hills and valleys and villages. The walls are no longer useful
for protection ; they can hardly be called ornamental ; they
add to the city's quaintness and picturesqueness, and for this
reason only it is to be hoped they will remain.

THE HILLS ROUND ABOUT

Mounts Zion and Moriah — Their Prominence — Mount of
Olives — Roads to and Over — View From — Judean Wilderness
— Ancient Churches On — Felix Fabri — Excavations — Greek
Possessions — Russian Tower — Associations of Olivet — Ascen-
sion— Chapel of Pater Noster — Hebrew Cemetery — Jerusalem
and Olivet — Christ and Olivet — Mount of Offence — Hill of
Evil Council — Aceldama — Nikophoria — Monument of Herod
— Mt. Scopas — Psalmist's Accuracy.

116

VII

THE HILLS ROUND ABOUT

THE hills upon which the city is built have already been
sufficiently described in this book ; their importance is
due to their selection as the site for the " City of the Great
King." Mount Moriah and Mount Zion — they are Jerusalem
— as well known to the world at large as any two mountains
that may be named. It is perhaps an exaggeration to call
them mountains: Mount Zion is less than 2,600 feet above
the Mediterranean, while the summit of Moriah is a little more
than 100 feet lower than its western neighbor. They are hills,
rising out of the long range that runs north from the desert to
Esdraelon. Their prominence is historic and religious rather
than physical. The hills about Hebron are 400 feet higher,
and had King David been seeking for altitude he might better
have continued to make Hebron his capital. The Mount of
Olives and Mount Scopas are both higher than either of the
hills in the city by more than a hundred feet. It was what
Nature had done in the immediate vicinity of Zion and Moriah
that made them "admirable for defence," and defence was
the great requisite in the troublous times when the city was
founded, and later when the Jews were conquering the land.
Had it not been so, the plains of Rephaim a mile to the south-
west, or the broad plateau just north of Jerusalem, would have
furnished a much better site for city construction.

In the estimation of Christians, the Mount of Olives will
rank as an equal in importance to the two already mentioned.
It lies directly east of the city and, unless one is on an eleva-
tion, shuts off the view in this direction. Passing out of the
city at the St. Stephen's Gate the Bethany road is followed till
it leads down to and across the Kedron valley and as far as

117

n8 Jerusalem the Holy

the northeast corner of the Garden of Gethsemane. Here
one of three roads may be taken. The easternmost is the old
Bethany road — the only one until within a few years, the one
along which the Christ often came with His disciples as He
walked from the city of Mary and Martha to the City of the
Great King — a distance of two miles. If for the sake of sen-
timent we follow this old road we pass around the southeastern
spur of Olivet, descend into a deep wady, climb the steep
side of the eastern spur and gain a view of the town of Bethany.
A closer inspection will not increase our attachment or respect
for the modern town. From this point one can get a very
comprehensive view of the wilderness of Judea that lies be-
tween the valley of the Jordan and the central mountain range ;
for the desert reaches almost to the city.

It is a view at once curious and suggestive. Its conforma-
tions, due to the character of the soil composing it, are unlike
anything I have seen and are only approached by the Bad
Lands of western North Dakota. Except for two months in
the year, every part of this wilderness is devoid of vegetation,
except where an occasional spring in the mountains sends its
little stream through the wadies. Along this stream a few
shrubs find life, but are so hidden in the gorge-like valleys as
to be beyond vision, and thus have no effect upon general ap-
pearances. Occasionally in the landscape can be seen a coni-
cal hill, looking very much like a Montana butte. The lime-
stone mountains have taken during the ages many strange
forms, and are honeycombed with caves in which the jackal,
hyena and other animals find protection from the hot rays of
the summer sun and the cold rains of winter. And beyond
the Ghor — the name the natives give to the Jordan valley —
rise the purple hills of Moab looking like a wall against the
sky.

From this Bethany spur one can ascend gradually to the
summit of the mount itself, going in a northerly direction and
passing on the way one of the traditional sites of the village of

The Hills Round About 1 1 9

Bethphage. Two buildings mark the place. From here the
road is quite steep. On either side are terraces well cared for
and yielding profitable returns, as would most of these barren-
looking hillsides of Judea if they had proper attention. Soon
the place where recent excavations have been made is reached.
The Christian world had forgotten that the early defenders of
its religion had built imposing edifices upon Olivet. There
are scattered allusions to such churches in the writings of some
of the Fathers, but since the Moslem possession of the land all
traces of the buildings themselves had disappeared. A native
Christian, sinking for a foundation for a house he proposed to
erect came upon some well preserved pillars in situ. The
report soon spread and the excavator of the Palestine Explora-
tion Society, who was then operating on Mount Zion, un-
earthed a number of columns and three small rooms with well
preserved mosaic floors.

Felix Fabri, the great traveller, who describes in detail all
he saw in Palestine, passed right by the place of these discov-
eries over 400 years ago. As he mentions nothing about
them it is altogether probable that they were then buried be-
neath the surface.

Besides the rooms, or perhaps chapels, above mentioned,
cisterns, a pool and drains were unearthed. In one of the
pavements was found a very interesting well-executed mosaic
inscription in Greek letters.

The summit of the mount is soon reached or rather one of
the summits, for there are really three. The principal one,
however, is meant and this is the one that has been selected
by Latins and Greeks as a suitable place to locate some of
their religious buildings. The Greeks — as usual — own most
of the desirable property here and have spoiled it with their
structures; not that these are not fine and costly buildings,
but because Olivet is one of the places one would prefer to see
fr^e from any effort at human ornamentation. But here they
hiive their church, and tower and shrines and residences of

120 Jerusalem the Holy

ecclesiastical functionaries. The Latins are vying with the
Greeks and have their chapel of Paternoster, and have lately
purchased quite a tract of land and are preparing to build
something. It will probably mark some traditional site —
whether authentic or not matters little.

The Russian tower is a very imposing edifice, and from its
lofty summit can be had a most excellent view. It is said, and
correctly, that the Russians have so located towers on certain
high points throughout the land that each can be plainly seen
from the others that are near it on either side. It is also said,
though I cannot vouch for the correctness of this, that they
have a well-established and well-understood code of signals,
and that while these towers were ostensibly built for religious
purposes they were really intended as a preliminary to Russian
occupation of the country. It is no secret that the great Mus-
covite power would willingly add this bit of Turkey to her pres-
ent immense territory. The other European powers know
this, and it is whispered that if Turkey is ever dismembered
one or two of them may put in a claim for Palestine. There
is also a desire on the part of Christendom outside the Czar's
dominions that when a change comes it may be a beneficial
one to the long oppressed Holy Land, and with this there is a
deep-seated and almost universal conviction that Muscovite
civilization is but little in advance of that illustrated by the
Turk.

It was somewhere near this summit of Olivet that Christ
viewed the city and wept over it ; somewhere near that He
gathered the Twelve at various times and taught them what it
was necessary for them as first ministers of a new Gospel to
know; somewhere near that "a cloud received Him out of
their sight." At the same time there is no evidence whatever
that any of the memorials of these events, which various
branches of the church have built, are located on the places
where these events took place. For most of them even the
tradition is comparatively recent. The place of the Ascension

The Hills Round About 121

cannot be where the church of that name now stands in which
is shown on a limestone rock a marking somewhat resembling
a footprint which is reputed to be the spot of earth last
touched by the pierced foot of the Christ.

On Ascension day an immense crowd of native Christians,
and whatever pilgrims are in the city, resort to this place.
Various services commemorative of the day are held. A cir-
cular wall, which, judging from the broken pedestals of col-
umns built in it, follows the line of an ancient wall, surrounds
the small chapel of the Ascension. On this day the ground
which it encloses is occupied by tents of the various churches.
Each must be careful not to encroach upon territory allotted
to another. A Moslem minaret overlooks all, and, as at the
Holy Sepulchre, the followers of the Arab Prophet hold in
check the followers of the Prince of Peace.

The chapel of the Paternoster is near the top of the mount
on the southwestern slope, and is a very pretty little building.
Upon the walls of an arcade built around a small garden is in-
scribed the Lord's Prayer in thirty-two different languages.
The Princess Latour d'Auvergne built and endowed this chapel,
and at her death her body was brought here and interred.
The Carmelite Sisters reside in a near-by convent and care for
this chapel. Prayer is made by them continually in this place,
and no matter what hour of the day or night one were to enter
he may see the sweet, holy face of one of these sisters as she
kneels.

Coming down the western slope by one of the old roads, the
one nearest the chapel of the Lord's Prayer, we are soon in
an ancient Hebrew cemetery. The whole side of the mount
along here is covered with the rude slabs lying flat upon the
graves, some of them with the inscriptions clear and legible,
others so worn by time that not a vestige of the epitaph can be
made out. For centuries this has been a burial place of the
Jews, and though there have been periods when they sought
sepulture in other quarters they have come back to this. From

122 Jerusalem the Holy

the bed of the Kedron very nearly to the summit of Olivet the
stones seem almost as close together as they can be laid. But
the graves are used again. The dust of forgotten millions laid
here in the time of the city's prosperity and later in her adver-
sity awaits the awakening trump. For the Jews believe that
those of their people who are buried here will have precedence
in the resurrection, and many of the sons of Israel, whose
whitening heads and tottering steps indicate that their earthly
pilgrimage is nearly ended, come to spend their last days in
their ancestral city that they may "be gathered unto their
fathers ' ' on the slope of Olivet.

Thus far the origin of the name Olivet has not been men-
tioned. It dates from the time of the Vulgate translation of
the Bible, in which translation the Greek name of the moun-
tain in Acts i. 12 is given as Olivetum. Of course the origi-
nal name was given because of the abundance of olive trees
growing on its sides and summit. The name is hardly appli-
cable now, for the mountain, except here and there, has been
stripped of its olive groves. In one of the depressions on the
northwest side is a good-sized orchard yet remaining and, be-
cause of some ancient rock cuttings, here some have located
Gethsemane, taking these cuttings as the remains of oil presses.
The fig-tree still may be seen, though the pine, myrtle and
palm that flourished in our Lord's time have entirely disap-
peared.

Jerusalem and Olivet are often mentioned together in Bible
history, so often that they are "inseparably united." Dean
Stanley1 says that Olivet was, "The Park, the Ceramicus, the
Campus Martius of Jerusalem." Before Jerusalem had become
a Jewish possession the northern summit of this mountain had
been selected as the site for one of the Hebrew holy cities.
The tabernacle was set up here in the priestly city of Nob after
the loss of the Ark in the Philistine wars. Here the worship
of Jehovah was carried on before the temple was built on the
1 Sinai and Palestine, p. 187.

The Hills Round About 123

lower Mount Moriah. When David fled from Absalom he es-
caped to Mahanaim, east of the Jordan, going " by the ascent
of Mount Olivet." Because the sacrifice of the "red heifer"
could not be offered in the temple the animal was brought to
the top of this mountain and slain. But Olivet is chiefly as-
sociated with the life of Christ on earth — an association too
well known to be given in detail here.

"By one of those strange coincidences, whether accidental
or borrowed, which occasionally appear in the Rabbinical writ-
ings, it is said in the Mishna, that the Shekinah, or Presence
of God, after having finally retired from Jerusalem, "dwelt"
three years and a half on the Mount of Olives to see whether
the Jewish people would or would not repent, calling " Return
to me, O my sons, and I will return to you" ; " Seek ye the
Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is
.near"; and then when all was in vain returned to its own
place. " Whether or not this story has a direct allusion to
the ministrations of Christ it is a true expression of His relation
respectively to Jerusalem and to Olivet. It is useless to seek
for traces of His presence in the streets of the since ten times
captured city. It is impossible not to find them in the free
space of the Mount of Olives." 1

The Mount of Offence lies to the southeast of the modern
Jerusalem, and is usually called a part of the Mount of Olives.
That this is the correct location of that elevation on which
Solomon " built an high place for Chemosh, the abomination
of Moab and for Moloch, the abomination of the children of
Ammon," the fact that it is described as "the hill which is
before Jerusalem " 2 indicates. The city at that time lay con-
siderably further south than the modern one, and the Hill of
Offence, on the side of which the village of Siloam is built,
would be directly east of the southern part. It rises abruptly
from the Kedron and presents on its face toward the city a
very rough, rocky appearance. On these ledges of rock
i Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," p. 189. ' 1 Kings xi. 7.

124 Jerusalem the Holy

Siloam is built — a quaint village, picturesque enough at a
distance, but so disgustingly filthy are its inhabitants that one
might well imagine that the " abominations" had never been
removed.

There are some very fine sepulchral cuttings in the sides of
this hill and the village is built in and over them. Otherwise
there is nothing distinctive about it. It is much like hundreds
of other hills along this central range. Its ancient history is
not calculated to inspire respect and its modern Moslem " cliff-
dwellers "are anything but attractive.

Southwest is the Hill of Evil Council, separated from Mount
Zion by the deep valley of Hinnom. Its name is derived from
the tradition that here was the residence of Caiaphas with
whom Judas made his wretched bargain to betray his Master.
Aceldama the Field of Blood is still pointed out and in Crusader
times was used "to bury strangers in." Here also is the
Judas tree, a desolate looking fig tree, gazed upon with awe by
ignorant pilgrims, who are informed that it was the very tree
on which "the traitor " hanged himself. There is that about it
which warrants Barclay's characterization1 that it is "evi-
dently cultured and trained very carefully in due gibbet form
by pio-tradition hands — well meant pious frauds of calculat-
ing monks."

This hill is honeycombed on its eastern side by ancient
rock-cut tombs. The arrangement of the natural rock terraces
caused it to be chosen as a necropolis when such tombs were
used. They date from ancient Jewish times, were occupied in
the Middle Ages as places of residence for religious recluses,
then later for sepulture and now again have been — some of the
better preserved — converted into human habitations and places
of stabling. As usual the Greek church has secured possession
of the best of them, and has made half-holy shrines of them.
In one large excavation having several connected tomb
chambers may be seen the skulls of hundreds of monks and
> " City of the Great King," p. 75.

The Hills Round About 125

pilgrims, thus supporting the belief that at a time not very
remote it was a general burial place. The chambers here are
in two stories; in the lower are these remnants of the for-
gotten dead ; in the upper the guardian of the place dwells
with his family. It is claimed for this place that it was the
retreat where the apostles hid themselves during the time be-
tween the crucifixion and resurrection of their Lord. The
words "The Holy Zion" in Greek characters may still be
read over the entrance to this retreat. On the basis of these
three words the great traveller, Clark, advocated the theory
that this " Hill of Evil Council " was the real Zion. It was a
foolish hypothesis, and is mentioned here only to show how
small a foundation is large enough to support a theory as to
the topography of Jerusalem.

It is argued by Dr. Schultz1 that a large vaulted rock
chamber, the ruins of which are to be seen in the Aceldama,
was the sepulchre of Annas, father-in-law to Caiaphas, the high
priest at the time of the crucifixion. Williams, in his " Holy
City," 2 supports this identification. If they are correct how-
ever, the tradition that locates here "The Field of Blood"
must fall, for certainly no family of such distinction as that of
Caiaphas would sell any part of their property as "a place to
bury strangers in." It is not improbable that both tradition
and theory are in error,

The modern city is growing in this direction as well as to
the north, and, while for good reasons the intervening valley is
still devoid of residences originally intended for the living, the
sides and summit of the hill are having some very respectable
houses built upon them. Let Jerusalem once throw off its
present incubus of Turkish misrule and secure a safe and
beneficent government, and this hill, and the others as well,
will be built over as they were in the city's palmy days. And
there are signs that these conditions are soon to be brought

1 Shultz's "Jerusalem," p. 39.

2 " Holy City," Vol. I., p. 62 of Supplement.

126 Jerusalem the Holy

about — signs so minutely answering to the prophecies that it is
only by repudiating the prophetic utterances that we can fail
to read them. Surely the days that are to see Turkey in
position to be classed among the powers of the earth are num-
bered ; Reason and Revelation agree in this.

On the hill just west of the Jaffa Gate, the Nikophoria, an
elevation but little higher than the plain to the south and east
of it, the Greeks unearthed a very interesting tomb several
years ago. The tomb is large, the work upon it well done,
and one of the two marble sarcophagi found in it is as beauti-
fully and delicately ornamented as anything of the kind that has
been found near the city. The rolling stone that closed the
entrance is the best preserved of its kind though it cannot be
so readily examined as the one at the door of the " Tombs of
the Kings." On the discovery of this tomb archaeologists im-
mediately sought an explanation for it. From accounts found
in Josephus which point to this locality, it has been generally
concluded that this is one of the monuments of Herod the
Great and that the carved sarcophagus was the resting place of
the beautiful Miriamne, the Asmonean princess whom Herod
had married, and who, though reputed to be the only person
this tyrant ever loved, was slain by him in a fit of mad jeal-
ousy.

The hills north of the city, with the exception of Mount Sco-
pas, have been treated in the chapters on the " New City " and
the ' ' New Calvary. ' ' The former is really an extension of Olivet,
being separated from it by a very slight depression. Titus
here encamped with his legions — the Twelfth and Fifteenth —
just before his destruction of the city. Josephus says of this :
it is "very properly called Scopas, the prospect," "from
whence the city began to be seen and a plain view might be
taken of the great temple." 1 The view of the city from this
point is grand. Where the Nabulus road crosses the ridge the
natives have placed numerous little piles of stones, a custom
i Josephus' " Wars of the Jews," v. 2, § 3.

The Hills Round About 127

they have when coming to a place whence they get the first
view of some holy site. It is a remnant of the practice fol-
lowed in Old Testament times of setting up a stone of me-
morial.

From this account of the high places around Jerusalem the ac-
curacy of the Psalmist's figure will be noted. These neighboring
hills and those further removed, extending for miles in every
direction, were the city's security, and from the contemplation of
them and their protection the inspired poet drew the beautiful
and expressive simile, that, " As the mountains are round
about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from
henceforth even forever." *

1 Psalm cxxv. 2.

THE VALLEYS

Mosaic Description of Palestine — Application to the Site of
Jerusalem — Effect of the Valleys — Similarity of Valleys of
Palestine — Valley of Hinnom — Its Name — Character — De-
scription— Rock-cut Tombs — Zion Slopes — Tophet — Gehenna
— Jeremiah's Predictions — Junction of Kedron and Hinnom —
Job's Well — Kedron Valley — Character — Description — Large
Tombs — Simon the Just — Most Interesting Part of the Valley
— Church of Mary — Grotto of the Agony — Gethsemane — Senti-
ment— Pillar of Absalom — Of Zechariah — Excavations in
Kedron — Virgin's Fountain — Siloam Aqueduct — Ancient Walls
at Siloam — The Tyropean Valley — View from Damascus Gate
— Pools of Siloam.

130

CHAPTER VIII

THE VALLEYS — HINNOM, KEDRON AND TYROPEAN

IN an address issued by Moses to the children of Israel, an
account of which is given in the Book of Deuteronomy,
there is one sentence as accurately descriptive of the country
which these wanderers were to possess as any one sentence can
be made. " The land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not
as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou
sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of
herbs : But the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of
hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven"
(Deut. xi. 10, n). The italicized words briefly but ac-
curately describe the land at large. " Hills and valleys " from
one end to the other, not gradually verging the one into the
other, but hills whose sides are rugged and precipitous, and
valleys, which, with a very few exceptions, are but gorges torn
out by winter torrents, having little arable soil in their narrow
beds, but that little wonderfully fertile.

To the site and surroundings of Jerusalem the great Law-
giver's description applies ; the city is built on hills and in
valleys. In the day of its founding it was undoubtedly con-
sidered to be admirably located, and in later years, when its
prosperity had made it the envy of ambitious kings, the wis-
dom of its founders was demonstrated. The deep valleys sur-
rounding it on three sides enabled it to grow into a great city.
The valleys of Hinnom and the Kedron made Jerusalem. Had
they not been deep and their sides precipitous, had their
courses been in any other direction, the city of Jebus and its
illustrious successor would never have been here ; Zion and
Moriah, without Hinnom and Kedron and the valley between

*3i

132 Jerusalem the Holy

the two hills, would be no more conspicuous than a hundred
other hills that push their heads up along that elevated ridge
which extends from the Desert of the Wandering to fertile
Esdraelon. They would have given no names to become so
sacred to the Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan world as to
be employed in description of the eternal city of God. A
thousand valleys starting near the summit of this ridge cut
their way through the hills till they are lost in the great valley
of the Jordan or merge into the plain that borders the Great
Sea ; these two only — Hinnom and the Kedron — are known
to all the world through the world's Book, which tells about it
and the people who have dwelt there.

The valley of Hinnom takes its name from its first known
possessor, or as Stanley1 says, because in it "some ancient
hero had encamped — ' the son of Hinnom.' " By a combina-
tion of this proper name with the word "Ge," meaning "ra-
vine," the word Gehenna was formed, and thus this "pleas-
ant valley" supplies the name for the place of future punish-
ment. The valley begins with a slight depression about half a
mile north of the northwest corner of the present wall. It
tends first in a southwesterly direction, then due south, where
it widens considerably into a comparatively level space in
which is situated the largest Moslem cemetery near the city.
In the centre of this burial-place, which is a scene of desola-
tion and neglect, is the2 Upper Pool of Gihon, now called
Birket-Mamilla. A little south of this pool the descent be-
comes more rapid, the limestone cliffs begin to appear on
either side where they are not covered by the debris of which
for ages this valley has been the receptacle. The new city is
building out this way and on the east side of the valley resi-
dences and shops are being erected. A quarter of a mile lower
down the Low Level aqueduct crosses the valley on nine arches.
This aqueduct formerly brought the water from Solomon's
Pools to the temple. The arches are now crumbling to decay
1 " Sinai and Palestine," 172. 2 2 Chron. xxxii. 30 ; Is. vii. 3.

The Valleys 133

and, as they are no longer useful, no effort is made to preserve
them. Just below this is a large pool, formed by throwing an
embankment across the valley, formerly known as the Lower
Pool of Gihon,1 but now called Birket-es-Sultan. Over this
embankment passes the carriage road leading to Bethlehem and
Hebron. Beyond this there is a sudden narrowing and deep-
ening, and as one looks to the left he can see the southwest
corner of the present city wall, seemingly right above him.
When the walls of the Solomonic city stood on the scarp of
Zion (now occupied by Bishop Gobat's school) and swept
round the southern brow of the Mount, the view must have
been a very gratifying one to the lover of the city and a dis-
heartening one to the enemy who had come against it.

On the right of the valley here the cliffs are high and pre-
sent a smooth, perpendicular face. Rock-cut tombs are fre-
quent, some of which are now used for residences by Fellahin.
Above this the rock rises in terraces and forms the Hill of Evil
Council. The slopes of Zion on the left are not so rugged or
rocky, but are steep, and, being made up of earth and stones
broken in small pieces, are very difficult of ascent. Along the
narrow bed of this part of the valley are some of the finest
olive trees in the neighborhood of the city. Then the valley
makes an abrupt turn toward the east and widens out, forming
an oblong space formerly called Tophet. This identification
is in a measure conjectural, but it was certainly in this imme-
diate vicinity that Solomon had one of his "Gardens of De-
light." In order to reach Tophet from the city Jeremiah went
out by the "Sun," or " East Gate." Whatever be the mean-
ing of the word "Tophet," whether "garden," "place of
burning," or " abomination," the locality so named was orig-
inally in good repute. Afterward the idols of false gods were
here set up and the horrid orgies attendant upon their worship
permitted. Sacrifices were offered to Baal and human victims
were made to pass through the fires of Moloch — the tutelary
1 Is. xxii. 9.

134 Jerusalem the Holy-

deity of the Ammonites. Ahaz and Manasseh, kings of Judah,
were guilty not only of admitting, but actually practicing these
abominations. The pious Josiah put a stop to such iniquities
and to prevent their recurrence defiled the place by spreading
human bones over it and making it the common dumping-
ground for the refuse of the city. In Christ's time it was
known as Gehenna, and, because of its continual fires for the
burning of garbage, or from the fact that dead bodies were
consumed here, it was commonly used as prefigurative of Hell.
The Jewish rabbis say that "In Tophet is fixed the door of
Hell." In spite of its past evil associations it is now a pleas-
ant part of the valley, and on a hot day the shade of its olive-
trees and the cool of its cliffs are very welcome.

Jeremiah twice predicted * that there should come a time
when this valley "shall no more be called Tophet, nor the
valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter."
That the name given to it by modern Arabs is derived from a
word meaning "slaughter" is somewhat conjectural ; that it
will sooner or later receive this name is a legitimate inference
from the plain statements of prophecy. That it has earned
this gruesome appellation already no one acquainted with the
scenes that have here been enacted can question. Time after
time it has been deluged with the blood of the slain ; dead
bodies have been thrown into it in such numbers that there
was not earth enough to cover them, and underneath the pres-
ent surface lies commingled the dust of Canaanite, Jew and
Persian, Syrian, Greek, Roman, Frank and Arab.

This deep gorge of Hinnom was the great protector of the
city on its western and southern sides. No foe could ever
successfully scale those slopes of Zion, which in early days
were even more abrupt than now. Where at present there is a
loose composition of earth and small fragments of stone there
was in early times the bare rock, scarped to make it even more
difficult of ascent ; and upon the platform made by the scraping
1 Jer. vii. 32, and xix. 6.

The Valleys 135

stood the city walls, beyond the reach of any enginery of war
then known.

Fear after year for centuries the refuse of the city has been
thrown over this side of Zion until now the rock is hidden
from view under a depth of composite soil and stones of from
one to thirty feet. On this " made " earth the Fellah lays out
hit; garden and grows vegetables of surprising size and excel-
lent quality.

Passing on down the valley for a short distance, seeing
numerous tombs upon our right, we come to a level place of
about thirty acres or so at the junction of the Hinnom and
Ktdron valleys. At this point we are nearly 350 feet below
the level of the Mosque area on Mount Moriah. Near the
sovth end of this level tract is the so-called Bir Eyyub (Job's
Well), a well of mystery in many respects. The source of its
water supply and the identification of the well with some an-
cient landmarks have given rise to many theories, with which
we have not to do. No one can show whether this " well of
bltssing" is ancient or modern; it has existed since the Mo-
hammedan occupation and by the followers of the Prophet it
was first called Job's Well. The Crusaders named it after
Nehemiah because the holy fire, which was hidden here during
the captivity, was recovered by him.

During the summer especially the well is the centre of
great activity. Women come with their water-skins slung on
th< ir backs, or drive a couple of diminutive donkeys who are
able each to carry three skins full of the water. Men are con-
tin ually engaged in drawing up the water. Those acquainted
with life here wonder at seeing the men do this work, for
whenever there is real labor to be performed the women are
usually the ones who do it. As the water is over a hundred
feet below the well curb the " draw " is somewhat of an effort.
In the large stone troughs about the well water is always in
readiness for horses, donkeys, cattle and sheep, and when a
number of half-famished creatures happen to come at once the

136 Jerusalem the Holy-

scene is exceedingly lively. They fairly scramble over each
other to get at the cooling fountain.

The valley formed by the union of Hinnom and the Kedron
is called by the natives Wady en Nar — Valley of Fire — a not
inappropriate name as one learns by following it down through
the wilderness past curious and desolate Mar Saba, till it loses
itself in the desert of the Dead Sea.

The distinguishing topographical feature on the east of the
city is the valley of the Kedron. It has been Jerusalem's
natural protector on this quarter as Hinnom has been on the
west. The name Kedron is used in preference to Jehoshaphat
because more exact, though the latter is more common. Ke-
dron is the Biblical term, the other not appearing.1 Josephus
never calls this valley Jehoshaphat ; when the name began to
be applied is not known. In the middle of the fourth century
Jerome and Eusebius employed it and from that time until the
present it has been in use. Many of the natives, both Chris-
tian and Moslem, speak of the vale as Wady Sitti Miriam, —
valley of Our Lady Mary.

The name "Kedron" is, like the names of most places
in this land, of doubtful origin and signification. Gesenius
derives it from a Hebrew word meaning "to be black," de-
scriptive of the dark color of the water when the brook is flow-
ing or to the depth and obscurity of the valley itself. This is
a very unsatisfactory reason to any one well acquainted with
the place, for the brook never flows more than two days during
the year, and there is nothing about the valley to suggest dark-
ness.

The first depression is about a mile north of the present

1 The prophet Joel surely could not have had this valley in mind (iii.
2). He must have idealized as the scene of the great conflict and judg-
ment that valley in the wilderness of Tekoah in which Jehoshaphat
gained his great victory over the allied enemies. That victory was
" Jehovah's judgment." So when all nations are gathered together there
also shall be Jehoshaphat — " Jehovah's judgment " upon them.

The Valleys 137

north wall of the city and is verdant with vineyards and olive
groves. The valley tends in a southerly direction for half a
mile and all along is well cultivated. Soon the rock cliffs be-
gin and on them can be plainly seen the marks of the tools of
ancient quarrymen. No doubt many of these stones found
their way into the city's walls and residences. Rock-cut
tombs are very abundant near the head of the valley and every
few steps one may see the place where a former dweller of the
city was laid away from mortal view until the hand of the
enemy or vandal desecrated his resting place. The peasant
farmer now plows among the tombs, goading his team of lean
oxen or donkeys and shouting his abundant profanity.

This valley really deserves the name "Valley of Dead
Bodies," for from earliest times all along its sides and in its
bed the dead have been interred.

After its southerly course it makes a bend and runs in an
easterly direction for about a quarter of a mile, then turns
again to the south and continues this general direction until it
is lost in the Dead Sea Valley. Just at this last mentioned
turn are some exceptionally large tombs excavated in the face
of the cliff. Among these is the traditional sepulchre of Simon
the Just. On the anniversary of this worthy the Jews gather
in multitudes at this tomb, and while the old men pray before
the door the younger people seem to be holding a sort of pic-
nic under the olive trees near at hand. This is by far the
largest gathering of the "Sons and Daughters of Israel" dur-
ing the year in Jerusalem. To witness it gives one an idea of
the number of this part of the city's population. There are
Jews of every condition from every civilized country, from the
stylishly dressed representative from America or England to
the degraded, unkempt specimens from Russia and Central
Europe.

The most interesting part of this Kedron valley, judging
it by natural scenery and hallowed associations, is that over-
looked by the east wall of the city. The carriage road to

138 Jerusalem the Holy-

Bethany and Jericho descends the western slope at a heavy
grade and just where it crosses the Kedron a most comprehen-
sive view may be had. As one faces the south he has on his
right, towering high, the Golden Gate, the interesting old
"southeast corner," the Moslem tombs nestling close to the
walls, and on the steep hillside the gardens and olive orchards
of the Fellahin. In front of the observer is the bed of the
stream, empty except for a day or two each winter, the pillar
of Absalom and tombs of St. James and Zechariah with the
countless grave-stones of the humble Jewish dead that are
buried near. Just to the left, and very near, is the Garden of
Gethsemane, lying at the roots of Olivet. On the left hand a
little to the rear stands the ancient, gloomy church of St.
Mary, in which are the traditional tombs of the Virgin and
Joseph her husband, also those of Joachim and Anna, the
father and mother of Mary.

This Church of the Virgin is undoubtedly an ancient struc-
ture, and rests its claims to cover the tomb of the mother of
our Lord upon grounds similar to those used in the case of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Empress Helena located
the tomb and erected the first structure over it. The Church
now belongs to the Greeks who tolerate the presence of other
sects; but hardly with Christian toleration, if one may judge
by appearances. A peculiarity of this Christian Church is
that among its several altars is a praying place for Moslems.
The latter religionists join with the former in venerating the
memory of the mother of Christ. The example may have
been given the followers of the Prophet by Omar when, as con-
queror, he entered Jerusalem in 637 a. d. It is narrated by
an Arab historian,1 that as this warrior passed by the Church
of Mary, then called the Church of Gethsemane, he offered
two prayers. When the Crusaders arrived nothing remained
of it but ruins. Mellicent, the wife of Fulke, fourth Christian

1 Kadi Mejir-ed-Din.

*--# .:■'*

The Valleys 139

king of Jerusalem, in the middle of the twelfth century,
erected, substantially, the structure that stands to-day.

An utterly baseless tradition fixes the place of our Lord's
agony in a grotto just a little to the east of the Church of
Mary. This is Latin property and is made much of because
they have no proprietary right in the Church. No doubt it
has been used as a sacred place for some centuries, but its
form and the hole in the ceiling would lead to the belief that
it was originally a cistern, or from its nearness to Gethsemane,
perhaps a place for storing olive oil.

A few rods to the south is Gethsemane. There is no reason
for disputing the genuineness of this site, for the tradition
dating from the fourth century corresponds with the Gospel
statements about the place. In Christ's time two roads left
the city from the east and crossed the brook near this point.
It would be a secluded spot, for those in the city would not
often make the steep descent into the valley. But Christ,
seeking retirement "went forth with His disciples over the
brook Kedron where was a garden, into which He entered,
and His disciples." The one beauty about the little, high-
walled enclosure is that it is still a garden. Venerable looking
olive trees, centuries old, are carefully preserved by the gar-
deners. They still, seven in number, yield their fruit, the oil
of which commands a high price as well as the stones of the
olives which are used for making rosaries. The garden is a
quadrangle each side being about 200 feet long. A walk
leads all round inside the wall to which visitors are admitted,
but a high iron fence protected by a heavy wire netting pre-
vents any pulling of flowers.

Most people, no matter whence they come, when Geth-
semane is reached are overcome by a desire to possess some
memento of the place. Had not the Franciscan monks in
charge taken precautions to protect their floral treasures, the
garden would soon be barren of vegetation. Though it lacks
many of the natural charms possessed by it when Christ com-

146 Jerusalem the Holy

mimed there with the Twelve, Gethsemane is still a pleasant,
peaceful spot, where one may rest and indulge, without the
distractions of superstition, the thoughts the name and place
suggest.

About two hundred yards below the Garden of Gethsemane
are the four sepulchral monuments whose origin and history
are alike obscure. Two of these, those of Absalom and Zech-
ariah, are monoliths, separated from the surrounding rock by
the tools of the quarrymen. The other two, those of Jehosh-
aphat and St. James, are excavations. The first mention of
these monuments is by the Bourdeaux Pilgrim (a. d. 333),
who gives to the monoliths the names of Isaiah and Hezekiah.
Arculfus, writing near the close of the seventh century, men-
tions the two excavations as the sepulchres of Simon the Just
and Joseph, the husband of Mary. He also calls the tomb of
Absalom that of Jehoshaphat, and this name it bore among
Christians for many ages. At least since the time of Benja-
min of Tudela (n 70 a. d.) the Jews have regarded it as con-
nected with Absalom and to this day treat it with the disre-
spect they still cherish toward the memory of that ungrateful
son of David. It is beginning to show the wear of the nu-
merous stones thrown against it.

These monoliths of Absalom and Zechariah exhibit a va-
riety of architecture, Doric, Ionian and Egyptian. This has
added to the confusion in attempts to assign dates to them.
The Pillar of Absalom is generally assigned to the Grseco-
Roman Period. The masonry of the upper part is strongly
suggestive of Egyptian influences and because of this the na-
tives call it Pharaoh's Head -Dress. This masonry of large
blocks rests upon the monolith and was necessary because the
depth of rock at this point did not admit of a repetition of
such work as that of Zechariah's tomb. The top of this latter
tomb is pyramidal in form ; but otherwise is very similar in
general design to the former. The tomb of Absalom is broken
in several places, and permits free entrance into its interior ;

The Valleys 141

that of Zechariah is entire and has no entrance ; unless there
be one hidden by the accumulated earth of centuries. Unlike
the tomb, or pillar, of Absalom, this of Zechariah is a very
sacred place to the Jew. Their graves are close up to it and
the tomb itself is covered with names written and carved in
Hebrew characters. Prayers offered here are considered
"specially efficacious."

Just near these tombs a second bridge on stone arches crosses
the gully of the Kedron. Here the valley is narrowest and
shows the marks where "the winter brook" flows. But there
is no appropriateness in the phrase "the sweet-gliding Ke-
dron " ; it must have been written by one who never saw the
place. A short distance south of the bridge the hills — Olivet
on the east and Moriah on the west — rise abruptly; the
" southeast angle " seems directly above the observer standing
in the ravine ; the top of the wall is 1 70 feet above. Captain
Warren's excavations have revealed that the earth lying be-
tween the bed of the brook and this corner of the city wall is
largely debris. The original east side of Moriah, or as it was
when the first wall stood unhidden by the accumulations of
the ages, was steeper than at present and now it is so precip-
itous that to ascend in a straight course is almost impossible.
Warren's excavations also demonstrate that the bed of the
stream has been moved at least thirty feet to the east by the
debris and that it is now thirty-eight feet above its former
level. When these excavations were begun, it was supposed
that an underground stream would be found, as several pro-
fessed to be able to detect the sound of running water. No
such stream was discovered, but the soil lying near the bottom
of the ancient bed was soft and muddy in places, and it is not
at all improbable that in the rainy season such an under-
ground brook does work its way through the loose earth and
issue at some point further down the valley.

Five hundred yards south of this bridge is the interesting
and mysterious "Fountain of the Virgin"; interesting be-

142 Jerusalem the Holy

cause of its historical and topographical importance ; and also
because it is the only living spring near the city, unless we in-
clude the one under the school of the Sisters of Zion ; mys-
terious, because of the intermittent flow of its waters and their
peculiar brackish taste. The spring is in a cavern and the
water is at least twenty feet below the level of the valley.
Thirty rude steps lead down to it and up and down these
steps the maids and matrons of Silwan (Siloam) go with their
full and empty water pots. Because of these steps the natives
often call it "Ain ed-Derej," "Fountain of Steps." In
the rainy season the water flows four or five times a day, in
the dry season but once or at most twice each day. This ir-
regularity of flow can be accounted for naturally. "In the
interior of the rock there is a deep natural reservoir, which is
fed by numerous streamlets and has a single narrow outlet
only. This outlet begins a little above the bottom of the
basin, rises to a point higher than the top of the basin and
then descends. As soon as the water of the basin has risen to
the height of the bend in the outlet, it begins to flow through
it and continues to flow on the syphon principle until it has
sunk in the basin to the point where the outlet begins." x

An aqueduct, usually regarded as the work of Hezekiah,
leads from this fountain through the rocky foundations of
Ophel to the Upper Pool of Siloam. The engineering was
not of the best, for the course of the aqueduct varies consid-
erably and while the distance in a straight line from the Foun-
tain to Siloam is only a thousand feet, the length of the chan-
nel is seventeen hundred. From a celebrated inscription
found here in 1880, the oldest Hebrew inscription so far dis-
covered, we learn that work was begun at each end ; and the
point where the workmen met has also been located. One
wonders how such a work was planned and executed in those
early times.

The valley widens a short distance below the Virgin's
1 Baedaker " Palestine and Syria," p. 99.

The Valleys 143

Fountain and is soon joined by the Tyropean. These two
valleys do not meet each other on a level, the Tyropean being
at least thirty feet above the Kedron. Terraces lead from the
one to the other. Just here is the richest garden land to be
found near the city. It is watered by the Lower Siloam Pool
and cultivated by the Fellahin of Silwan village. Modern ex-
cavations are demonstrating that the peasant gardeners have
been growing their vegetables upon earth that covers the
walls of the ancient city. Well preserved masonry of un-
doubted antiquity, and henceforth to be reckoned in all ac-
counts, was uncovered in August, 1895, just where the two
valleys meet and at a depth of thirty feet below the present
surface. This discovery proves two things; first, how deep
the soil is in these valleys of Palestine, and, secondly, how
many theories on Jerusalem topography a little excavating may
explode.

A hundred yards further south brings us to the junction of
the Kedron and Hinnom valleys. In following these two
from their starting points on the north we have surrounded
the city almost entirely and described the most interesting
points in each of them. There is one great event to take
place in the future in the valley of the Kedron, but as it be-
longs to prophecy it is hardly in place in a descriptive work.
Jews, Mohammedans and some Christians believe that in this
valley the final judgment will be held, hence its name Je-
hoshaphat — Jehovah's Judgment. Whether the belief be well
founded or not is a minor question to those who are prepared
for that great day.

In an account of the valleys of Jerusalem that which divides
the city must not be passed without remark. Josephus calls
this the Tyropean, or valley of the cheese-mongers. It was a
striking feature of the ancient city and is so now when viewed
from certain directions. The first depression begins a short
distance north of the Damascus Gate. At the north wall the
valley features are hidden by immense accumulations of debris,

144 Jerusalem the Holy

but within the city the descent is rapid for a short distance.
The observer who stands on the wall at the Damascus Gate and
looks toward the south gains the very best view of the topog-
raphy of the city. Right in front of him stretches the val-
ley, the four hills — Gareb and Zion on the west, Bezetha and
Moriah on the east — are plainly seen. But the modern view
is quite inferior to that of the ancient city's glory, when the
palaces of the wealthy crowned the two northern hills as well
as the southwestern eminence, and the temple, glistening in
the brilliant light, graced the summit of the southwestern hill.
Bridges on immense arches spanned the Tyropean and a street
adorned with columns proceeded from the main gate in the
northern wall to a similar gate in the southern. Ruined foun-
dations many feet under the surface are all that remain of the
bridges, while not a vestige of the ornamental columns can be
found.

Formerly a valley proceeding from near the present Jaffa
Gate in an easterly direction joined the Tyropean at a point
near where the modern Via Dolorosa crosses it. Some author-
ities have regarded this valley as a branch of the real Tyro-
pean.

The street, now in the bed of the valley, is narrow, tortuous
and generally dirty. The buildings cross it on arches ; shops
and residences, occupied generally by the air-despising classes
of Jews and Mohammedans, line it.

A very large part of the valley included within the walls of
the city is unoccupied by any buildings. Gardens and or-
chards of the prickly pear have taken possession of ground on
which once stood the stately structures of Solomon and Herod.
All along the bed of the valley is raised by the refuse and
ruins thrown into it from city and temple, and the engineers
of the Palestine Exploration Society had to sink their shafts
from thirty to eighty feet through the debris before reaching
the rock.

Passing through the south wall by the little " Dung Gate"

The Valleys 145

the course of the valley can be plainly seen, and, though the
descent is steep, easily followed to the Pools of Siloam. It is
not an attractive walk at any time; the city's sewage finds
egress in this direction and charges the air with noisome
odors. As the Pools of Siloam, lying in the mouth of the
valley are the receptacles of this their usual condition can well
be imagined. Nothing in its present degradation is so destruc-
tive to our ideas of Jerusalem's beauty and grandeur as a visit
to Siloam, particularly in the rainy season when most stran-
gers arrive. All our preconceived opinions of Siloam are of a
pool of pure water surrounded by pleasant scenes ; and that it
was such in the Saviour's day there can be no doubt. Desola-
tion and decay mark this part of the valley now, though the
gardens are much benefited by the waters that gather in the
Lower Pool.

The Upper Pool is now nearly filled with stones and earth,
so that the measurements of Barclay and Robinson will not
apply. The shape of it is oblong, the length being fifty, the
breadth ten and depth about twelve feet. The rock-cut con-
duit from the Virgin's Fountain enters the pool at the north-
west corner, but it brings no water now. The present stone-
work, is the work of the Crusaders, or perhaps of Saladin, who
was very careful of the water supply of the city. Originally
the water from the Virgin's Fountain filled this Upper Pool
and passing out was conducted to the Lower Pool, which is
only a few yards distant. Here it was preserved for use in the
King's Gardens. Then as now the water could be drawn off
when needed and because of its gentle flow may have given
the phrase to Isaiah, " the waters of Shiloah that go softly."

Of the Lower Pool in its present condition but little can be
said. It is formed by a dam thrown across the valley, and
even when full of water, as it often is in winter, is insignificant
in size and most unattractive. When the water gets low in
early summer the place is a perfect fever hole. Of these pools
it can be said that they are not in dispute ; all authorities

146 Jerusalem the Holy-

agree that they are the Siloam of Old and New Testament
history, and when authorities agree, it is well to rest and be
content. Would that the poet's lines were true and that we
could rest

" By cool Siloam's shady rill " and see
" How fair the lily grows." »

» Heber.

THE TEMPLE HILL

Importance of — Genuineness — Theories of Topography —
Temple Sites — Christian Association — Moslem Associations —
Surrounded by Valleys — Ophel — Approach to Temple Hill —
Visitor's Escort — Barclay — "Holy Ground" — Mosque En-
closure — Walls — ' ' Mastaba ' ' — Military Barracks — Acra —
Simon Maccabee — Baris — Traditional Bethesda — Throne of
Solomon — Golden Gate — Shushan Gate — Moslem Tradition —
Flowers — View from East Wall — Bridge of Kedron — South-
east Corner — Immense Masonry — Solomon's Stables — Mosque
el Aksa — Moslem Worship — " Narrow Way " — Knights Temp-
lar's Abode — Subterranean Passage to Double Gate — Well of
the Leaf — Cisterns — The Holy Rock — Mosque of Omar —
Kubbet es Sakrah — Architectural Beauty — Crusader Work —
Sulieman — Interior Arrangement — Windows — Furnishings —
The Dome — The Sacred Rock — Traditions — Size — A Moslem
Legend — Cave beneath the Rock — "Well of Souls" — Judg-
ment Seat of David.

148

THE TEMPLE HILL

IN our accounts of Jerusalem in the time of David and Sol-
omon and in the time of Christ the eastern hill has en-
joyed a large share of attention. And if there be any part of
the Holy City that can justly claim a place in history it is this
— the Religious Mountain — venerated alike by the entire Jew-
ish, Christian and Mohammedan worlds. Besides this, there
is a satisfaction in speaking about it and the events that have
taken place there and the world famous structures that have
graced it, because it is an assured site. Among all the wild
theories that have been advanced I know of none that doubts
the genuineness of Mount Moriah. Accounts differ when it
comes to assigning the locality to the event or to the building,
but not as to the identity of the Mount itself.

One has to linger in the Holy City but a short time before
becoming possessed by the "Devil of Doubt" about many
things he sees and hears. There is just one thing certain
about the many more or less " holy places " and that is their
uncertainty. One authority asserts positively that Zion was
on the southwestern hill, another just as positively informs us
that to locate Zion anywhere but on the southeastern hill is
an evidence of your ignorance. The present Church of the
Holy Sepulchre is proved by one "beyond a doubt " to be on
the place where our Lord was crucified and buried ; by others
it is demonstrated " beyond a doubt " that the crucifixion and
sepulture could by no means have taken place here. Back
numbers of the Report of the Palestine Exploration Fund —
that record of the actual discoveries and fanciful opinions of
many learned men — could not have been made more bewil-
dering if mystification had been the only object of their ed-

149

150 Jerusalem the Holy

itors. Practically every foot of underground and above-
ground Jerusalem has been fought over.

There is no cessation of hostilities. Occasionally a truce is
declared, but it is only for a breathing spell. The combatants
get a little new information, or in their fertile brains imagine
some, and the pens fly again. Some other champion of some
other theory of location reads this real or supposed addition to
our knowledge of Jerusalem and has an immediate call to pro-
tect the world against such vagaries. The results of the pres-
ent exploration south of the city are sure to evoke a horde of
opinions, each one backed by a self-appointed champion. Nor
do we have to wait till results are announced. The gentleman
in charge has but to express an opinion concerning some dis-
covery he has made. Then he and those who are interested
"discover " that he knows nothing about it.

In the midst of these diverse opinions it is refreshing to
climb Mount Moriah and gaze upon the absolutely assured.
Here some things can be seen that are not questioned, and for
a time the Devil of Doubt is cast out. In this enclosure, be-
longing to the Dome of the Rock, stood the small, but ex-
quisitely beautiful, Temple of Solomon ; and later, the larger,
and perhaps more imposing, Temple of Herod. Let us not
ask just where they stood or we shall hear jangling voices.
Enough, here ! This fact concerning this enclosure on the
levelled top of Moriah attaches to it an importance which gives
it an unique position in the religious history of the world.
Add to this that here were witnessed some of the great works,
and were heard some of the great words of the Founder of the
Christian faith ; add to this that in the estimation of the Mos-
lem the Rock is second only to the sacred Kaaba at Mecca
and we have a place that is without a competitor for the favor
and veneration of the religious world. And this apart from
any fables or traditions or fancies, many of which have come
down to our time and are piously believed.

Like its loftier neighbor to the west Mount Moriah is sur-

The Temple Hill 151

rounded on three sides by valleys ; the Tyropean on the west
and the. Kedron on the east join each other on the south about
half a mile from the south wall of the city. The part now
outside of the wall was once a very important section of the
city itself. Here was the original Salem of Melchizedek and
later the lower city of the Jebusite. It seems to be pretty
generally believed, and recent excavations are favoring the
belief, that the walls of the Solomonic city extended clear
down to a point very near the junction of the valley of the
Tyropean with that of the Kedron. The part of the Mount
now on the outside of the south wall was formerly called Ophel
and is often so named now. The word means " a mound " or
"tower." It is first used in connection with the improve-
ments in fortification made in the reign of Jotham1 about 775

B. C.

Ophel may once have been crowned with towers that were
the pride and security of those who dwelt under their pro-
tection, but no sign of them now remains above ground. It is
all given over to the peasant gardener, and the only buildings
or. it are the wretched little stone and mud huts of the Fella-
hin, who must live right in the gardens if they want to benefit
by anything that grows in them. They must keep a strict and
continual watch, or some near, or remote, neighbor will take
ac. /antage of their absence and the darkness, and in one night
appropriate the product of an entire season. Thieving is a
fiie art among the Fellahin of Palestine. They prefer to rob
a Frank, as all foreigners are called, but in the absence of
Funks will not hesitate to prey upon each other.

However interesting the southern slope of Mount Moriah is,
the important part has always been that now included within
tb : Haram Es-3hareef, or temple enclosure ; and to this sec-
tier, our discussion will be confined. Coming from any of the
hotels in the city one passes down the western slope of Zion
by the appropriately named David's street, turns a few steps to
1 2 Chron. xxvii. 3.

152 Jerusalem the Holy

the right when in the heart of the city and in the midst of the
intensely foreign-looking Turkish bazaars, and is on Temple
street, which in my opinion runs along the crest of Millo, one
of David's fortifications. This takes us across the Tyropean
valley, which, however, is here so filled with the debris of
ruined cities as to be almost imperceptible. The visitor may
enter the sacred ground of the noble Sanctuary by any one of
eleven gates. There are eight of these on the west side and
three on the north. The east and south are closed though
there are gates on both sides now filled with masonry which
show that entrance on these sides was once possible.

No Christian or Jew can ever enter unless properly escorted
— and "properly" according to Turkish idea of propriety.
Those visiting the city now may congratulate themselves, how-
ever ludicrous or annoying Turkish restrictions may be, that
they are permitted to see this enclosure and its attractions,
certainly the great sights of Jerusalem to-day, at all. Dr.
Barclay,1 writing in the fifties, speaks of the impossibility
then of securing entrance ; he says : "So great is the fear in-
spired by the clubs and cimeters of the blood-thirsty savages,
the Mauritanian Africans, to whose jealous custody the entire
Haram is committed, that few indeed have been found of suf-
ficient temerity to hazard even the most furtive and cursory
reconnoissance of this tabooed spot." Then the best a Chris-
tian " dog " could do was to get an order to view the grounds
from the top of the Serai ; and as this was troublesome and ex-
pensive and after all very unsatisfactory it was seldom done.
All a party has to do now is to send word to their consul
specifying the time they wish to visit the Haram. The consul
by a letter to the Governor of Jerusalem requests permission,
which is refused only during some of the great Moslem feasts
when ignorant fanaticism runs dangerously high. Then under
the escort of a Consular Cawass, or guard, whose clothes are
brilliant and who carries a wicked-looking cimeter at his side,
1 " City of the Great King," p. 470.

The Temple Hill 153

aided by a Turkish soldier, less gaily caparisoned, but feeling
his importance none the less, the visitor is "properly es-
corted." He is now free from all annoyances, except the
wearisome monotony of that word — omnipresent in the Orient
— "bucksheesh." A smile is not out of place on the face of
an American as he sees his military escort conducting him
through the streets of the Holy City, and imagines what a
sensation he would create were he to pass along any street of
any city in his own land similarly conducted. But he is now
in Turkey, where nothing is done as other people do it.

Once inside you are on " holy ground," if there is any such
thing ; and if there is not you are on what Jew and Moslem
consider "holy ground" — the holiest part of the Holy City.
Jewish, Christian and Moslem tradition clusters about every
spot here, but tradition may be dismissed where there is so
much history. The entire enclosure is thirty-six acres in ex-
tent. There is thus included within the temple walls about
one-sixth of the entire space bounded by the walls of the city.
The walls of the Mosque area are of unequal length and face
the cardinal points. Nor is it to be wondered at, consider-
ing the different masons who at different ages centuries apart
worked on them, that they are not uniform in design or ma-
terial. Beyond a doubt some of the work of the masons of
Solomon can yet be seen ; also that of Herod's artificers. As
the Crusaders, than whom there have been no more industrious
builders in the Christian era, once held this Mount, we can
depend upon it that they laid their hands to this work. Added
to all this is the inferior work of Sulieman I., the second of the
Ottoman sultans who ruled over Jerusalem. The last is in-
ferior to the others in the size of the stones and the manner in
which they are dressed. But, as it has stood the ravages of
time for nearly four and a half centuries, and is yet in a good
state of preservation, it is not unworthy of at least a passing
remark. The stones were not quarried by the Moslem build-
ers, because so much labor was unnecessary as there was

154 Jerusalem the Holy-

abundance of good wall-making material, the remains of
houses and Christian Churches, at hand. For the time they
were constructed they were admirable for defence. To-day
they are toy fortifications : a modern gun would batter them
to powder in a few minutes.

On the west and north side of the Mosque area are Moslem
residences overlooking the enclosure. Most of the people
dwelling here are in some way connected with the care of the
holy place. As a rule they are not a pleasant looking set, and
inspire a Christian ''infidel " with a belief that they would do
him bodily injury if they dared. They certainly consider that
such unbelievers have no right to enter their Noble Sanctuary,
no matter if their own governor did grant the permission.
While the adults never annoy visitors except by sinister looks,
the children sometimes make the intruder uncomfortable by
volleys of dirt and small stones.

Passing in at the Gate of the Cotton merchants, we turn to
the left to make an interior circuit of the walls, thus gradually
approaching the Dome of the Rock — the chief glory of the
place. A number of small raised places will be seen all over
the area. These are called by the Arabs " mastaba" and are
places of prayer. Several fountains are visible whose water is
used for religious ablutions. They are blessings for other oc-
casions than the strictly religious, for Moslems living near are
permitted to take all the water they need for home use.

In the northwest corner it is to be noticed that the level is
higher than at any other part of this particular platform.
This is a very picturesque spot just now with the row of ar-
cades on the west, the high military barracks on the north, and
just in the corner a tall and graceful minaret, from which is
heard at regular intervals the muezzin call to prayer. Besides
its picturesqueness this corner has great historical interest. It
was the site of the ancient Acra which was a fortress and which
gave the name to the hill on which it stood. In the days of
Jewish degeneracy, just before the revolt of the Maccabees

The Temple Hill 155

against the power of Syria, the fort was in the possession of
the enemy. What had doubtless been intended by its original
builders, namely a protection for the temple, was instead a
protection to the enemy who from its walls could see all that
went on in the sacred area. Simon, the Maccabee, having
aroused the patriotism of his fellow Jews, drove out the hated
foreign power and entered the citadel in triumph. The opin-
ion is held generally that under the Maccabees the rock on
which Acra stood was cut away, and that particular fort de-
stroyed. The evidence on the scarped rock is conclusive that
at some time it was so dealt with. But the Asmonean princes
erected another fortress-palace a little to the north of Acra and
gave it the name Baris ; this was increased in size and strength
by Herod, who, in honor of his great Roman patron, named
it Antonia. The severest contests in Jewish history were
fought around this northwest corner. The Apostle Paul was
rescued from the infuriated Jews in the temple by soldiers from
this citadel.1

It is still a military barracks and the soldiers of the Sultan
look out over the same enclosure where formerly the Syrians,
the Jews and the Romans watched the worshippers in the
temple of their time. Here, as everywhere throughout the
city where it was possible, the later builders have used the
foundations laid by their predecessors. Above the rock scarp
made by the Maccabees are some of the huge stones dating
from Roman times. The smaller Saracenic masonry rests
upon these. It is altogether probable that, in the days of
Jerusalem's glory as a city, this stronghold was much larger,
extending further toward the east, perhaps as far as the western
end of the Pool of Bethesda. If so it has been destroyed and
never rebuilt, for now from the barracks to this point there is
nothing but some Moslem residences. Going under the arcade
on this northern side one can look down into the immense
hollow wherein the time of our Lord was one of the great
1 Acts xxi. 27.

1 56 Jerusalem the Holy-

reservoirs of the city. It is now dry and is gradually being
filled with debris. At present the bottom of the pool is about
sixty-five feet below the level of the arcade. Formerly a valley
ran from northwest to southeast, and its depression was utilized
to make Antonia more difficult of attack and to afford room
for the pool. Captain Warren was permitted to excavate in
this vicinity, and among other interesting discoveries unearthed
an opening in the north wall of the Haram through which he
supposes the superfluous water of the pool found an exit. The
natives now call this the " Pool of Israel."

Omitting the northeast corner, where is nothing of particu-
lar interest, we walk across to the east wall, meeting it at a
small mosque called the "Throne of Solomon." This is the
product of Moslem fables about the Wise King ; their cre-
dulity enables them to believe that here Solomon was found
dead upon his seat of judgment. There is one thing repeated
here a thousand times, that is convincing as to the sacredness
of the site. The place where a saint has been in life or where
his body rests in death is regarded by the faithful as specially
suitable for prayer. At such a spot a continual prayer can be
offered without the presence of the suppliant. A piece of
cloth from his garment will be a perpetual reminder to the
saint, so he takes it and ties it on the tomb or house that has
been erected in memory of the revered one. So all over the
screened windows of this modern Mosque that commemorates
the death of Solomon, are the many colored rags which have
been torn from the garments of the devout, hardly an addition
to the beauty of the Mosque.

A few steps further to the south and still along the east wall,
bring one to the Bab el-Daheriyeh, or Golden Gate. This
considerable structure can only be entered from the west. The
custodians of the Mosque usually object to exhibiting it ; but
a little extra persuasion of the financial kind, in this, as in
most other particulars, succeeds in smoothing the way. The
"holy men" of this holy place are weak in the presence of

The Temple Hill 157

this kind of temptation, and after an intimate acquaintance
with them, I am convinced that they never grieve over their
frequent falls and never pray to be delivered from the tempta-
tion.

The Golden Gate bears evidence of antiquity, though in its
present form it dates from about the fifth century of our era.
It was near here, perhaps on the very same site, that the an-
cient Shushan gate stood. A mistake is often made by con-
founding the Golden Gate with the Beautiful Gate of the tem-
ple.1 The latter, which was in the inner court, was entirely
destroyed when the Romans under Titus entered the city, and
was never rebuilt. The date of this Golden Gate has been a
fruitful source of discussion ; the opinion advanced above is
that generally accepted. The gate on the interior presents a
double arch resting on large monolithic posts. The arches are
ornately carved, and before they were defaced by time and
neglect, must have been very beautiful. It is certainly one of
the mural attractions of the interior of the Haram. Being
now properly cleared out and cared for, it is worth visiting
and going to the little necessary annoyance and expense of se-
curing entrance. A flight of stone stairs leads down to the
gate proper, which is fully twenty-five feet below the surface
of the surrounding ground. It is, however, much more of a
gate than were the other gates of the city. The one who en-
ters sees a large room, in the middle of which stand two large
pillars supporting the domes of the roof. There are several
features about the interior decoration which authorities on ar-
chitecture regard as proof of the Byzantine origin of this part
of the structure.

The Golden Gate has been closed for many years. Soon
after the conquering of the Christian forces by Saladin, this
double entrance at the east was walled up. In Crusading
times on the anniversary of Christ's triumphal entry into the
city, the Latins made a great procession and came down from
1 Acts iii. 2.

158 Jerusalem the Holy

the Mount of Olives carrying palm branches and shouting
" Hosanna," and entered by this gate. The Moslem custodian
and others of the Faithful, have informed me that they walled
up the entrance so as to keep the Christians out. There is a
tradition among the present proprietors that on some Friday
Jerusalem will fall into the possession of the Christians and
that the conqueror will enter by this gate. This most reason-
able of their local traditions is also sure of verification in the
near future, except as to the use of this gate for entrance.

Keeping the course southward along the wall or on the
grassy space near it, the visitor in February or March is struck
by the profusion of wild flowers which display the most bril-
liant and most delicate hues. Conspicuous among them for
abundance and rare coloring is the "lily of the field," which
one has but to see to understand the force of the Master's as-
sertion that " Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these." All along here for perhaps eight hundred feet the
wall above the surface is modern, but is built upon very ancient
foundations. On the battlement of the wall, as one approaches
the southeast corner, is one of the best view-points in Jerusa-
lem. Elevated high above the Kedron it looks but a short
distance across the valley to the slopes of Olivet, where rest the
remains of tens of thousands of the children of Abraham.
This cleft was once spanned by a bridge — and according to Mos-
lem belief will be so again on the final day of judgment. Instead
of a foot-bridge, however, like the first structure, this last one
will be a fine wire. Every soul will have to pass over this
from the Mount to the temple wall. The faithful will accom-
plish the crossing in safety ; all others will fall into the deep
Kedron valley which will open into hell. A horizontal col-
umn sticking out of the wall marks the place where the west-
ern end of this bridge for spirits will end. The strange part
of the story is that Christ will be on Mount Olivet to welcome
the successful ; Mohammed's position will be where the bridge
starts on the Temple wall.

The Temple Hill 1 59

From this southeast corner the whole course of the Kedron
valley, from the Tomb of the Virgin to the junction with the
valley of Hinnom, can be traced. It is a giddy height now
to look down from and must have been much more so before
the immense accumulations of debris had gathered outside the
wall. This corner is a famous one from an archaeological point
of view, and is subject of much difference of opinion. I see
no reason for doubting its antiquity ; I would even refer the
immense stones here to the time of Solomon. The marvel is
how any builders at any time were able to put these stones in
position. On this corner was one of the strong towers, which
the Jews always took special pains to erect of the largest and
best material. The " chief corner stone " must have been an
object of great care.

From this corner there is an entrance down some rude stairs
to the substructures where we gain a good idea of the immense
amount of labor necessary to bring this part of the temple area
up to the required level. Could this southeastern slope of
Moriah be cleared of all the works of human hands we should
probably find that there was a rapid descent from the "holy
rock " to the bed of the Kedron. The ancient levellers were
good engineers as well as laborers, and in preparing the sacred
enclosure, they rightly spared neither money nor labor to
make it worthy to be dedicated to the worship of their God.

The corner stairs bring us first to a small praying place in
which is shown the alleged "cradle of Jesus," which has on
it the very marks that disprove the claim. It is a small prayer
niche that has had its position changed. The Mohammedans
treat it with great veneration. Our Moslem soldier kneels
down beside it, lays his two hands upon it and rubs them over
his face. Passing through a door to the west one gets his first
view of the "Stables of Solomon," wonderful relics of an un-
certain age, but certainly attesting the skill of those who laid
their foundations. They are not stables and were never in-
tended to be so used. However, the Crusaders did so use them

160 Jerusalem the Holy

and the holes pierced through the square corners of the col-
umns show where their horses were tied. These columns be-
long to the time of either Herod or Solomon, and do credit to
whoever built them ; they are about a hundred in number and
are the support of more modern arches upon which rest the
large flag-stones on the surface above. One can wander around
in these vaults and among this forest of imposing columns
for some time and not grow weary unless, unfortunately for
himself and his companions, he belongs to that lackadaisical
class of people — too many of whom waste their "substance "
in coming to Jerusalem — who can find no interest in anything.
There are fragments of ancient columns and arches built in the
walls. The place where the " single gate " and " triple gate "
were, ancient entrances to the temple from the south, still have
their foundations preserved. These large square columns may
extend for some distance down into the ground. Many of
them are exposed for twenty-five feet of their length. They
are composed of large, square, smooth-faced stones with edges
slightly bevelled. Interesting finds would undoubtedly result
could permission be had to excavate here. But so long as the
Turk has possession the world will be none the wiser and those
who should like to know will continue to speculate.

We must return to the surface by the same way entrance
was had, turn to the west, cross a large paved court and enter
a side door of the Mosque el Aksa, now a holy structure of
the Moslems where all their public services are held, but orig-
inally a Christian Church, or basilica, built by the Emperor
Justinian in honor of the Virgin. In the conquest by Omar
this was one of the buildings he considered would be useful to
his co-religionists. Taking it he rededicated it and called it
Jam 'i el Aksa. It is a mistake to call it the Masjid el Aksa
for it is now nothing more than a mosque. Masjid is the
term correctly applied to the entire temple area. This name,
Masjid el Aksa, is taken from the Koran 1 which refers to the

i xvii. i.

The Temple Hill 161

ascent to heaven of Mohammed from the temple of Jerusalem.
The passage reads: "Praise be unto Him who transported
his servant by night from El Masjid el Haram (/. e. the ' Sa-
cred Place of Adoration ' at Mecca) to El Masjid el Aksa (i. e.
the Remote Place of Adoration at Jerusalem)." l Masjid is
from the word "sejada," meaning "to adore." "El Aksa"
means "the Remote" and is applied to Jerusalem because of
its great distance from Mecca.

The Mosque el Aksa is notable for its size rather than any
attractiveness of architecture or ornamentation. It is by far
the largest single room in the city. To it every Friday comes
the Turkish Governor of Palestine. At the same hour when
His Serene Highness, the Sultan, is attentive to the services in
The Palace Mosque, at Constantinople, his representative is en-
joying the privilege of worship in a much more holy place. To
one who knows nothing of the Moslem form of worship the
genuflexions and prostrations of a company of the faithful are
peculiar sights. There is a devoutness about it all that is to
be commended. The immense oratory of the Mosque el Aksa
is a splendid place in which to witness it, though on Friday,
the day when most is to be seen, the visitor to the city is not
admitted.

The Mosque was formerly cruciform. This form did not
please the conquerors and in the restoration at the time of El
Mahdi two aisles were added, one on each side, and thus the
objectionable feature was altered to suit the taste of the advo-
cates of "the Star and Crescent." Much old material has
been worked into this edifice, and it would be hard to disprove
the assertion — just as hard as it would be to prove it — that the
pillars in nave and transept are relics of the Herodian temple.
That they were not originally designed for this is evident,
particularly in the transept where the lack of uniformity is
very noticeable. To stop and inspect all the details of this
Mosque would be more than any traveller does and much
xBesant & Palmer, " History of Jerusalem," p. 93.

162 Jerusalem the Holy

more than any reader would wish to do. However, there are
two features worthy of mention. There are several pieces of
ancient marble worked into curious shapes which undoubtedly
date from the long ago and may have been part of the wealth
of marble with which the temple of Herod was adorned. The
antiquary or admirer of the curious will not pass these by.
The second feature is the pulpit. This stands at the eastern
end of the Mosque and is composed of intricately and beauti-
fully carved wood, the details of which are perfect. It is the
work of an artist in wood, who lived in Aleppo several cen-
turies ago, and gives an admirable illustration of the patience
characteristic of the artist who is entirely faithful to his art.

Those who are interested in superstitious beliefs and practices
will view with wonder the narrow space between two dark
granite pillars just west of the pulpit. It was believed, and is
yet by many of the " faithful," that any one who could not
pass between these pillars could never enter Paradise. It was
a matter on which there was no wish to be in doubt, and for
centuries the effort must have been made, for the eastern col-
umn is considerably worn away with the attrition of human
beings who have successfully passed through the " narrow
way." Modern visitors or worshippers must remain in doubt,
for an iron frame has been securely fixed between the columns.

Looking to the west from this point a long double colonnade
may be seen, the vaulting of which is pointed. It is of little
interest now and seldom visited. But here in the days of the
Christian domination the Knights Templar lived. They felt
that their location was an important one and called it Palatium
Solomon is — the Palace of Solomon. They were the most
aristocratic of all the orders of that time, and this may have
been the secret of that success which resulted in their fall.
Wealth poured in upon them and with its increase departed
humility and consecration to the cause they had sworn to sup-
port. They were soon in open hostility to the Church and
professed to have had a religious experience beyond that ac-

The Temple Hill 163

corded to the vulgar Christian. A little more than a century
after the institution of this order by Hugh de Payens and
Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, in company with seven other
Knights, it had grown until it numbered nineteen thousand.
Each of these members was wealthy enough to support a
knight in the Holy Land. And yet they did but little at any
time to redeem the country from its Moslem possessors. They
had a secret creed which confessed that there was no higher
ecclesiastical power than the order itself. "It owned no
bishop and would obey no pope." * This was a novel position
for those days.

As we come out of the Mosque el Aksa by the main door at
the western porch, a few steps to the right reveal a dark un-
derground passage running south under the east side of the
mosque ; it is composed of heavy masonry on the sides and
vaulted with smaller stones. An inclined plane leads down to
another level where we perceive that we are in a double pas-
sage. Light from a small window in the southern wall shows
us eight high steps which bring us down to another level and
enable us to get a good idea of the substructions of El Aksa.
The temple does not lack for solidity : two short, but very
thick monolith columns support the arches, and appear able to
carry the burden for many centuries yet. With an eye to
preserving these great stones or perhaps adding to their
rugged grandeur, the custodian has given them a coat of white-
wash. The result awakens a desire in the bosom of the be-
holder to choke the unpoetic rascal who did it. There is no
doubt about his rascality.

But the main points of interest here are the unquestioned
and well-preserved remains of the old Double Gate, called in
the Talmud the Huldah Portal. Three columns are visible
and are of the size and workmanship that causes them to be
assigned to the Jewish period. The lintels of the gates are
still here and the sculptured capitals of the pillars. Time has
1 Besant & Palmer, p. 279.

164 Jerusalem the Holy

laid his hand upon them and the Moslem has done his worst
with whitewash. These detract a little from present appear-
ances, but not from their record as memorials of a more glori-
ous past. Being the main entrance to the temple enclosure
from the south we may be certain that more than once the
Teacher out of Galilee with his unpretending pupils went by
this way into " His Father's House."

Following the direction the Divine One would thus take, the
cistern called the Well of the Leaf is passed. Moslem tradi-
tion holds that a gate to Paradise leads from this and that one
of Omar's companions passed through it, and as proof showed
a leaf from one of the unfading trees ; nobody else has ever
succeeded in finding the Paradise door. Here are also im-
mense cisterns, the ones we read about in accounts of the
ancient city, whose waters supplied the great demands of the
temple service. Solomon was their builder, and into them
through the tortuous aqueduct poured the stream from the
" Sealed Fountain." Was this the " river, the streams whereof
make glad the city of our God " ? One of these hewn cisterns
was called the " Sea," and, when its dimensions are known, the
name does not seem inappropriate ; it is forty feet deep and
seven hundred and thirty-eight feet in circumference.

But the Holy Rock and the Dome that covers it must now
attract us. By a flight of twenty-one steps we reach a broad
platform whose sides face the cardinal points. A number of
places of minor importance are here, connected with Jewish,
Christian and Mohammedan traditions. To mention them all
by name would be neither interesting nor instructive and to
recount their improbable fables and fancies would be unprofit-
able.

Standing upon the summit of Moriah, a place made sacred
by Divine appointment and by the prayerful veneration of the
millions who believe in one only God, a height whence rose
those temples — visions of snow and gold-emblematic of purity
and consecration, a place from which ascended to heaven the

The Temple Hill 165

smoke from the altar of offering illustrating the human con-
sciousness that "without the shedding of blood is no remission,"
a place which has successively during three thousand years
been in the possession of Jew and Christian and Mohammedan,
a place now graced with one of the most exquisite structures
on earth, — how little do the things of man seem here, how lit-
tle man himself! It is a place for thought.

The present building is popularly called the Mosque of
Omar, but it is not a mosque nor had Omar anything to do
with it. This caliph does deserve credit for his reverence for
the place and that he did erect a mosque near here is a
matter of history. The account of his locating his building
informs us that he asked a Jew where would be the best site
and received the reply, "Place it behind the Holy Rock so
that the two places of adoration, that of Moses and of Mo-
hammed, may be identical." "Ah," said Omar, " thou art
still a Jew and leanest to Jewish notions. The best place for
the mosque is in front of the rock." So there it was built —
a large, square, wooden structure capable of holding three
thousand people. The present building called by the Moslems
Kubbet es-Sakhrah, or "Dome of the Rock," is the most
beautiful bit of architecture in Jerusalem. This is no great
praise. Much more might be said in its favor, and as Pro-
fessor Lewis in "The Holy Places of Jerusalem," says, "It is
undoubtedly one of the most beautiful buildings existing."
Mr. Fergusson, speaking as an architect, affirms that it is
" unrivalled in the world." The latter opinion is at least ex-
travagant.

The building is octagonal, each side being sixty-six and a
half feet in length. It is faced from the ground to the win-
dow sills with slabs of marble peculiarly grained and placed
so as to produce a very pleasing effect. That some of this
work is from the days of the Crusaders, is more than probable.
These Christian warriors took the city in 1099 a. d., and were
wise enough not to destroy the work of the Moslems around

166 Jerusalem the Holy

the Holy Rock. They appropriated and added to it. Above
the marble facing on the exterior walls are very fine tiles which
took the place of marble and were placed by Sulieman the
Magnificent in 1561. In fact a complete restoration was
effected by this monarch and the Dome is to-day much as he
left it. Visitors cannot but admire the marvellously executed
inscriptions in tile work which run entirely around the build-
ing. Each tile had to be written and burned separately, but
the result is certainty all the designer could wish. One can-
not help noticing also that this gem of architecture — for such
the Kubbet es-Sakhrah is — is being neglected by its owners.
There are many signs of decay. Some of the marble slabs
and tiles have fallen off and no effort is being made to replace
them. There is even a suspicion that the religious heads of
the institution will, for a sufficient consideration, cause them
to be removed and find their way into the hands of " infidel "
strangers. With all this neglect and vandalism it is one of
the best preserved of religious buildings now in the possession
of the followers of the Arab prophet. I have yet to see one
that is not in decay.

There is beauty still here and grandeur, and one can
come often without weariness. Within all is in good condi-
tion. Immense elegant rugs of Turkish design and manu-
facture, the gift of the present Sultan — hide the floor ; their
colors combining well with the other furnishings of the place.
Two circles of variously colored concentric marble pillars
divide the interior into three apartments. The shafts of the
pillars are of different kinds of marble. That they were not
especially constructed for their present positions is readily con-
cluded from the fact that they differ in form, height and in
some cases in design. The capitals of the columns are all
gilded, but differ in size and design. On some of the capitals
blocks of stone had to be placed in order to bring the entire
height of the column to twenty feet. On these the arches are
supported. The larger circle consists of eight six-sided piers

The Temple Hill 167

and two columns placed between each two piers, to assist in
the support of the roof proper. The smaller circle of pillars,
which supports the dome, consists of four piers, each with
three columns on each side of it. The ironwork between the
pillars is the work of the Crusaders and very artistic. The
dome itself is of wood, covered with lead, and as black as
paint can make it. From the ground to the crescent that sur-
mounts the dome the distance is 1153^2 feet; the diameter of
the dome is sixty-six feet and the vault thirty-nine feet.
Within the dome is colored a beautiful blue and ornamented
with gilded stucco in the Arabesque style. The whole design
is pleasing and the execution faithfully carried out. Finally
the magnificent colored windows were the gift of Sulieman and
bear the date 935, which is 1528 of our era. Such a descrip-
tion as is here given leaves much to be told, but the interested
reader can find it all in special works on the subject. The
Dome of the Rock has never been lacking in enthusiastic ad-
mirers and no detail of its beauty has been omitted.

Just beneath the dome lies the rock, massive and rugged and
silent. Would that it had a speaking tongue and could tell what
scenes have been enacted upon it and about it ! Tradition
says that here Abraham offered Isaac. It is the general belief
that on it stood the altar David built after the angel of destruc-
tion, that had been slaying thousands of Israel, had put up his
sword. Later the great altar of burnt-offering occupied the
site and there are markings upon the rock which bear out this
statement. Traces of a channel that might have been used for
carrying off the blood of the sacrifice, and a large opening
leading down through the rock to a natural cave from which
there is a subterranean passage, can be seen. The Holy Rock
rises six-and-a-half feet higher than the floor of the Mosque
and is fifty-seven feet long by forty-three wide. Marks of
tools are plain on the western side and traces of steps are visi-
ble. These marks may be the work of the Crusaders who are
known to have had an altar on the rock.

l68 Jerusalem the Holy

Besides the many Jewish legends that cluster about the
Sakhrah, there are some Christian and a multitude of Moslem
ones. No account of these will here be given, as the majority
of them are wholly improbable and the rest silly. All those
of the Moslems, except Mohammed's midnight visit and as-
cent, are fabrications of the prophet's successors who have
sought in this way to give to this sacred place of the Jews a
strictly Moslem setting. Because of its peculiarity mention
must be made of their strange belief that on the day of judg-
ment the sacred Kaaba will come from Mecca to the Sakhrah.
This is explained by saying that the trumpet of the judgment
will be here sounded and on the Holy Rock God will establish
His throne. It is the desire of the faithful to pray once from
this venerated spot, for did not "the prophet" himself say
that one prayer offered here is better than a thousand from any
other place ?

On the south side of the Rock are eleven steps leading down
into the cavern, concerning which there is a great deal of con-
jecture. There are four ancient altars in it named after Abra-
ham, David, Solomon and St. George ; how ancient they are
will never be known. From this cave there is a rock-cutting,
which is thought to be a passage leading down to the Kedron.
The entrance is now closed by a tight-fitting marble slab and
guarded so carefully that there is no chance of seeing into it.
The Moslem guardians have no curiosity and a great deal of
superstition, hence they either do not wish or are afraid to
take off the marble covering. A thousand tourists every year
enter this cave, every one of whom has curiosity enough and a
sufficient lack of superstition to do the lifting and make the
inspection ; all they want is the permission. As the hole from
the ancient altar led down into this cave and from hence the
sacrificial blood was carried off into the Kedron, it is not at
all unlikely that the temple service was in some way connected
with it. But the cave itself is as much of a mystery as the

The Temple Hill 169

rock-cut passage leading from it and which the Moslems, for
lack of a better name, call "the well of souls."

Coming out of the Dome by the east door we see immedi-
ately in front of us a miniature copy of the Kubbet es-Sakhrah.
It is known as Mehkemeh Daud, the Judgment seat of David,
and is a graceful little affair ; there is in it great variety yet
pleasing unity. The bases and shafts and capitals of its col-
umns are not at all alike and clearly prove that they were not
originally intended for their present positions. It is held by
the Moslems, and it may be true, that the architect of this and
the larger structure was the same person and that the smaller
was erected first and was the model for the more famous build-
ing. Turning to the west, crossing the limestone flagged
court and passing under the graceful arcades which stand at
the head of each of the main stairs leading to the lower level,
we leave this, the cleanest and most attractive and most sacred
part and are in the narrow dirty streets of the Old City —
streets that once were paved with marble and on which the
wealth and beauty of Judea could be seen ; where later, the
courtier of Rome and the austere priests passed and repassed,
and where now is so much poverty and distress.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

The Holiness of the Site — Location — Roman Conquest —
Pella — Jews — Trajan — Hadrian's Reconstruction — Temple of
Venus — Constantine — Eusebius — Macarius — Helena — The
Basilica — Other Buildings — Bordeaux Pilgrim — Calvary —
Chosroes II. — Destruction and Rebuilding — Omar — Hakem —
Rebuilding by Nicephorous Crusaders — Saewulf — Saladin —
Fire of 1808 — Rebuilding — The Modern Church — Description
Moslem Guard — Stone of Unction — Chapel of Adam — Calvary
— Chapel of the Nailing — Rotunda — Holy Sepulchre — Chapel
of the Angels — Chapel of the Sepulchre — Jewish Tombs —
Chapel of the Apparition — Column of the Flagellation — Sword
of Godfrey — Chapel of the Greeks — Small Chapels — Chapel
of St. Helena — Finding of the Cross — Other Holy Places —
Effect of it All— The One Sublime Fact.

172

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

NO place in the Christian world has been regarded with
so much veneration as that occupied by the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre. For more than fourteen centuries the
taces of European and oriental Christians have been turned
devoutly toward it, and their eyes have longed to behold its
sacred relics. Whatever opinion we may hold as to the cor-
rectness of its location there can be no question that to the
majority of those who profess the Christian faith this building
covers the holiest ground of earth. Two-thirds of all Chris-
tendom love this spot above all others, because they believe it
to be the sepulchre of their crucified Lord. They are not
troubled by any questions as to location. Tradition and the
Church say that here Christ was crucified and buried, and they
ask no better reason for their belief.

The possibility — to me the strong probability — that the
present building does not contain either the place of death or
of sepulture of our Lord, cannot destroy interest in this his-
toric monument. For it is historic, apart from the momentous
fact from which its name is derived. It has been the scene of
many battles for the faith, battles in which heroes fought, not
for their own glory but for what they deemed honor to their
Lord. Cold criticism of to-day may affirm that these warriors
were a set of mistaken men whose abilities and time had been
better employed at home in the pursuits of peace. No doubt
the affirmation is true, but its truth does not tarnish the fame
of those who considered that a Christian's first duty was to as-
sist in rescuing his Lord's tomb from the possession of the

i73

174 Jerusalem the Holy

" infidel," and who made this, the reputed place of that tomb
the object of their tremendous efforts. But apart from these
incidents of conflict and carnage, there are other reasons for
interest in the place. To it have come, since the fourth cen-
tury, pilgrims from all Christian lands to kneel in heartfelt
prayer and weep at thought of the price paid for their redemp-
tion. These prayers and tears of the sincere in heart make
this "holy ground" which all the deception and corruption
of designing priests cannot entirely desecrate.

In treating of the subject of the Holy Sepulchre the question
of location must necessarily arise. In this discussion personal
feelings should have no part, facts and inferences from them
should be our only arguments.

From the crucifixion of Christ until the destruction of the
city by Titus the places of the cross and the tomb were well
known, at least to those who had accepted Jesus as the Mes-
siah. When the city fell into the hands of the Romans every
building of importance was destroyed and every revered place
altered. During the siege that preceded the overthrow the
Christians escaped to Pella across the Jordan. The Jews who
continued in the city, while they knew the site of Calvary as
well as the Christians who had departed, had no regard for it.
The Christians who returned would hardly recognize the fallen
city as the one they had left ; the heel of the destroyer had
stamped out of it all semblance of its former glory. For sixty
years it lay in ruins so complete that it is doubtful if there was
a single house that could be used as a residence ; during these
years its history is a blank. When the Christians returned
there is no record of their having sought out Calvary, or the
tomb, or that they considered these sites as in any way to be
preferred ; there is nothing in the writings of the New Testa-
ment enjoining Christians to visit or to especially esteem these
as holy places. In the absence of any record, and in the
presence of the miraculous account of the recovery of the
tomb and the " invention of the cross," the only reasonable

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 175

belief is that these sites, now so reverenced, were absolutely
forgotten.

Though their city was in heaps of ruins the Jews were not
yet completely subdued. The national spirit would flame out
on occasions and the reign of the Emperor Trajan was marked
by several serious insurrections on the part of his Hebrew sub-
jects. Trajan's successor, Hadrian, determined to have a
more peaceful reign and immediately set about devising means
to render the Jews incapable of revolt. One of his plans, and
one which he carried out, was to rebuild Jerusalem and by
making it a thoroughly pagan city destroy every vestige of its
former religious preeminence. It would likewise form a superior
military centre, which, garrisoned by Roman troops, would
keep this whole country in subjection and quell an insurrec-
tion on the first evidence of its outbreak. This reconstruction
took place between 120 and 136 a. d., and when completed
bore no resemblance to the former city. Out of the ruins of
the Hebrew city Jerusalem rose the Roman city ^Elia Capito-
lina. Where the magnificent temple of the living God had
stood, rose another dedicated to the Roman Jupiter; and
many other buildings in honor of various gods and goddesses
of the Roman pantheon were erected. There seems to be no
reason to doubt that on the site now occupied by the Church
of the Sepulchre a temple to Venus was built. Those who
seek to prove that the present church is correctly located as-
sert that Hadrian chose this as a site for the Venus temple be-
cause it was the most sacred spot to the Christians, and he
thought thus to dishonor it and them. Hadrian is said to
have covered the rock containing the tomb with earth ; this
made surface was then paved and the temple erected.

The objection to such an assertion is that there is no record
that the Christians at that time had any special regard for this
place or that they considered it as the tomb of their Lord.
The first writer mentioning this is Eusebius, who in an account
written not earlier than 325 a. d., narrates the building of

176 Jerusalem the Holy

Constantine's Church. This Church was located on the site
of Hadrian's temple in the belief that that temple covered the
place of Christ's entombment, — a belief for which there was
neither history nor tradition. The whole story of Hadrian's
attempted desecration of this place is at least questionable.
Such a temple as a Roman Emperor would erect in honor of
Venus would hardly be located on a mound of made earth.
If Hadrian really had in mind to deprive the Christians of
this, their sacred place, assuming that they so regarded it, it
would have been easier and far more effective to destroy utterly
the tumulus and its rock tomb. Labor in those days was too
cheap to make such a piece of work serious. In a short time
every vestige of the sacred rock would have been forever de-
stroyed. This would have been equally effective in illustrating
his contempt and would have afforded a much better founda-
tion for his new structure.

When the Emperor Constantine succeeded in making him-
self master of the eastern world he began very materially to
favor the Christians. After his vision of the Cross and his de-
feat of Maxentius, in 312, the Cross was made the standard of
his army. In thankfulness for his continued victories, edicts
compensating the Christians for their losses were issued.
Among other deeds manifesting his appreciation of the divine
favor was his effort to recover the Holy Sepulchre. Eusebius
wishes to convey the impression that in this the Emperor was
led by divine direction given long before he was able to follow
it. It may seem a trifle presumptuous to question the asser-
tions of one who wrote of the age in which he lived ; but Eu-
sebius did allow his personal prejudices to affect his pen, and
what we know of the life of this royal patron of Christianity
gives good reason for doubting that he followed divine im-
pulses even if he ever had any. Biographers of royal person-
ages are in the habit of ascribing to their subjects virtues
which were never illustrated in their lives. But granting that
Eusebius was not too eager to laud his subject it is not unlikely

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 177

that Macarius, then bishop of Jerusalem, used his position as
bishop to increase the importance of his see. His great op-
portunity arose when the Emperor became interested in Chris-
tianity and favorable to it. The plan to recover the sepulchre
and erect a Church over it could easily be carried out if once
the sympathies and power of Constantine could be enlisted ;
this was done, the result hoped for followed, and in 336 the
Church was dedicated.

Succeeding writers are not so loud as Eusebius in their
praises of the part played by Constantine in this recovery. In
fact they rather give him a secondary part in the affair and as-
sign the first place to the royal mother, Helena. They were
not so closely associated with the life and times of the
Emperor as was Eusebius and their testimony may, for this very
reason, be less open to suspicion. Nevertheless, we may accept
as absolutely correct all that Eusebius says about this recovery
and we are still a long way from satisfactory proof that
Hadrian's temple to Venus was on the site of the sepulchre of
our Lord.

Whether the localities were identical or not here Constan-
tine's Church was built. In letters which he caused to be
written to the governors of Eastern provinces, these governors
were ordered to assist in the work of recovery and reconstruc-
tion. In his letter to Bishop Macarius, written in 326, and
given at length by Eusebius, the Emperor expresses " his joy
and gratitude and admiration," at the miraculous recovery and
asserts his determination to ornament "the token of our
Saviour's most holy passion" with magnificent buildings.
The Bishop is enjoined to provide the necessary materials and
workmen, and to inform him what may be necessary in the
way of columns and marbles. The sacred cave was first cared
for and was ornamented with marble slabs and finely wrought
columns. Around it was a large free space, paved with
polished stones and open to the sky. Cloisters, or porticos,
surrounded this space on three sides, and on the fourth side,

178 Jerusalem the Holy

opposite to the cave, Was the basilica which Eusebius thus de-
scribes : It was " an admirable work, raised to a mighty ele-
vation and extensive in length and breadth. Its interior was
lined with many colored marbles, and the outer surface of its
walls decorated with polished and closely-jointed masonry, as
handsome as marble itself. The roof with its chambers was
covered with lead to protect it from the winter rains. The
inner roof was decorated with sculptured panels and extended
like a vast sea over the whole basilica ; and being gilt with
the purest gold caused the entire building to shine as if with
rays of light " (Professor Willis' translation).

Other buildings grew up around this main one, just how
many or how extensive cannot be told. Eusebius speaks of the
entire group as the " Martyrium of the Resurrection," but his
detailed description of them cannot be followed. There being
no mention of Calvary made by this early writer it is altogether
probable that the tumulus now so-called was not so considered
by him. To argue that the very silence of Eusebius is express-
ive of the general belief, and that as nobody doubted it, there
was no reason for his mentioning it, is rather a begging of the
question. The Bordeaux Pilgrim who visited Jerusalem in
333 a. D. is the first one to mention this Golgotha. It was
regarded by him as the real Calvary. His mention of the
place makes the silence of Eusebius hard to understand, unless
indeed, he expressed but his own opinion. A few years after
this, or about the year 350, St. Cyril, who was ordained
Bishop of Jerusalem in 335, makes frequent mention of this as
Calvary. From this time on the acceptance is universal and
simply shows how quickly the " invention " grew in favor and
how subject the common people were to ecclesiastical power.

For two hundred and eighty years the Church of Constan-
tine stood and was the pious resort of as many pilgrims as
could reach it, while kings and prelates added to its possessions
as they were able and inclined. Then it fell before the devas-
tating Persian, Chosroes II., in 614, and was consumed by

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 179

fire. In this sorry condition it was not allowed long to remain.
Collections made in all parts of the Christian world poured
in, and another structure rose on the ashes of the former. The
new building was not equal in grandeur to its predecessor,
owing to the fact that no royal treasuries were at the disposals
of the builders. The plan of structure was altered in order to
permit the embracing of the additional holy places that had
been "invented." The honor of being the promoter of this
second edifice is due to Modestus, the superior of the monastery
of Theodosius. It lacked the symmetry of the one complete
Church of Constantine and appears, judging from the account
of Eutychius written in the tenth century, to have been three
Churches not architecturally connected. This writer says that
Theodosius " constructed the Churches of the Resurrection, of
the Sepulchre, of the Calvary and of St. Constantine." The
Sepulchre Church was included within that of the Resurrec-
tion.

This group of Churches remained uninjured for three hun-
dred and fifty-five years. Jerusalem succumbed in 637 to the
armies of Omar and remained for a time in Moslem hands.
Omar and his immediate successors were not iconoclasts, and
did little or no injury to any Christian buildings. It was not
until the caliphate of Maez, about 969, that the order was
given to destroy the Holy Sepulchre structure. The order was
at least partially carried out, though it was not until the reign
of the mad caliph Hakem, in 1010, that the work of destruc-
tion was completed. Then the Church was utterly destroyed.
But the age of miracles had not passed ; or perhaps we should
say the age when it was thought necessary to strengthen or in-
spire faith by miracles, had not passed ; contemporary chron-
iclers inform us that all the mad caliph's attempts to destroy
the sepulchre itself were unavailing. Iron and fire were tried
against the holy walls, but with no visible effect.

For thirty years the place was a scene of desolation — an evi-
dence of the triumph of the Moslem and the humiliation of

180 Jerusalem the Holy

the Christian. In 1040 Monomachus, then emperor, gave per-
mission, or rather concluded the negotiations which resulted
in permission being granted to the Patriarch Nicephorus to re-
build the Church. Acting on this permission, the patriarch
completed within eight years a structure not so grand as that
of the first Constantine, though Monomachus, whose prenomen
was also Constantine, assisted with artificers and funds. This
was the Church of the Sepulchre which was standing when the
Crusaders entered and took possession of Jerusalem in 1099.
Using the work of Nicephorus as a nucleus these Crusaders, who
were really wonderful builders, enlarged and beautified it.
Ssewolf, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1102, is
the best authority for the condition of the Church before the
additions and improvements of the Crusaders.

When the Christian occupation ceased after the conquest of
the land and city by Saladin, the Church as left by the Cru-
saders, was allowed to remain unharmed, and it was that
structure which fell in the great fire in September of 1808.
For six centuries pilgrims had visited the place and made it
the object of veneration and the recipient of their gifts. In
spite of Mohammedan oppression, which was always more or
less severe, the number of European Christians who made this
pilgrimage was by no means small. The spirit which inspired
the Crusaders never wholly died out, nor is it yet dead.

The fire of 1808 consumed many of the most sacred relics
enclosed in the Church. Marble columns of great age and
beauty crumbled in the flames. The rich hangings and pic-
tures were burned, along with lamps and chandeliers and other
ornaments in silver and gold. The lead with which the great
dome was lined melted and poured down in streams. It was
a great blow to the believers in the sacredness of the place, and
yet there were some compensations, for the limestone tomb
which had before come through fires and devastations un-
scathed, proved itself superior to this tremendous conflagration.
So at least the faithful are told to believe, and so they do be-

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 181

lieve ; only unbelievers doubt it, and they only have any de-
sire to examine and see if behind the marble casings any lime-
stone still exists. It would be a very easy matter to convince
the doubters by removing one of the marble slabs, but this is
just what the priestly guardians will not permit. You must be-
lieve the miracle ! This fire began in the Armenian chapel ;
passed thence to the main rotunda, then to the Greek choir
and to the chapels on Calvary. In five hours the great cupola
fell with a crash upon the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre crush-
ing in its fall the columns which supported this chapel and
ruining the ornamental columns that stood around it.

Three accounts of this fire and its ravages are in existence,
one made by the Greeks, another by the Latins and the third
by a pilgrim named De Geramb. They agree generally, but
when they particularize it is seen that each endeavors to prove
that the part of the Church in which its author was interested
was the part most miraculously preserved, while the parts be-
longing to other faiths were the objects of the divine dis-
pleasure.

Christian enthusiasm was again aroused to raise the means
necessary to replace the structure and its attractions. Permis-
sion by special firman had to be procured from the Sublime
Porte, and architectural plans made. An architect from
Mitylene, Commenes by name, was employed and work be-
gun. Then serious disputes arose between the various inter-
ested sects as to what portion of the new Church should be-
long to each. Further delay was caused by the opposition of
the Moslems who wished to prevent the erection of the build-
ing. Bribes appeased these obstructionists. In spite of all
these difficulties the new structure was completed and conse-
crated on the nth of September, 1810, less than two years
after the fire. The whole expense connected with the work
amounted to nearly three millions of dollars, of which a third
was eaten up by lawsuits and by bribes paid to Mohammedan
officials.

182 Jerusalem the Holy

This is the Church that stands to-day. How much of it is
composed of materials used in former structures that stood on
the same site could only be discovered by an expert who had
abundance of time and full permission to make a careful ex-
amination. Even the opinion of such an one would not be
allowed to go unchallenged ; other experts would surely dis-
agree with him — the more experts, the more conclusions, and
archaeological experts are in this respect not exceptional.
There is no doubt, however, that very considerable remains of
the more ancient structures are still here, and some of them
yet in the original positions in which they were placed.

The church fronts on an open court surrounded on all sides
by buildings. An arched street runs eastward from Christian
street, makes a turn at right angles to the north, then to the
east and passes along the eastern side of the court. It is a
public street for all but Jews and for them so long as they can
conceal the fact that they are Jews, not an easy thing for a
Jerusalem Jew to do, as he wears conspicuously the marks of
his race and religion. The Christians claim control of this
thoroughfare and it is they who make it dangerous for any
Hebrew to pass along it. As late as April, 1894, a strange
Israelite, unacquainted with the unwritten law forbidding him
to walk here, was set upon by several Greek Christians and,
but for the timely interference of some soldiers of the Sultan,
would have been killed ; as it was he was severely injured.
Nothing was ever done to punish his assailants.

A motley crowd of beggars and venders of tawdry religious
wares lines this street. The court itself has been appropriated
by these small merchants, who, about Easter time when the city
is thronged with pilgrims, do a good business in crosses, rosaries
and bits of holy relics. Their jangling voices, as they urge
some reluctant pilgrim to purchase, do not add to the sanctity
of the place. They are impostors who deserve the treatment
accorded by Christ to their predecessors who made his Father's
house a den of thieves. This court is paved with large slabs

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 183

of light red limestone. It was once surrounded by pillars and
was in the nature of a porch. Some of the bases of these
columns are still in situ and are pieces of Crusader work. As
one enters this court, or quadrangle from the west and faces
north he will have on his left the Greek Chapel of St. James,
next to it that of Mary Magdalene, then that of the Forty
Martyrs. On his right, making the eastern boundary of the
court, are the Armenian and Coptic Chapels and that of St.
Mary of Egypt. This Mary was driven away from the door
of the Church in 374 by some unknown power and on invok-
ing the image of the Virgin secured admission. The Chapel
of St. James, on the west side, commemorates the brother of
Christ. That of the Forty Martyrs is the lowest story of the
bell tower and was formerly the monastery of the Trinity
wherein were buried the patriarchs of Jerusalem. Only three
stories of the bell tower are now standing. That it was several
stories higher is known from certain old pictures.

The south facade of the church proper exhibits some fine
Gothic work. The main entrance is here and formerly con-
sisted of two large portals, one of which is now effectively
closed by masonry. Over the portals are large pointed arches.
Ancient marble columns with Byzantine capitals and antique
pedestals adjoin the doors. Over the left portal are bas-reliefs
illustrating New Testament scenes, while over the right portal
are vines, and flowers and fruits in the midst of which are
naked figures and birds, the whole presenting an allegory of
the contest between good and evil.

On entering the church the first thing that will attract the
attention of the observing visitor is the Moslem guard which
sits in a small elevated room to the immediate left. For this
Christian Church has a Moslem guard whose duty it is to keep
the peace between the various sects who profess belief in the
Prince of Peace. This guard is composed of members of the
oldest Mohammedan family in the city. They keep the keys
of the main doors and open and close them when required by

184 Jerusalem the Holy

the Greek, Latin or Armenian Church officials. As each open-
ing is paid for by the one desiring it quite a little revenue ac-
crues. Formerly each person, pilgrim or visitor, paid an ad-
mission fee of one para — about an eighth of a cent. Coffee
and cigarettes or narghilis are freely used by these custodians.
The coffee is provided by that church party which has requested
the opening and is made on a small earthen brazier just inside
the door.

A great deal has been said and written against the persons
constituting this guard for their disrespect to the place. But
the truth is, they are no more disrespectful than one should
expect them to be, judging from the example set by many of
the Christian priests. At the time of the unholy exhibition of
the Holy Fire this civil guard is increased by several hundred
soldiers who line up around the inside of the church to keep
the crowds in order and quell the disturbances that nearly al-
ways arise between the sects. With such a spectacle as is
here continually given of "how these Christians love one an-
other " the reason is very apparent why they have had so little
success in winning the Jew or Moslem to belief in the religion
of Jesus. It is a sickening fact that Moslem brute force must
compel Christians to exercise, not charity toward each other,
but common decency and decorum. But it is a fact, neverthe-
less, and will remain apparent to all, so long as priestcraft
takes the place of New Testament Christianity and superstition
supplants religion.

To read a detailed account of all the parts of this church and
the adjacent more or less sacred structures would be confusing
and uninteresting. Latin, Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Coptic
and Abyssinian, each has his specially holy places. What mat-
ters it that the names and locations of most of these have been
several times changed ? What difference that some of the
claims made for them are preposterous in the extreme and so
ridiculously in error that only intentional fraud will dare assert
and only dense ignorance will accept them ? The patriarchs

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 185

and priests of these various faiths are by no means all ignorant
men. They have some motives for their assertions about these
places. To call these motives religious is to defame religion,
which can have no part in a lie. Some have tried to soften
the hard facts by calling these priestly impositions "pious
frauds." When a lie may be justly called righteous a fraud
may properly be termed pious, but until that time a religious
fraud can be nothing but impious.

A few steps inside and directly in line with the main door
is the "Stone of Unction," on which the body of the Lord
was anointed in preparation for burial. Many times have I
watched in admiration the devotion of Russian pilgrims, the
privilege of whose life it has been to reach this sacred en-
closure. The Stone of Unction being the first of the holy
things to which they come gets a generous share of reverential
prostrations and fervent kisses. They do not know that the
stone they see and bow over is not even the reputed Stone of
Anointing. The latter is covered and entirely concealed from
view by a red limestone slab. This covering was necessary
because the real stone was being worn away by the hands and
lips of the worshippers. The fact that pilgrims about the time
of their departure from the Holy City came to this stone to
measure the shrouds in which they hoped to be buried will
account for some of the wear. This practice is still in vogue ;
they now take the measure of the upper stone. Nor are they
content to trust the word of a dealer in linen or cotton or de-
pend upon a rule or tape measure ; they bring the roll of goods,
spread it out on the stone and then and there cut it off.

Over this place of worship are suspended eight handsome
lamps belonging to the Armenians, Copts, Greeks and Latins;
and large candelabra surround it. Some unbelievers doubt the
genuineness of this real stone from the fact that the stone itself
has been changed, and the correctness of its location from the
fact that it has several times altered its position. Different
religious bodies have at different times possessed it : the Copts

186 Jerusalem the Holy-

owned it in the fifteenth century, the Gregorians in the six-
teenth ; from the Gregorians the Latins, for the consideration
of 5,000 piasters (about $450.00), procured the right to burn
candles over it ; it is now Greek property.

The stone serves other purposes. Women place the pictures
of absent loved ones upon it and pray over them ; pilgrims lay
their rosaries there that these may partake of its virtue ; moth-
ers bring their babies and think they do a holy act, beneficial
to the little ones, by placing them on it and breathing a prayer
to God or some favorite saint.

Toward the right from the stone a small door leads into the
Chapel of Adam. Here our worthy progenitor, when his
struggle with adverse nature was over, rested from his labors.
According to a tradition, when the blood and water flowed
from the side of the Saviour, it came down through the rock,
touched the inanimate dust and Adam came to life again.
This tradition accounts for the placing of a skull at the foot of
the cross.

The whole church and all its separate chapels are associated
with these ridiculous stories. A chapter giving them all would
be curious but unprofitable reading. A recent American
visitor having gone the rounds of the Church, examined its al-
leged attractions and listened to the nonsense of his guide, re-
marked as he came out, "That is the completest museum of
religious horrors I know anything about." And his remark
was true. There is certainly nothing that can in any way
compete with it. You are seriously shown the exact centre of
the earth, the very spot where the Creator procured the dust
to make the first man ; the place where Abraham was about to
sacrifice Isaac and where the ram that became the real sacrifice
was caught in the bushes ; a marble slab on which the tears of
the Virgin fell when she saw her divine Son die, each tear
making a deep imprint and all together forming a cross. The
majority of travellers who see and hear all this are usually con-
tent with one visit ; in some it works sadness, in others dis-

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 187

gust. Whatever previous opinion they may have had as to the
correctness of the church's location, many go away with a
prejudice against it, really glad that there is a reasonable doubt
about it, and hoping that some discovery will warrant a settled
belief that it does not cover the sites of the real Calvary and
the real sepulchre.

The Calvary here shown is on an elevation a little less than
fifteen feet above the level of the entrance to the church. It
is reached from this entrance by two flights of stone steps.
There are two small chapels each richly ornamented with
lamps and candelabra, images and pictures. The one on the
left, as one faces the east, is the Chapel of the Raising of the
Cross. This is Greek property and is adorned in characteristic
Greek fashion, with showy artificial flowers, brilliantly colored
figures and faces. Its chief ornamental attraction is a large
representation of Christ suspended on the Cross. This is done
in silver and gilt. Its other attractions are those coming to it
through the tradition that it is the place where the Cross was
erected on the day of crucifixion.

Under the altar in the east apse is a circular opening faced
with silver where the cross was placed in the rock ; five feet
from each side of this according to mediaeval tradition stood
the crosses on which the thieves were hanged. A little less
than five feet to the right of where Christ's cross stood is a
narrow metal slab which can be pushed aside if one wishes to
see where "the rocks were rent." There is a cleft in the
rock and you are seriously told that it reaches clear to the
centre, of the earth. As there is no way to disprove the state-
ment without going to considerable trouble, most people have
preferred to reserve their opinion ; nor is it always safe here
to express audibly what one thinks.

Just a few feet further to the right is the altar of the Stabat.
This forms the thirteenth station of the Via Dolorosa and is
where the Virgin received the body of her Son after it was let
down from the cross. Just above this altar is an image of

188 Jerusalem the Holy

Mary hung around with gold and precious stones, the offerings
of devout Catholics who have thought by these to win her
favor. This is Latin property. Just adjoining this on the
south is the Latin Chapel of the Nailing to the Cross. It is
more simply and hence more appropriately adorned. Over its
altar is a representation of the act of crucifixion, before which
candles are continually burning. Near the centre the place
of the actual nailing is indicated by some pieces of marble
fitted into the floor. This chapel is usually very dark and in
order to see its main attraction visitors must have a good
supply of candles. This attraction is a very fine picture show-
ing Mary holding in her lap the head of the dead Christ.
This is considered the finest picture in the whole church and
deserves a much better location than it has. The light is
never sufficient to give one a satisfactory view of it. The face
of the Virgin Mother is most expressive, while that of Christ
is one of the very few artist's conceptions of the Divine
countenance that does not make an unpleasant impression. It
is a manly countenance in peaceful repose. There is in it no
trace of the previous agony, no suggestion of defeat, nothing
but the expression of a gentle, manly soul who has finished the
work that was given Him to do. The mother face bending
over it is tender with a great sorrow ; not hopeless, but as if she
were in the presence of a mystery which she could not solve,
and which still could not overthrow her faith in her divine
Son and His mission, or diminish the love which overflowed
with every beat of her heart.

From an architectural standpoint the Rotunda of the
Sepulchre is the finest and most interesting part of the entire
structure. The foundation of this belonged to the ancient
structure. The dome is now supported by eighteen large
pillars. These pillars are diverse in form and irregular in their
location. Some are round and have pedestals and capitals,
while others are square and perfectly simple. In fact there are
three styles of piers, those on the east being of a decidedly

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 189

complex character and sustaining a wide arch which reaches
to the triforium of the church and forms a passage leading
from the floor of the rotunda to the choir. This choir was the
work of the Crusaders, though the rotunda was erected before
their day by Monomachus. The dome is sixty-five feet in
diameter, and before the great fire in 1808 was roofed with
cedar which had been gilded. This furnished a ready fuel to
the flames which were very fierce in their destructiveness to
this part of the building. The present rotunda is not so fine
nor so large in diameter as its predecessor, for in the repairs
the old masonry was allowed to remain and was encased by
the new.

The dome for several years preceding 1868, was in a pre-
carious condition and threatened to fall in. The jealousy be-
tween the sects who were joint owners of it was so great that
they could not come to an amicable agreement as to the terms
on which it was to be repaired ; finally an international con-
ference was held in which Turkey, France and Russia were
represented; the findings of this council were followed, and
in 1868 the repairs were made with the result now to be seen.
The vault of the dome is colored a sky blue which forms the
background for numerous gilt stars. From the ground-floor
this gives rather a pleasing effect. Just now the blue and gilt
are coming off and the vault has rather a shabby appearance.
It is to be hoped that it can be repaired without resort to an-
other international committee of arbitration ; but there is no
promise of any such peaceful settlement in the present feeling
of the sects for each other.

In the centre of the rotunda, facing the east, is the Chapel
of the Holy Sepulchre, the most revered place in the Chris-
tian world. The whole church structure is sacred, just as the
whole temple was sacred to the Jew ; but this spot is the Holy
of Holies. The pilgrims who come here to bow in holy awe,
to murmur their earnest prayers, to solemnly and sincerely

190 Jerusalem the Holy

make upon themselves the sign of the cross, believe as much
in the sacredness of this spot as any Hebrew ever did in the
sanctity of the Most Holy place. The most absolute unbe-
liever in the religion that these people profess, the most posi-
tive rejector of the site as the true sepulchre cannot observe
these devoted souls without a feeling of respect for them and
of something very akin to admiration for their fealty to their
convictions. Such devotion as they manifest and such tears
as they shed cannot be feigned ; to them all is real, as real as
if they had seen the Divine One crucified on the neighboring
Calvary and laid in this tomb. How abjectly they prostrate
themselves before the entrance to this holy place ; how sol-
emnly they enter and how reverently, as though this were the
supreme moment of a privileged life, they kiss the marble slab
above the reputed place where their God was buried ! If the
present Church of Christ, irrespective of creed, were made up
of men and women possessed of, a faith like this, but intelli-
gently directed, long ago would "all nations" have heard the
Gospel of Redemption preached, and seen it lived.

The Chapel of the Sepulchre resembles a small church. It
is built of Santa Croce marble and looks very durable with its
columns and pilasters. In shape it is an oblong square though
it has not always had this form. In Crusader time it was cir-
cular and had a small tower. Later on it was described as
polygonal. The fire destroyed the tower, but did not seri-
ously damage the rest of the chapel. Nevertheless, in the
reconstruction of the totally destroyed portions of the church,
it was thought best to rebuild this. It is now twenty-six feet
long and seventeen and a half feet wide. Numerous pictures
are hung around the outside of the chapel, all very inferior as
works of art. Nearly every available spot is utilized as a re-
ceptacle for candles and little oil lamps of many colors. Im-
mense candelabra stand in front of the chapel where is
an antechamber having stone benches where Oriental Chris-
tians sit to remove their shoes before entering.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 191

Going "through the small door the visitor comes first to the
Chapel of the Angels. A stone set on a small box elevated on
a stand is pointed out as the veritable stone which the angels
rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. The Armenians have
a stone in their parish church on Mount Zion for which they
claim a similar distinction. A doubt as to the genuineness of
either could, under these circumstances, hardly be termed her-
esy. Greek, Latin, Armenian and Coptic lamps swing from
the ceiling and add to the heavy odors of the small room. The
walls of this chapel are very thick and are lined with marble.
Two large circular openings pierce the sides, one on the north
and the other on the south wall, through which on the after-
noon of the Saturday preceding Easter, the "holy fire "is
passed out to the runners and to the assembled thousands
standing as near as possible to the Sepulchre.

From the Chapel of the Angels a low door, necessitating
considerable stooping as one passes through it, leads into the
little Chapel of the Sepulchre. This, the chapel proper, is
very small, being only six-and-a-half feet long by six wide ;
and it is the Holy of Holies of the entire structure. It is said
that six persons can be accommodated with standing room in
it at one time, though I should not care to be one of the six.
When the chapel is open for visitors a priest is always on
guard ; no vandalism is allowed here. On the north, east and
west walls are reliefs, while just on the inside of the door can
be read in Greek the following inscription : "Lord, remem-
ber thy servant the royal builder, Kalfa Komnenos of Mily-
tene, 18 10." On the right of the entrance, occupying nearly
one half of the floor space is the tomb. It is five feet long,
two high and three wide. Swinging from the ceiling are
forty-three very costly lamps. The Latins, Greeks and Arme-
nians each own thirteen of these, while the remaining four are
Coptic property. The tomb is covered by a large marble slab
which is often used as an altar, for here every day in the year
the Mass is celebrated. This is, we are told, the very place

192 Jerusalem the Holy

where the Christ, He who "brought life and immortality to
light in the Gospel," lay in the embrace of death. Those who
believe in the tradition claim to experience a peculiar thrill
when they lay their hand upon the marble-covering of the
tomb; those who doubt the tradition never feel the thrill.

Every day during the tourist and pilgrim season rosaries
and crucifixes are brought here and laid for consecration upon
the marble slab. The attending priest pronounces his blessing
upon them and they become specially holy. Thousands upon
thousands of rosaries and crosses are thus treated every year
and find their way to countries and homes most remote from
the Holy City. In April of 1894 a Catholic priest from one
of the large inland cities of Ohio, purchased fifteen hundred
rosaries, had them all blessed in this way — one for every mem-
ber of his congregation ; he was a wise pastor in thus showing
no favoritism. Every year, also, thousands of cards, having
on them pressed flowers of the Holy Land, are treated in the
same way. The superscription on many of these cards an-
nounces that they bear flowers from the Garden of Gethsemane,
but the statement cannot be always true, for this little garden
spot does not grow flowers enough to supply the demand. The
only way to know positively that you have flowers from Geth-
semane is to go yourself and pluck them ; and this is not an
easy matter, for the priestly custodians guard their charge
with jealous care. Nor have articles, which are supposed to
have been laid on the tomb and blessed, been always so hon-
ored. And what does it matter whether they have or not? If
contact with any particular place makes more holy, it should
suffice that the thing has been in sacred Jerusalem. But as
residence in the city does not have any such effect upon per-
sons, it is not probable that it has any holier action upon cards
or rosaries. It is a sort of idolatry — an idolatry which to a
greater or less degree affects us all — that this locality or that is
more sacred than some other and transfers its sacredness to
thing or person touched by it.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 193

Just back of the sepulchre and seemingly a part of it is a
wretched little chapel belonging to the Coptic Church, and
just across the circular aisle that surrounds the sepulchre is the
Chapel of the Syrians. Neither of these is in itself deserving
of mention and they are only here mentioned because they are
in line with a small recess in which are two interesting rock-
cut tombs. Nor are these tombs interesting in themselves;
they are important, however, in that they prove beyond a
doubt that this part of the church was once without the walls.
For they are old Jewish tombs and we know that, with the ex-
ception of the royal tombs, none were ever within the city.
There are two ways of accounting for the existence of these.
One is that they date from the time of David or Solomon,
were without the north wall at that time, and when the Sec-
ond Wall was built, were brought within the city. The other
and more recent theory supposes the First Wall to have in-
cluded these tombs and thus makes them as they were on
the slope of Zion, none other than the remains of the royal
tombs themselves. Whatever may be said about them one
thing is sure, that there is no basis for the sixteenth century
story which assigns to them the names of the Tomb of
Joseph of Arimathea and of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by
night.

Coming out from the Syrian Chapel into the rotunda, again
we pass through an antechamber where Christ appeared to
Mary on the first Easter morning, and enter the principal
Chapel of the Roman Catholics. A fourteenth century tradi-
tion, which affirms that here Christ first appeared to His mother
after His resurrection, has given this plainly furnished enclos-
ure the name "the Chapel of the Apparition." Its special
treasure is the Column of Flagellation, which is kept in a cab-
inet just at the right of the entrance. The column cannot be
seen except during one day in the year, on which day every
pilgrim in the city kisses it. During this ordeal two Latin
priests guard it and no worshipper is allowed to remain long

194 Jerusalem the Holy

before the sacred relic. When each one's time is up he or she
is rudely pushed along to make room for others. It is a reli-
gious act on the part of the pilgrims, but on the part of the
priests seemingly a purely business one, which, the sooner over
the better. Ordinarily the stone can only be felt with a stick
about two feet long, which is provided for the purpose. Pil-
grims enter the chapel just to touch the column, and having
put the stick against it, kiss it and make upon head and breast
the sign of the cross ; they have thus performed a meritorious
act at which they will rejoice on their return to their native
lands. Different pilgrims at different times have given de-
scriptions of this column. If these accounts are correct it is
like the other holy stones in having several times changed its
form and color and position.

A few steps to the left from this chapel entrance bring one to
the Latin Sacristy. It is not a very important place judging
from its size and the disorder in which it is usually kept ; but
it contains three important relics, the sword, cross and spurs of
Godfrey de Bouillon — the first Christian king of Jerusalem.
These relics are probably genuine. The sword is a long straight
blade having a cruciform handle ; the spurs are cruel imple-
ments eight inches in length with barbs long and sharp enough
to inflict absolute torture. When this church was the place
of investiture of the knights of St. John, this sword was used
in the ceremony of initiation. It is now employed by the
Order of the Sepulchre in inducting new members, but as this
order is a small one, the sword is not often required for this
purpose.

Coming again to the rotunda one can enter under the im-
posing Arch of the Emperor, the Catholican, or main chapel
of the Greeks. This forms the nave of the Cathedral and is
ornamented in almost barbaric style, with highly colored dec-
orations, brazen lamps and pictures. It surpasses in size and
ornamentation the chapels of any of the other sects, but gives
the impression of abundance rather than taste ; to the Greek

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 195

or Russian, however, this wealth of gilding and paint is no
doubt very impressive. We are told that this chapel stands
where formerly was the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. If
so, I should much prefer that the garden had never been de-
stroyed. It has the further honor of being situated right in
the centre of the world ; the exact centre is indicated by a
rounded stone covered with netting and lifted from the floor
on a low stand. On each side of the chapel is an episcopal
throne, the one on the south being for the use of the Greek
bishop of Jerusalem, while that on the north is for the bishop
of Antioch. The Greek body being the richest of all here, of
course has the finest vestments and most costly jewels. These
are kept in a place called the Iconoclaustrum and are exhibited
on special occasions to sufficiently distinguished visitors.

Near this part of the church are numerous small chapels
having no attractions sufficient to commend them to the inter-
ested visitor and very doubtful ones for the pious pilgrim to
consider. Fortunately the pious pilgrim does not consider;
he accepts \ and, accepting, reverences, and no unpleasant
doubts assail his mind. There is an altar having in it two
round holes. Here Christ's feet were confined during the
preparation for the crucifixion. Then there is the Prison of
Christ, the altar of Saint Longinus, the centurion whose spear
pierced the Saviour's side as he was suspended on the cross.
A tradition, quite as credible as the others, records that Lon-
ginus had but one eye ; when the blood and water followed
his spear some of it fell into his empty eye socket and imme-
diately a new eye replaced the lost one; he accordingly be-
came a Christian and was promoted to sainthood.

Then comes the chapel where the soldiers cast lots for Christ's
garments ; the Chapel of Derision and altars almost too numerous
to mention. The passage-way here is quite in gloom and it re-
quires some acquaintance with the arrangement in order to find
one's way. Among these niches in which the altars stand is a
stairway of twenty-nine steps leading down into the Chapel of

196 Jerusalem the Holy

St. Helena, sixteen feet below the level of the church floor.
This is Abyssinian property, but this sect being poor in worldly
goods in Jerusalem and, having more need of the money than
of the chapel, rents it to the Armenians. It is rather a deso-
late place and has the appearance of poverty, its altars and or-
naments being sadly in need of renovation. On this site Con-
stantine's basilica originally stood and early Christians consid-
ered it the place where the true cross was unearthed. It gets
its present name from the belief that here Saint Helena sat
during the excavations which resulted in demonstrating the
correctness of the location of the Church of the Sepulchre.
Traditions are a little mixed just here, and one of about the
year 1400, mentions another place which is here also. So, by
going down thirteen high steps, some of which are cut in the
native rock, one can stand in what is now known as the Chapel
of the Finding of the Cross ; this chapel is modern, was for-
merly a natural cave in the rock or a cistern, and has no claims
to serious regard, but for all that it is seriously considered by
all the pilgrims who visit it. Here they murmur a prayer, or
if they feel able, will buy a candle from a young Greek in
charge and place it in a hole in the marble slab that marks the
place where the crosses were found. Three crosses were dis-
covered here, and though it was known instantly that they
were the three used on the occasion of Christ's crucifixion,
there was no way of telling on which one the Saviour had hung.
But Bishop Macarius saw the way out of this difficulty. A
very pious lady was lying at the point of death ; one by one
the three crosses were presented to the sufferer. No effect was
noticeable on presentation of the first two, but when her eyes
beheld the third and her hand felt it, the recovery was instan-
taneous. This was a demonstration that left no room for
doubt. And yet some do have very serious doubts about the
whole story ; they can see no reason for the angelic visitation
to Helena informing her where to look ; they cannot under-
stand why it was necessary for the cross to be found because

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 197

there was no purpose to be served. To assert that it was to
prove the correctness of the site chosen for the sepulchre
rather weakens than strengthens the argument, for if that site
was as well known as its advocates insist it was in the time of
Constantine, there was certainly nothing to be gained by a
miraculous interposition.

Many other places called holy, connected with which are
traditions of the miraculous, are included within the compass
of this cluster of buildings. How genuine the sites and how
holy, how much of truth there is in the traditions and how
much of miracle in the miraculous, each must estimate for
himself, unless he is satisfied to accept without question the
dicta of the custodian priests. If reason and probability be
allowed to figure in the estimate the great mass of tradition
and miracle must be rejected as fraudulent and productive of
no possible good. Some of the more preposterous sites have
been passed without mention.

These many holy sites and attendant fables were not origi-
nated at one time. They are the growth of centuries, being
added to from time to time as the ecclesiastical authorities
deemed advisable. Venerated and worshipped by the ignorant,
priest-ridden pilgrims, these holy sites are a scandal to intelli-
gent Christians, . and the objects of derision to unbelievers.
The Christianity of Christ is outraged by such pretensions, and
when this Christianity takes possession of the people, as it will,
they will break away from this priestly thralldom and worship
God only.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre gives to the non-Chris-
tian world the very worst possible illustration of the religion of
Him in whose name it stands. That religion was simple,
spiritual and productive of love ; whereas the religion exhib-
ited by this church is as complex as can be devised, as ma-
terial as any form of idolatry and annually productive of as
loveless sights as can be imagined. Between the different
sects represented here there is positive enmity. The followers

198 Jerusalem the Holy

of Moses and Mohammed will never leave their faiths to em-
brace the type of Christianity seen in this, which they have
reason to regard as the leading church of the followers of
Christ. They know what it stands for — the death and resur-
rection of Him whom the Gentile world has accepted as its
Messiah. They know of no other Christianity than this. No
wonder they reject it and all its pretensions. And they do so
on a principle enunciated by Christ and universally accepted
as correct, "By their fruits ye shall know them." A brief
glance at the history of this church convinces us that it has
produced nothing attractive ; it has been a curse rather than
a blessing ; it has been a house of war instead of a house of
peace: it has stood for bigotry, envy, falsehood, strife and
murder, instead of witnessing for peace, liberty, truth and
love. True religion would lose nothing if this church and its
record could be expunged from the pages of history.

But the church does stand as a witness for one stupendous
event. The truth of her testimony is not affected by her mis-
taken location, her senseless traditions or her warring sects.
Greek may differ from Latin, Latin from Armenian, Arme-
nian from Syrian, Syrian from Copt and Copt from Abyssinian
and each from all the others; they may have their disgraceful
strifes and in asserting their preeminence show their loveless
characters ; they may differ as much as they can on the minor
points of belief, but on the great essential there is unanimity.
Christ died for men and rose again. The old Church stands
for this — the truth of God which human error and ignorance
cannot destroy — the truth that shall live and influence for eter-
nity the lives of the followers of the Risen One.

THE NEW, OR GORDON'S, CALVARY

Religious Prejudices as to Holy Sites — Questions of Locality
— Untrustworthiness of Tradition — Known Facts about the
Place of the Crucifixion — Support for the Traditional Holy
Sepulchre — Eusebius — Korte's Opposition to the Tradition —
Dr. Robinson — Remains under Freres' College — Conder's
Opinion — Holy Sites and Christian Faith — The Green Hill —
Circumstantial Evidence — Place of Stoning — Roman Methods
— Topographical Requirements met by the New Calvary —
Main Roads — Real Via Dolorosa — Conspicuous — Shape of the
Hill — Jeremiah's Grotto — Size of the Hill — The New Tomb
— Church of St. Stephen — Rock Tombs — Within the New
Tomb — Conder's Tomb.

yoo

THE NEW, OR GORDON'S, CALVARY

THE localities in and around the Holy City have occa-
sioned many a hot dispute. Absolute identifications
are the exceptions, and the contested field is wide. In the
contests passionate expression of mere personal opinion is all
too common. Such expressions are general from persons
who are too interested in one or the other place to speak with-
out prejudice. Prejudice distorts truth, or so affects the men-
tal medium through which truth passes that it is distorted in
the expression. No prejudice is so violent as that which
touches religious matters. Many advocates of the present holy
places consider that great religious importance attaches to
them and that to express disbelief in them tends to rob men of
their faith in that which saves. Hence the passionate verbal
assaults upon those who refuse to accept the traditional site of
the Holy Sepulchre and of Calvary. But passionate assaults
are not arguments and followers of Christ will insist that the
genuineness of this or that locality in its relation to the life or
death of the Saviour has nothing at all to do with salvation.

Education is broadening and in all matters of religion young
men and women are being taught to think for themselves. In
the more enlightened countries a statement is not accepted as
truth simply because it is made by priest or preacher. It must
be reasonable, must be in harmony with known facts. But
the " holy places" are not in an enlightened country, nor do
their possessors represent an enlightened type of Christianity.
Patriarchs and bishops say the places are genuine and there-
fore holy, and the people for the most part accept without
question their statements. Until very recent years there has
been no expressed doubt about most of these places, but lately

202 Jerusalem the Holy

the almost universal acceptance has been negatived by many
intelligent investigators who demand something more than the
opinion of an individual, it matters not how distinguished in
any branch of learning that individual may be, something
more than an ancient tradition in support of any locality for
which pretentious claims are made. They are demanding
good reasons for such claims, are questioning those incapable
of proof and rejecting any that are plainly in opposition to
the known facts.

Concerning the holy sites of the Holy City any one has the
right to ask why this one is located here or that one there. If
the answer given is not satisfactory he has the right to doubt
or disbelieve. For instance when one sees hundreds of Rus-
sian pilgrims kneeling devoutly and kissing reverently a spot
on the rock on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah, just near
where the Jericho road turns to cross the brook Kedron, and
is informed that here is where Saint Stephen was stoned, he
has a right to question the reason for this localization. The
evidence of an old tradition proves nothing. The place of
Jewish capital punishment being known and Saint Stephen
having suffered that punishment there is no reason to seek an-
other place for his death than the one used commonly in his
day. How or when the tradition assigned the event to the
spot outside of the present St. Stephen Gate is a matter of no
moment. The tradition is groundless.

A tradition just as groundless has for fifteen centuries af-
firmed that the two most momentous facts in Christian history
took place on the site now occupied by the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre. To the one whom tradition satisfies this is
enough. The one who accepts the dicta of the Church with-
out dispute reasons that, as the Church has maintained these
two sites during these centuries, he has no right to doubt their
genuineness. Had the Church never been mistaken ; had she
never been compelled to change her position such acquies-
cence might be given by even a greater number than now.

The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 203

But so long as the Church is made up of human creatures de-
pendent upon human judgment there are those who will refuse
absolutely to acknowledge her infallibility. This will be so
especially in matters unessential to salvation, to which class
certainly belongs the localization of any event connected with
the life or death of our Lord.

There are certain things positively known about the places
of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. They were outside the
city walls at that time and not far from one of the gates.
(Heb. xiii. 12.) The places of death and sepulture were near
each other, the latter being in a garden. (John xix. 41 and
42.) The crucifixion took place on a conspicuous site near a
public road. (Matt, xxvii. 39 and 55 ; Mark xv. 29 ; Luke
xxiii. 35.) Any place laying claim to being the site of these
two events must meet these three requirements, it must have
been without the walls, near one of the gates and conspicuous.
Failing in any of these particulars its claims are untrustworthy,
no matter how old the tradition favoring it or how great the
ecclesiastical authority supporting it.

No locality could have better traditional or ecclesiastical
support than the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre. For
sixteen hundred and seventy years the tradition has been ac-
cepted as true by the great majority of Christians. True,
there was a period of nearly three hundred years previous to
the birth of the tradition when it was at least doubtful whether
anybody connected these events with this place. During the
sixteen hundred and seventy years, however, all the Oriental
Christian Churches, together with the great Roman branch,
have repeatedly pronounced in favor of the truth of the tradi-
tion. The fact, and it is a fact beyond question, that there is
no record pointing to this as the place of the crucifixion and
burial before the origin of the tradition might be overlooked,
were there no other arguments against it. Other things being
equal, strong traditionary evidence must be accepted. But in
this instance other things are not equal. When the tradition

204 Jerusalem the Holy

began the places of death and burial bad been lost. Nothing
is more certain than this. Nobody at the time of the conver-
sion of Constantine knew where Christ had suffered or where
His pierced body had rested from that Friday of death till the
Sunday of resurrection. The assertion of Eusebius to the
effect that while clearing away the ruins of a heathen temple
the Holy Sepulchre was found "most unexpectedly," would
never have been made had he known just where the Lord had
been buried ; and he would have known had that knowledge
been possessed by anybody. A certain tomb was found, not
one only, but several, and the assumption was immediately
made that one of these was the lost tomb of the Saviour. Be-
yond a doubt these were old Jewish tombs and probably the
last resting-places of some of Judah's royal families. Arch-
aeologists date them from a time anterior to Christ. No man
speaks with greater authority on this question than Major C. R.
Conder, and it is his opinion that is here given.

The recovery of the cross is nowhere mentioned in the
writings of Eusebius. Cyril first speaks of this "invention"
in a sermon preached in the basilica that was erected over
these then newly discovered holy places. This basilica was
completed in 335 a. d. Cyril began to preach in 347 and in
the sermon above mentioned speaks of pieces of the true cross
having been distributed throughout the world. Thus in a
quarter of a century this tradition began and had met with
general acceptance. Were it not thus positively known that
there was no previous history connecting this place with the
crucifixion the necessity of introducing the miraculous into the
narrative would suffice to convince that there was no such his-
tory. The knowledge that this was the actual place where
that event occurred would have required no miracle to sub-
stantiate it. We are thus compelled to believe that the Chris-
tians residing in Jerusalem at the beginning of the fourth cen-
tury were not cognizant of the places of the death and resur-
rection of their Lord.

The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 205

Nevertheless, this was the place fixed upon by ecclesiastical
authority, believed in by the unthinking laity and fought for
by those, in many ways unique warriors — the Crusaders.
Unquestioned, at least publicly, for fourteen hundred years it
was honored by prelates and enriched by kings. Religious
bodies before the Reformation and since have vied with each
other in many unholy ways to gain possession of the ground
within the holy enclosure. Altars stand in nearly every nook
and corner, each one professing to cover some place where
some event connected with the history of the Christian religion,
but more especially with the passion of its Founder, occurred.
To protect these and maintain the supremacy of Christianity
kings sent their armies, and knights of various degree, and for
various reasons, followed. None but the Omniscient knows
how many lives were sacrificed in that century of struggle
which ended in defeat for the Christian arms. None but the
same All-knowing One can tell how many devout souls have
come on peaceful pilgrimages to weep where they thought their
Christ had suffered and pray the prayers deemed doubly effi-
cacious because offered from this " holy ground." And the
pilgrimages were not without spiritual blessing to those who
made them nor the invocaters less efficacious because the sup-
pliants were mistaken.

The first person who publicly expressed his doubts as to the
genuineness of the sites covered by this Church was a certain
German bookseller named Korte. He made a visit to Jeru-
salem in 1738, and whether what he witnessed in and around
the Church disillusioned him as to its sanctity, or his study of
the topography convinced him that the founders of the Church
were mistaken ; at any rate, on his return to Germany he
sought by every means to assure his countrymen that the claims
made for it could not be sustained. This was the beginning
of the present wide-spread disbelief.

Since Korte's day there have been many who have thought
and expressed themselves as he did. But the cause lacked a

206 Jerusalem the Holy

vigorous champion until it was advocated by Doctor Edward
Robinson, the great American name associated with the ex-
plorations and discoveries in and near Jerusalem. In 1856
Doctor Robinson proved to every mind free to accept proof
that the traditional site of the Holy Sepulchre must have been
within the walls at the time of the crucifixion. Any doubt
that might have been entertained as to the sufficiency of this
proof was removed a few years ago by the discovery of the re-
mains of the old north wall near the northwestern angle of the
present wall. These remains called the Castle of Goliath, can
be seen in the basement of the Freres' College. They appear to
be the ruins of three large towers and were part of the Second
Wall. They have in situ at least ten layers of masonry of the
same massive form, peculiar level and rough face as the old
masonry at the Damascus Gate and at the southwest angle of
the temple area near Robinson's Arch. This permits only
one conclusion, and that is that the locators of the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre were very much mistaken.

The only other possible theory, and it is highly improb-
able, is that the Church, now two hundred yards south of
this north wall, was left on the outside by the wall making
a great detour to the south in the form of a horseshoe. As
the city could grow only toward the north and as this detour
would necessitate more than double the labor and expense of a
straight wall, besides losing to the increasing city a very valu-
able building section, the theory is absolutely untenable. As
Conder says, speaking of these bits of wall under the Freres'
College ; " This last discovery is the death blow to the claims
of the traditional site and a final settlement of a bitter con-
troversy."

Would that it were " a final settlement ! " But this discovery
has not had that effect upon those who favor the traditional
location. They have held it too long to confess now to cen-
turies of error. Leaders of religious thought who could be
mistaken for so long on a matter so important as their fol-

The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 207

lowers believe this location of Calvary to be, are likely to be
just as much in error on other questions relating to belief and
practice. The leaders know their followers will thus reason
and so they hold all the more tenaciously to the traditional site
and treat with as much contempt as they can command any
one assailing it. The "death-blow" may have been given,
but those upon whom it has fallen are making a desperate and
so far successful effort to keep alive. ' ' The final settlement
of a bitter controversy ' ' has been reached only by those who
accept facts regardless of their effect upon venerable opinions,
and who feel that the religion of Jesus is in no way dependent
upon what men believe about certain localities, if they but be-
lieve in Him.

Bearing this in mind, it will matter but little to the intelli-
gent Christian if the place where Christ was crucified remains
forever unknown. The divine knowledge of the proneness of
men to idolatry and their tendency to worship the place to
the forgetting of the Person and His work may be the very
reason for the present uncertainty. Let us hope that this un-
certainty will continue, if thereby the spiritual part of the re-
ligion of Jesus be enhanced.

However, no account of modern Jerusalem would be com-
plete without a brief mention of a hillock, just north of the
city, which has recently been brought into prominence as a
claimant for the distinction of being the true Calvary. Other
sites have been selected and advocated by writers, but I can-
not regard any of them as worthy of serious consideration.
No positive proof can be furnished that this "New Calvary"
was the actual site of the great tragedy ; the circumstantial
evidence is very strong and is here presented for what it is
worth. Even tradition is not lacking.

The eminence we are describing is the only prominent hillock
north of the city and yet near enough for any event happening
upon it to be witnessed by persons viewing it from the walls. It
is the northern extremity of the hill on which that part of the city

208 Jerusalem the Holy-

called Bezetha stands, and has been artificially separated from
the rest of the hill by a deep moat about a hundred yards wide.
This moat was made to assist in the defence of the north wall
and out of it was taken much of the stone used in the process
of city erection. Just when it was cut through is not known,
but certainly it was done long before our era began and at the
time of Christ would meet all the requirements of the " Place
of the Skull." The hill is called El Heidemyeh to-day by the
native Arabs, a name meaning "the place of Heidem," who,
Mohammedans assert, belonged to a princely family, was also
the leader of a strong religious sect and at his death was
buried on this hill. The Christians refuse to accept this tra-
dition and instead claim that El Heidemyeh was in the
fifteenth century written El Heiremyeh, meaning Jeremiah. In
favor of the Moslem account is the fact that the hill is covered
by one of their oldest cemeteries, while in favor of the Christian
is the old Jewish tradition which informs us that in a cave in
the hill the Tearful Prophet wrote his book of Lamentations.

Among the Jews it is known as the Place of Stoning, where
those condemned to death under their law met such punish-
ment as the law prescribed. Nor was the punishment here
meted out limited to the Jewish method of stoning, as is mani-
fest from a passage in the Talmud, (Sanhedrim vi. 1-4),
from which it appears that crucifixion was also practiced at the
" House of Stoning." "They sunk a beam in the ground and
a cross beam was stretched from it, and they bound his hands
together and hung him up." There is some uncertainty as to
the date when the above selection was written, but certainly it
was previous to 200 a. d. In this passage it is also said that,
" The place of stoning was the height of two men." These are
important as showing that at the time they were recorded
crucifixion took place here and that a precipice similar to the
one now seen was then in existence.

The fact that Jesus was executed according to Roman
methods has nothing to do with the place of execution. The

The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 209

opposers of the New Calvary insist that it is not at all likely
that the Romans would use the place the Jews were in the
habit of using— why is not easy to understand, for the Romans
were not likely to neglect any suitable thing or place simply
because others had previously employed it. The House of
Stoning was well adapted, it was conveniently located and it is
more than likely that the Roman governors found it very use-
ful in troublous times as a place of execution and warning.

Topographical requirements are well met by the New Cal-
vary. It is outside the present city wall and the ancient
masonry at the Damascus Gate assures us that here at least the
present wall occupies the identical position of the wall existing
in the time of Christ. This old wall is called the Second
Wall. Calvary was outside of that wall. The New Calvary
is also near two gates which lead northward from the city. A
road from the Damascus Gate followed the present miserable
pathway to the north and passed so near the knoll now re-
garded as Skull hill that any event occurring there could be
easily witnessed by those who " passed by." The other road
proceeded from the Tower of Antonia, and formed the military
highway to Csesarea, the Roman capital of the country at that
time. This latter road skirted the eastern base of the knoll
within easy speaking distance of the summit. Travellers to
and from the city would be continually going and coming
along this important road. If Christ were led direct from
Pilate's judgment hall to the place of execution this is the way
He would most likely have taken and so this would be the real
Via Dolorosa.

Further, the site of this Calvary is most conspicuous. From
every direction it can be plainly seen. It is the only promi-
nent hill anywhere in the neighborhood. There is nothing to
prevent such a crowd as assembled on the day of the crucifixion
from gathering on the slopes of the hill and viewing every act
connected with that triple scene of death. Thus it will be
seen that this position meets all the requirements of the Gos-

210 Jerusalem the Holy

pel accounts, being "without the gate," yet " nigh unto the
city " ; capable of being seen " afar off," and close enough to
two main roads for those who "passed by" to " revile " the
Crucified.

The shape of the knoll has by some been thought to con-
tribute an argument in its favor. The site of the crucifixion
for some reason was known as "the Place of a Skull."
Whether it was given this name because it really resembled a
human skull in form or because the unburied remains of male-
factors who had met death for their crimes could frequently
be seen on it cannot be now definitely known. Some visitors
to the hill profess to see in it a resemblance to a human skull,
but I must say that it is only by the exercise of much imagi-
nation that I have been able to observe this. Two small caves
in the face of the southern cliff do look a little like empty eye
sockets, but to base anything on these would be presuming too
much, for their date is very uncertain. The part of the cliff
in which they are formed in a very soft limestone and these
small apertures may be one of Nature's many freaks in the Ju-
dean hills. The several caves in this vicinity were formerly
the residence of Moslem and Christian hermits, and too many
changes are likely to have taken place during nineteen cen-
turies to permit much weight to attach to a fancied resem-
blance.

A much larger cave exists here and goes by the name of
Jeremiah's Grotto. A Christian Apocrypha, dating from 136
a. d., a part of which is read every year by the Greek Church
on the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem, informs us
that in this grotto the book of Lamentations was written.

Major Conder was the first real authority who advocated in
print the claims of this New Calvary, though Doctor Selah Mer-
rill, present United States Consul at Jerusalem, certainly shares
this honor with the English explorer. The name of neither of
the gentlemen is ever applied to the hillock, but another
name more widely known for other reasons is often given it.

The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 211

General Gordon, of Chinese and African fame, a year or two
before his last campaign, visited Jerusalem and was so im-
pressed with the belief that the New Calvary was the actual
one that he wrote and spoke much in its favor. An enterpris-
ing photographer named his view of the hill Gordon's Calvary,
and it is to-day probably better known by this than by any
other title.

The surface of the hill covers an extent of about three acres.
It slopes rather abruptly to the west, but gently on the east
and north. The summit is almost flat and affords a good
place for religious meetings. The Moslems whose dead are
buried here make no serious objections to their tombs being
used as seats by Christians. That they would prefer the ab-
sence of these infidels is well told on the faces of any Moham-
medans who happen to be on the hill when a Christian serv-
ice is being held. American Christians have thus far been
usually the ones who have assembled here, and some very
profitable meetings have been held by them. Mr. Moody and
Doctor Talmage have preached on this suggestive place ; and
an occasion not to be forgotten by any who were present was
a service held by the Congregational Party on the Sunday of
April 21st, 1895. Nor will Easter of 1898 when Rev. P. Cady
preached on " The Resurrection" be forgotten.

Equal in importance with Golgotha was the tomb of Joseph
in which the Crucified was laid. The two places were near
each other. " Now in the place where He was crucified there
was a garden ; and in the garden a new sepulchre wherein
was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, be-
cause of the Jews' preparation day : for the sepulchre was
nigh at hand" (John xix. 41,42). Certainly there can be
but one conclusion from a statement so definite. The places
of the cross and the grave were so near each other that little
time would be consumed in transferring the body from the
former to the latter. If the New Calvary be the real Calvary,
where is that rock tomb? Diligent search has been made for

212 Jerusalem the Holy

it, but, as usual, with no certain result. One writer says here,
another says there, and the interested reader may take his
choice. In the meantime the war of words goes on. We
hope the only outcome of it all will be to have the matter re-
main undecided. This will avoid any likelihood of a repeti-
tion of the idolatry and sacrilege that goes on around the
traditional tomb.

In the vicinity of the New Calvary there is no scarcity of
rock tombs. It has been a burying ground for ages, and each
new excavation brings to light the forgotten resting-place of
some former resident of Jerusalem. In the multiplicity of
these tombs it is not at all probable that one will be finally
agreed upon as the garden sepulchre of the wealthy Joseph of
Arimathea. Excavations whose object was the recovery of the
" new tomb " began in 1873. In 1881 the ruins of an ancient
Christian Church were unearthed. The Dominicans, who are
now the possessors of this ruin, claim that it was the work of
the Empress Eudoxia. Around it are many rock-cut sepul-
chres. From inscriptions found in these it is known that they
were the tombs of deacons of the early Church, but just how
early cannot be known positively. At whatever time these
tombs were cut it appears that this locality was regarded as a
desirable place for Christian burial. It may have been be-
cause Saint Stephen here met his death at the hands of the in-
furiated Jews, or because a Greater than Stephen here finished
the work He was appointed to do. If the latter be true, the
surmise of a recent writer may be correct. Rev. Haskett
Smith says in effect that these Christian tombs manifest the
desire of the early followers of the Crucified to be buried
" near their Lord."

This New Calvary has had its northwestern slope cut away
and the exposed rock has been worked to a smooth, perpen-
dicular face. The accumulated debris of centuries had hidden
from view this work of the masons, until modern explorations,
in quest of the secrets the earth contained, removed the debris

The New, or Gordon's, Calvary 213

and exposed the face of the rock. A ditch thirty-five feet long
and from twelve to fifteen in depth has been sunk, but so far
only one tomb has been discovered. This now goes by the
name of the New Tomb. No one can question that in point
of locality it fulfills all the requirements of the Gospel narrative.
It is only a few rods from the summit of Calvary and is within
the enclosure of a very ancient garden. The dispute as to its
genuineness hinges on its form. In the rock tombs around
Jerusalem two distinct styles are noted. There are those
which have a sort of vestibule or chamber. From this cham-
ber openings are cut in the walls just large enough to insert a
body lengthwise. Such are called Kokim and are the older
form. In the later style, known as loculi, the places for the
reception of the bodies were rock-cut sarcophagi and were
parallel with the sides of the chamber. This New Tomb be-
longs to the loculus form and was the kind in which Christ
was interred. This kind only would have permitted the view
that Mary had of " two angels in white sitting, the one at the
head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had
lain." Such a description could not apply to the older style.

A descent of ten steps is necessary below the level of the
garden before the door of the sepulchre is reached. Just
recently a guard has been stationed here and no one is ad-
mitted except by him and under his surveillance — a precaution
made necessary by the vandalism of visitors, many of whom
in their desire to obtain a fragment of the rock did not hesi-
tate to deface the tomb itself.

The low door at which the visitor enters leads into a vesti-
bule, whence two steps lead down into the tomb chamber, in
which are three receptacles for the dead ranged around the
three sides and even with the floor. The receptacle on the
left as one faces the south is by many considered the
" place where the Lord lay." On the south wall of the tomb
chamber can be traced an ancient cross painted on the rock,
but as this is in the Latin form it is argued that it cannot be

214 Jerusalem the Holy

older than the fifth and may date from the twelfth century.
This cross and the accompanying inscriptions, IC. XP. A and
Q are regarded by Major Conder as mediaeval. But the cross
and inscriptions have nothing, necessarily, to do in attesting
the age of the tomb. They simply prove that at the time they
were painted this was considered Christian property and may
indicate that there was once a small chapel or praying place in
this quiet retreat.

The Rev. Haskett Smith is very strong in his belief in the
genuineness of this tomb and has succeeded in arousing so
much interest in it that a company of English protestants has
purchased the garden in which it stands. The price paid the
former owner was very much more than the actual value of the
land, but in such cases sentiment is reckoned at its full value
by the seller. An imposing wall now surrounds the garden.
Let us hope that the sentiment of the good people who have
recently come into possession of it will carry them no further
and that they will allow the tomb to remain without ornamen-
tation of any sort.

The inconclusive nature of the evidence in favor of this be-
ing the New Tomb of Joseph does not affect the strong proofs
that the hill above it is the real Golgotha. Further excava-
tions in the neighborhood may bring to light another tomb
about whose antiquity there will be no doubt. Major Conder
claims to have found such a tomb, but there are too many ob-
jections to this because of its location. This was hewn in a
rock which as the advocate of it says : " Became the founda-
tion of the corner tower of the ' Third Wall ' about forty
years after the crucifixion."

Certainly, of all the sites advocated, this hill just north of
the Damascus Gate offers the most convincing evidence of its
identity as the true place of the crucifixion. In fact there is
no argument against it. Let us hope that it will continue as it
is, undesecrated.

SOME PLACES OF SPECIAL INTEREST

The Citadel of David — Commanding Position — Herod's
Work — Diversity of Opinion as to Age — Phasselus — Dimen-
sions— View from the Tower — Tomb of David — Questionable
— History of the Site — Moslem Property — Coenaculum — Tra-
ditions— Via Dolorosa — Important Street — Church of St.
Anne — First Station — Scala Sancta — Ecce Homo Arch — Vari-
ous Stations — A Modern Tradition for this Via Dolorosa —
Pool of Hezekiah — Christian Street — Uncertainty — Dimen-
sions— Moslem Reconstruction — New Topography — Pool of
Bethesda — Dimensions — Sheep's Pool — Five Porches — Pool in
Property of St. Anne Probably the Real — Explorations —
Tombs of the Kings — Rock Tombs — Queen Helena — Descrip-
tion of Tombs — De Sauley — Solomon's Quarry — Location —
Recovery — Danger — Quality of Stone — Method of Quarrying
— Of Masonic Interest.

216

XII

SOME PLACES OF SPECIAL INTEREST

Tower of David.

II.

Tomb of David.

III.

Via Dolorosa.

IV.

Pool of Hezekiah.

Pool of Bethesda.

VI.

Tombs of the Kings,

VII.

Solomon's Quarry.

IN the preceding pages brief mention has been made of cer-
tain places that have been important in the city's past and
add to the interest and appearance of its present. To omit a
description and illustration of these in a work of this kind
would be neglecting the most conspicuous objects of the city's
architecture, and passing by as unimportant, places and things
which thousands of pilgrims and tourists come every year to
see.

The Citadel of David. — The first building that meets the
vision of one approaching Jerusalem from the south or west is
that known as the Citadel of David. It occupies a command-
ing position and was originally chosen for its natural ad-
vantages as a place of defence ; from the day of its first choos-
ing it has been so used. Perhaps the early Jebusites had a
stronghold here, and what they had erected David improved
when he made Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom. It stood
in the northwest corner of David's city and doubtless then as
now commanded the principal entrance. It was the site of
some of Herod's greatest works of fortification and is zealously
held to-day by the forces of the Sultan.

The massive stones in the base of the tower would settle a

217

218 Jerusalem the Holy-

disputed question if they could tell just when they were
placed in their present positions, for they are in situ. There
is great diversity of opinion as to the date to be assigned to
masonry, — there being no marks which prove beyond doubt
the age when the builders wrought. So the large ancient-
looking stones in the Tower of David, with their marginal
drafts of from four to five inches wide are as mysterious as
many another feature of this strange old city. They are cer-
tainly as old as the Herodian period. We know from Josephus
that Herod built three large towers in this part of the city and
called them Hippicus, Phasselus and Miriamne. Parts of
three towers still stand, the one now called after David's name
being identified as that of Hippicus or Phasselus. Herod's
towers were not destroyed when the Romans under Titus took
and demolished so much of the town ; the Saracens and
Crusaders also permitted them to stand ; they were partly de-
molished in 1239 a. D. by Daud of Kerak, but this conqueror
left the base of the tower under discussion undisturbed, and
this was used as a foundation for later buildings.

From the description and measurements of the ancient
masonry in this tower Sir Charles Warren and Major Conder
may be correct in identifying it with Phasselus. The present
dimensions — fifty-four feet north and south by sixty-eight feet
east and west — approximate the dimensions of Phasselus as re-
corded by Josephus. The present battlements correspond to
Josephus' description of them as they were in his day. A
sloping escarp of smooth-faced stones leads up to these battle-
ments. This escarp was no doubt magnificent masonry when
first constructed and for centuries afterward. Ages of exposure
to the weather and severe treatment by the weapons of assail-
ants have caused it to crumble in places, and modern repairers
have been very careless. In spite of its age, bad treatment and
the indifference of its present owners it is a commanding
structure and is the finest of the ancient towers.

Within the chamber of the tower is an immense cistern

Some Places of Special Interest 219

whose water partly supplies the needs of the "Sultan's chil-
dren." It is filled by surface drainage and by a conduit from
the Birket Mamilla, or Upper Pool of Gihon. Josephus tells
us of the existence of such a conduit, through which ' ' water
was brought into the tower of Hippicus."

A climb to the top of the tower gives us a commanding view
and a good notion of the carelessness of those who have
charge of Turkish military affairs. There seems to be no
order about the barracks. The soldiers are untidy, but
not more so than their quarters. The cannons in the tower
are genuine antiques, but during the Moslem feasts are suf-
ficiently powerful to satisfy any one chancing to be in the
vicinity of their noise. If the garrisons' ordnance consists of
the pieces visitors are permitted to see, they could offer little
resistance to an attacking force modernly equipped. The
view from the top is the best to be had from any point in the
city. An uninterrupted prospect in every direction can be
enjoyed. The observer is above an historic spot, and his range
of vision includes as many places whereon history has been
made as any view-point on earth.

Tomb of David. — A few rods south of the Zion Gate is a
cluster of buildings the largest of which is called Nebi Daud
— the Prophet David. This is the site of the sepulchres of
the early kings of Israel, or is believed to be by Jews,
Moslems, and the majority of Christians. In recent years,
however, the effort has been made to locate the " royal tombs "
on the eastern hill, or Moriah. All depends on the position
of the City of David. If that city stood on the low hill south
of the temple area, then somewhere in that very limited space
David and his successors were buried. If, as has been advo-
cated in the chapters of this work, the western hill must
have been the city's real location, then here we must look for
the royal burial-place. At all events this is now called the
tomb of David and for present purposes that is all we require.

As David is considered by Moslems one of the greatest of

220 Jerusalem the Holy

the prophets, this is an especially holy place, guarded more
zealously from "infidel" defilement than even the sacred
cave at Hebron. The site was formerly Christian property
and before the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
a church stood here. It was called the Church of the
Apostles and marked the place of the descent of the Holy
Ghost on the day of Pentecost. In the seventh century it was
affirmed that here also the Last Supper was held. When the
Crusaders had possession of Jerusalem this church was known
as the Church of Zion, or of St. Mary. In the fourteenth
century the Franciscans acquired title to this property, and the
building in its present form is as they constructed it. In
1547 the Moslems expelled the Franciscans considering that
their occupation was a sacrilege. It has since remained a
Moslem sanctuary. Christians are never welcomed, and in-
deed are forbidden to enter any place except an " upper room "
which members of the Latin and Oriental Churches regard as
the chamber in which the Lord's Supper was instituted. This
room, which is called the Coenaculum, was originally part of
a Christian Church. Its pillars and ceiling are interesting,
but not ancient, probably dating from the fourteenth century.
In the southeast corner a stairway leads into a smaller room
where the guardian of the place points out a monument of modern
design and informs you that it stands directly above the sar-
cophagus of David, which still exists in the cave beneath. A
door is shown which is said to lead into this cave, though
whether any such cave really exists is a question. No living
person has looked into it. Christians and Jew cannot ;
Moslems will not. If permission were given to make an in-
spection the question of the " City of David " and so Mount
Zion might be settled.

Apart from its connection with the burial of the kings an
interest attaches to Nebi Daud from the fact that tradition has
assigned to the space it includes so many of the events of
early Christianity. It is said by Dean Stanley that the Coe-

Some Places of Special Interest 221

naculum " contains within its four walls a greater confluence
of traditions than any other place of like dimensions in Pales-
tine." Besides being the place of the Last Supper, it is
claimed that it was the scene of Christ's sudden appearance
among the disciples after His resurrection ; of the descent of
the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, of the residence and death of the
Virgin Mary and of the burial of Saint Stephen.

This is certainly one instance in which a superabundance of
traditions detracts from the probability of each one. It is not
at all likely that a residence should have been permitted in
Christ's time immediately above the Sepulchre of David. The
centering of all these traditions on this spot may be traced to
a statement in the writings of Cyril, that the only building
which survived the destruction of the city by Titus stood
here. It would be easy to infer that a structure so spared
must have been divinely protected, and if so, for what better
reason than its connection with sacred events ? Such events,
the places of whose occurrence had been lost, would be readily
assigned to this locality ; there was no intention to deceive ;
they wished by thus localizing an event to make it more real.
Perhaps it may be said for all such places located since, that
their locators had no intention to deceive, but the method of
locating many Holy places and the purposes for which they
have been employed make one suspicious of the motives.

Via Dolorosa. — Entering the city from the east through the
Gate of St. Stephen we are on one of the most important
streets — the most important if estimated by the number of
Holy Places that line it. Just within the gate is a doorway
leading to the Church of St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin,
on a site which has been held sacred to the memory of this
saint since the seventh century and was kept by a sisterhood
in the time of the Crusades. Saladin after his conquest es-
tablished a large school here, and it was held by the Moslems
until 1856, when it was presented by the then reigning Sultan,
Abdul-Mejid, to Napoleon III. The present church, re-

222 Jerusalem the Holy

modelled in the twelfth century, has been little disturbed by
its different owners.

Following this street, which is known as that of Our Lady
Mary, we soon come to some very ancient masonry regarded
as formerly belonging to the Tower of Antonia. A little fur-
ther to the west is the Chapel of Scourging, a marble slab let
into the wall on the right indicating the place. This is Fran-
ciscan property, having been presented to that order by Ibra-
him Pasha in 1838. Below the new chapel, which was built
in 1839 by the generosity of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, the
Column of Scourging was found.

The Via Dolorosa proper begins a little further west or in
front of the entrance to the Turkish barracks. This is the
first of the fourteen stations of "the way of pain". — away
believed by the faithful pilgrims to be the identical road trod-
den by the foot of the Son of Man, as He went to His death.

This first station marks, according to recent tradition, the
place of the House of Pilate, which until the time of the Cru-
saders was supposed to be somewhere on the western hill. The
holy steps — Scala Sancta — now in the Church of St. John La-
teran, at Rome, were taken from this place. The second station,
where the cross was laid upon the shoulders of Christ, is near
the steps leading up to the barracks. A little further on is the
fine school and church of the Sisters of Zion, and the Ecce
Homo arch where Pilate called the attention of those who
were crying for the blood of an innocent Person in the words
" Behold the Man." This arch dates from the Roman period
and has frequently been repaired ; it was probably originally
an arch of triumph, and it received its present designation in
the tenth century.

Beyond the arch the "way" passes the Austrian Hospice,
makes a right angle to the left and then to the right, and as-
cends the western hill by a succession of steps, passing under
gloomy vaults, till it reaches the northern end of Christian
street, near which was formerly an entrance to the Church of

Some Places of Special Interest 223

the Holy Sepulchre. There is nothing about this way which
distinguishes it from any other street in the city ; it is as tor-
tuous and narrow and unattractive as any. But the very places
are shown where each incident in the progress of Christ from
the judgment hall to Calvary took place. Here the Saviour
sank under the weight of the cross ; here Simon of Cyrene
was compelled to assume the burden ; here is the house of
Lazarus as well as that of Dives ; here is the house and tomb
of Veronica, the saint on whose handkerchief was imprinted
the likeness of the Christ when she wiped the sweat from His
brow.

The last five stations are in the Church of the Holy Sepul-
chre. They mark the places where Christ was disrobed, where
He was nailed to the cross, where the cross was raised, where
He was taken down from the cross and where He was buried.

Thousands of pilgrims come every year and visit time and
again all the places marked as holy along this "way." For
them it is all very real. Their tears are tears of sorrow and
their prayers prayers of faith. They never doubt the accuracy
of the locations, and do not know that these sacred sites were
not so considered until the fourteenth century, nor that there is
not the slightest historical evidence to sustain their genuineness.

Pool of Hezekiah. — Christian street is the cleanest and most
attractive in the city. The shops along it are superior in ap-
pearance and in fact. Going into almost any one of these on
the left as one approaches the Holy Sepulchre, a view can be
had of the most important pool in the city — the pool of Heze-
kiah. The good king is supposed to have constructed it, and
for centuries its identity was not questioned. An aqueduct
leads to it from the Mamilla Pool, or Upper Pool of Gihon,
which is in the large Moslem cemetery, northwest of the town.
If this Mamilla Pool was " the upper water course of Gihon,"
which " Hezekiah stopped," x then there is no doubt about the
identification of this pool as Hezekiah's ; if it is not, the points

1 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.

224 Jerusalem the Holy

of resemblance are at least striking. But this is one more in-
stance where certainty is not possible.

Hezekiah's Pool, as it now appears, is eighty yards long by
forty-eight wide and three deep, estimating the depth from the
level of the street. In winter, after the heavy rains, it is
quite an artificial lake, though in midsummer it is generally
dry. Its waters are used by the people living near it and sup-
ply also the large "Bath of the Patriarch" near at hand;
hence it is often called the Pool of the Patriarch's Bath. Ac-
cording to Mejr-ed-Din, an Arabic historian, it was known to
the early Moslems, and for long time after, as the Birket
Iyad. This Iyad was one of the Prophet's companions ; he
entered Jerusalem with Omar, and having reconstructed the
Pool, he was honored by having it named after him. It is
generally regarded as the Amygdalon Pool — the tower pool —
of Josephus.

The new theory of Jerusalem topography — which relieves
none of the many difficulties — asserts that this pool has no
right to the name by which it is popularly known and informs
us that what is now called the Pool of Siloam is the real Pool
of Hezekiah.

Pool of Bethesda. — Just outside the north wall of the Haram
may be seen the traditional Pool of Bethesda, or rather where
the Pool once was. It was 372 feet long, by 126 feet wide,
and its depth, measuring from the level of the Mosque area, is
sixty-eight feet. This Pool was situated in a valley which an-
ciently extended in a northwesterly direction till it joined the
Tyropean. This valley has been' filled with debris and the
Pool is suffering a similar fate, in some places being already
on a level with the street. Only after a heavy rain will any
water be seen in it, and then only covering a small place close
to the Haram wall.

In calling this by the ancient name Bethesda we are follow-
ing an old, but by no means universally accepted, tradition.
Early pilgrims also called it " the Sheep Pool," erroneously

Some Places of Special Interest 225

believing that the present St. Stephen's Gate occupies the site
of the Sheep Gate. Recent discoveries have led to the belief
that the real pool of this name was in the grounds of the
Church of St. Anne. That the Crusaders regarded this latter
as Bethesda is argued from the fact that they built five
"porches " about it, thus making it correspond to the descrip-
tion of John v. 2. These "porches" still remain and seem
to have been rebuilt on ancient foundations. A picture of an
angel troubling the waters still remains, the wings and part of
the body being easily made out.

The traditional pool is now called Birket Israel. In and
near it Captain Warren made some interesting explorations —
interesting in that they revealed in the lower courses of the
northern Haram wall masonry similar to that in the southeast
angle. Characters in red paint were also found here, which
certainly indicate great antiquity. A passage-way was also
discovered leading into an aqueduct which formerly carried
the water from the pool, underground, through part of the
temple enclosure, and discharged it into the Kedron valley.
The existence of such an aqueduct points to a time when
water was abundant in this pool, for its exit is twenty-five feet
above the bottom. The water in the pool could consequently
never rise higher than this.

There are interesting discoveries awaiting the pick of the
explorer in this northeast angle, just as there are in every part
of the Haram area. But the explorer has to wait, for this is
one of the very holiest places of Mohammedanism, and as
long as it remains so no permission to excavate will be given,
nor will its owners do such work themselves.

Tombs of the Kings. — It may not be pleasant to contem-
plate, but is, nevertheless, a fact, that the city of Jerusalem
stands in the center of an immense cemetery. There are
tombs on every side; hardly a building is erected in the
newer parts without discovering in the excavations for the
foundation the rock-hewn resting-place of some former resi-

226 Jerusalem the Holy-

dent of the ancient city. It is difficult to assign the date to
many of these tombs in the rocks, though there are marks
which indicate that they cannot be later than a certain time.
But many of these tombs have been repeatedly used and
during the ages may have been altered to accord with the
ideas of sepulture which prevailed at the time.

The most interesting as well as the best preserved are those
known as the Tombs of the Kings, situated about half a mile
directly north of the Damascus Gate. A French inscription
just over the door of entrance tells us that these are the tombs
of the Kings of Judah. Ignorance or deception placed this
notice where it is and indifference keeps it there. The place
is interesting enough without ascribing to it any fictitious
value. The tradition calling these the Tombs of the Kings is
not older than the fourteenth century.

These tombs are now generally considered as those of Queen
Helena, of Adiabene, and her family. Josephus locates the
burial-place of this queen here. She was a convert to Juda-
ism, having while in her own land, become convinced of the
truth of that religion. On the death of her husband, Mom-
baz, in 48 a. d., she removed to Jerusalem with her son Izates
and resided here for some years. On a visit to her country
she died, but her body was brought to the city she loved and
buried here. It is said that Izates was the father of twenty-
four sons, which, if true, would account for the number of
resting places in the tomb.

A flight of twenty-four steps cut in the rock leads down to
the level where an entrance to the tomb proper is effected.
At the foot of these steps are several large cisterns where the
ablutions preliminary to burial were no doubt performed. Pass-
ing then through a door on the left which pierces a wall of
native rock one is in a large rectangular space fronting the
facade of the tombs. On this facade is some of the very
finest ornamental carving that remains from ancient times.
The character of this and the subjects depicted — such as clus-

Some Places of Special Interest 227

ters of grapes, so common on Jewish coins — has assisted in
identifying the tombs as Jewish. De Sauley did most of
the work of recovering and planning these tombs. In his
work of excavation several beautiful sarcophagi were found,
which were transported to Paris and may now be seen in the
Louvre.

A doorway on the left, some feet below the level of the
vestibule, conducts into the main chamber. From this low
passages — not easy to follow — lead off in three directions to the
smaller chambers where the loculi — places where bodies were
laid — may be seen. The evident care which was taken in the
making of these tombs, together with the variety of ornamen-
tation, leaves no doubt that they were intended for persons of
great wealth and importance.

Solomon's Quarry. — A hundred yards east of the Damascus
Gate is a high cliff made by a wide excavation which sepa-
rates Bezetha from the New Calvary hill. Just at its base
where the cliff is highest is a small door leading into the larg-
est cavern near the city. The name given to this by the Mos-
lems is "The Cotton Grotto" because of the unusual white-
ness of rock in which it is cut. The common appellation for
it is Solomon's Quarry, assuming, and not without reason,
that it was here that royal builder procured the stone for his
great works. For centuries all knowledge of the existence of
this artificial cavern was lost. Since it was recovered, in 1852,
it has been a place all visitors wish to see. And it is worth see-
ing in itself apart from any connection it may have with any
of the great builders of antiquity.

The quarry extends southward under the city for nearly
seven hundred feet. At some places the roof is so low that
one has to stoop in order to pass; in others so high that the
light of the candles is swallowed up in the darkness. Here
and there large natural pillars are left to support the roof, but
these have not prevented the loose rock from falling and as
one passes a spot where such a fall has occurred it sends a

228 Jerusalem the Holy

shudder through him at thought of the possibility of a similar
catastrophe occurring during his visit. But none has oc-
curred that has proved fatal to visitors ; through carelessness
persons have been seriously injured and at least one death has
resulted. As there are dangerous pitfalls from which the rock
has been taken and which have never been filled up, a person
well acquainted with the "cave" should accompany every
party.

The stone to be had in this quarry is exceedingly white and
beautiful. It is soft and hence can be easily taken out. By
the markings in the rock the ancient method of quarrying
may be understood. By means of a pick, or similar tool, a
deep groove was cut in the face of the rock to the width de-
sired. This was followed by parallel grooves. It was then an
easy matter when one stone was removed for all the rest in its
tier to be taken out. This was done by making a small niche
in the rock, driving in a wooden wedge and then pouring
water on the wedge which, as the wood swelled, split the
stone. All through the quarries are small shelves on which
stood the earthen lamps that gave light to the laborers.

This cavern is of special interest to the Masonic Order.
Small and large parties of this fraternity visit the city every
year and seem to find their chief delight in the gloomy re-
cesses where they hold, many of them, that Masonry was in-
stituted by King Solomon himself. Many a bit of the white
stone, large enough to be worked into an emblem of the Or-
der, finds its way into the trunks of the brethren and is care-
fully guarded till it takes its place among the sacred relics of
the home lodge. Several large blocks have been lately shipped
to various cities in America, destined to be worked into some
Masonic Temple.

From descriptions of the temples, which at various periods
of Jerusalem's history have graced the Mount Moriah, it
seems but reasonable to believe that the stone that formed
them was procured here. There is no stone like it, none so

Some Places of Special Interest 229

beautiful, in the vicinity. The quarry is very near the place
where the temple stood and by making a surface opening in
its southern extremity the distance of transportation would be
very short. We are told in 1 Kings vi. 7, that the temple
was erected without sound of "any tool of iron heard in the
house," and was "of stone ready made before it was brought
thither." This preparatory work could easily have been done
in the quarry, almost on the very site of the Holy House, and
yet no sound be heard within the sacred enclosure. There is
no good reason for doubting that here the whiteness was pro-
cured that helped to produce the "vision of snow and gold "
that stood on Mount Moriah.

EXCAVATIONS IN JERUSALEM

Constantine's Labors — History of Early Explorations — Dr.
Edward Robinson — Canon George Williams — Ordnance Sur-
vey— Conrad Schick — Topographical Certainties — Uncertain-
ties— Unanswered Questions — Sir Charles Warren — Results
Satisfactory — Rock Levels — Tyropean Valley — Mount Moriah
— Kedron Valley — Ophel — Siloam Aqueduct — Siloam Inscrip-
tion— Palestine Exploration Fund's Work — Dr. Bliss and Mr.
Dickie — Excavations on Southern Brow of Zion — Walls —
Jewish Cemetery — At Siloam Pool — Siloam Church — Endo-
cia's Wall — Other Excavations.

232

XIII

EXCAVATIONS IN JERUSALEM

SINCE the days of Constantine, when that which is now
called the Holy Sepulchre was brought to light, many
efforts have been made to reveal the secrets which the debris
of many centuries had kept so carefully. Doubt rests upon
Constantine's results and upon those of many later delvers in
and near the city. But the uncertainty of results has not
chilled the ardor with which explorers of more recent times
have entered upon their tasks.

A brief list of the lovers of Jerusalem who visited the city
since it became prominent as a center of Christian activity and
who have left a record of what it was in their time may be of
interest.

The Bordeaux Pilgrim was in Jerusalem in 333. In the
" Itinerary " he gives us his account of what the city then was.
Eusebius, a contemporary of the Pilgrim fully describes the
Church of the Resurrection in his "Life of Constantine."
Arculfus about the close of the same century gives very distinct
testimony as to the sepulchre, and there are many allusions to
localities in the Letters of Jerome and in the Homilies of St.
Cyril. In the fifth century (427-440) the important tract of
Eucherius and several notices in the works of Ephanius were
written. Procopius and Theodosius are the authorities for the
sixth century. Toward the close of the seventh century (680)
Arculfus recorded the impressions received during his pil-
grimage. St. Willibald belongs to the eighth century and Ber-
nard the Wise to the ninth. These, with Soewolf (1102), de-
scribe the city's appearance before its rebuilding under the
Crusaders.

233

234 Jerusalem the Holy

In the history written by William of Tyre Jerusalem topog-
raphy is frequently alluded to, and in the twelfth century
Fetellus (1150) and Theodoricus (1172) give their accounts.
The same century furnishes us with some Jewish tracts, the
most important of which is that of Benjamin of Tudela.

Brocardus in 1283 is an authority for his time, and Sir
John Mandeville (1322) was, until recently, highly regarded.
Mejr-ed-Din, the historian, about 1495 gives the best account
from an Arab standpoint, while in the same century, though
somewhat earlier, John Poloner recounts his impressions from
a Christian point of view. In 16 16 a Latin monk, named
Quaresmius, wrote an account based on tradition. Henry
Maundrell's account written in 1697 is considered a valuable
document. Reland (17 14), Pococke (1737) and Chateau-
briand (1807) bring us to the beginning of this century and
the inception of critical and scientific investigations concern-
ing the topography of the Holy City.

The above list by no means gives the names of all those who
during these centuries have left on record what they had seen
in Jerusalem or heard from those who had seen. It comprises
simply those upon whom modern students generally rely. A
work of unknown authorship, dating from 11 90, and first pub-
lished in Count Beugnot's "Assises de Jerusalem " in 1843,
gives a topographical description of the city as it was when
Saladin finally wrested it from the Crusaders.

The honor of the first real scientific exploration of sacred
sites in Palestine belongs to the American scholar and traveller,
Dr. Edward Robinson. He began his work in this line in
1838, and soon became so dissatisfied with the proofs that were
presented to him that he was compelled to regard as utterly
worthless the entire mass of monkish traditions that were ad-
duced in the support of localities. His results were conclusive
to the great majority of Bible Land students, though he found
a worthy opponent in the English traditionalist Canon George
Williams, whose work "The Holy City" — a monument of

Excavations in Jerusalem 235

history and topography — appeared in 1849. German scholars,
notable among whom are Thrupp (1855), and Tobler (1845-
1855) added to existing information. Other names of promi-
nence about this time are Fergusson, Willis, Barclay, Stanley,
De Sauley, Vandevelde and the Due de Vogue.

While the labors of all these are important and their writings
are authoritative, the later explorations conducted by the
Ordnance Survey at the expense of Lady Burdett-Coutts, and
published in 1866, have rendered the work of all but Dr.
Robinson and the Due de Vogue, to a greater or less extent,
obsolete. Since then the society known as the Palestine Ex-
ploration Fund have been the principal workers in this field.
The most indefatigable individual worker is Dr. Conrad
Schick, who has resided in Jerusalem for fifty years and is prob-
ably better acquainted with the city than any other living per-
son. Along with these must be mentioned the excavations on
Ophel made by Dr. Guthe, in 1881, and the exploration of the
well-known Zion scarp by Mr. Henry Maudsley in 1874. The
clearing of the Muristan by the German Government in 1873
disclosed this part of the city. While these practical ex-
plorers have been at work seeking to increase our knowledge
of Jerusalem and its environs by actual excavations, there has
been a class of theorizers, no less numerous, who have ad-
vanced opinions as to the city's topography, some of which are
ingenious, some absurd. The number of this latter class and
the confusion resulting from their numerous hypotheses have
led the general reader into the belief that there is nothing cer-
tain in modern localizations of the ancient famous places and
buildings. While a great deal of uncertainty really does exist,
it is an unwarranted statement to say that there is nothing sure.

We are certain that the ridge facing the Temple Hill on the
east is the Mount of Olives ; that the valley between these two
hills is the valley of the Kedron. There is no reasonable doubt
that the hill within the city, and known as Mt. Moriah, is
that on which the temple stood. The valley that separates

236 Jerusalem the Holy

Mt. Moriah from the modern Zion is conceded to be the
Tyropean of Josephus. No one questions that the Pool of
Siloam is properly named, or that Ophel is the southern slope
of Mt. Moriah. The east wall of the Haram enclosure is
recognized as being part of the wall of the ancient city, and
the present southwest corner of the Haram enclosure marks the
limits of the ancient temple area in this direction. The modern
citadel, known as David's Tower, is located in the immediate
vicinity of the royal fortresses built by Herod. The Zion scarp
in the Protestant cemetery is the old southwest angle of the
city.

These are settled points. They are not numerous, but it is
some satisfaction to know that concerning them there is a har-
mony of opinion among writers on Jerusalem. The unsettled
points are many. At the same time they may be included in
four main questions. First, Where was the City of David, on
modern Zion, or on Ophel, just south of the temple area?
Second, What was the extent of the city at its greatest pros-
perity, or just before its destruction by Titus in 70 a. d?
Third, What was the area included within the temple walls
and just where within this area did the temple itself stand?
Fourth, What is the true site of Calvary and of the Holy
Sepulchre ?

On all these questions authorities differ. The only key to
the solution of the first will be the discovery of the Tomb of
David. This we know was in the city of David. Efforts have
been made to locate these royal sepulchres, but without success.
Of late authorities have been inclining to accept the eastern
hill south of the temple area as the true site of the ancient
city. The difficulties in the way of such an acceptance
are many. To recognize the summit of Zion as being
the place selected for his city by Israel's warrior king is not
without its objections either. While I hold to this latter
opinion, it is only an opinion whose tenure depends upon the
pick of the excavator.

Excavations in Jerusalem 237

The answer to the second question depends upon the dis-
covery of the ancient walls. On the south the wall is now
fairly well known. The recent excavations of Doctor Bliss, con-
ducted under the Palestine Exploration Fund during the years
1893 to 1897, have traced this wall from the scarp at the
southwest corner, in the Protestant cemetery, along the south-
ern brow of the Zion hill, eastward to and including the Pool
of Siloam. There is still some doubt as to whether the wall
thus traced was ancient, but there is no room for dispute that
at some time in its history the city extended thus far in this
direction. Nor is there any doubt that the wall — a double
wall — exposed south of the Siloam Pool is ancient.

The east wall as far as the northeast angle of the temple en-
closure, and the west wall as far north as the present Jaffa Gate
are regarded as occupying the positions of the ancient city
walls. But the walls to the north, of which there were three,
erected at different periods, are under consideration and will
probably remain so for a long time. The most important of
these, and the one that has given rise to the greatest dis-
cussion, is the Second Wall. Its importance is due to its
relation to the site of the Holy Sepulchre Church.

Concerning the third question as to the area of the temple
enclosure and the exact position of the Holy House we must
wait for answer upon the result of explorations yet to be made.
The excavations of Sir Charles Warren, which resulted in the
discovery of the large wall on Ophel, favors those who believe
that the temple area was a square measuring one thousand feet
on each side. The line of this wall discovered by Warren
joins the Haram wall at the southeast angle and thus corre-
sponds with a statement in Josephus, which informs us that the
Ophel wall joined the east cloister of Herod's Temple. The
opposite opinion is that the temple area was a square of about
six hundred feet on each side.

The actual site of the temple itself is not known and as long

238 Jerusalem the Holy

as the Moriah hill remains a Moslem sacred place will not be
known.

As regards the fourth question, namely, the true site of
Calvary and of the Holy Sepulchre, it has been sufficiently
dwelt upon in the chapters on "The Holy Sepulchre" and
"The New Calvary."

Concerning the rest of the city and its immediate environs
there is hardly a square rod that has not been examined by
some enterprising student of topography ; excepting only sites
considered holy by the Moslems. Unfortunately these ex-
ceptions cover most interesting places, as for example, the
Mosque area and the traditional site of the Tomb of David.
In all firmans granted to individuals or societies, giving per-
mission to excavate, absolute prohibition against touching
these sacred places is invariable. It will thus be seen that the
most interesting exploring is still to be done.

And yet, in spite of these prohibitions and of other hin-
drances and inconveniences the results of recent explorations
have been numerous and satisfactory. It will be possible to
mention these only in a general way ; in the various volumes
published by, and in the Quarterly Reports of the Palestine
Exploration Fund they may be found in detail.

A very important preliminary to the proper study of
Jerusalem was the ascertaining of the levels of the rock foun-
dations upon which the city was built. This work was done
by Lieutenant-Colonel Conder principally, though he was
assisted by the previous labors of Doctor Schick and Sir
Charles Wilson. These rock levels give an idea of the con-
tour of the hills and valleys of Jerusalem before they were
selected by men as suitable ground for the building of a city.
They reveal the depth of the debris that has been accumulated
during the city's history.

Having once obtained these levels the explorer could easily
see how much change had come over the surface contour, and
how necessary it was to take this alteration into account in

Excavations in Jerusalem 239

considering the descriptions of the city's topography as
recorded in the Bible and in Josephus. It gives us the approx-
imate height of the hills, the depth and width of the valleys as
they were in earlier days. One of the results of seeking for
these levels was the revelation of the important valley that be-
gan near the Jaffa Gate and descended into, the Tyropean.
There has been so much accumulation here that this valley,
which many consider the true commencement of the Tyropean,
was quite forgotten. It was originally a considerable gorge
and gave to the lower part of the northwestern hill a " gib-
bous ' ' form.

The main part of the Tyropean valley has been partially
excavated. The accumulations of rubbish here are of great
depth. Vaults and pools and passages constructed of large
and well-dressed stones exist beneath the present surface. The
modern Street of the Chain crosses this valley on a causeway,
beneath which is a long passage that has been called the
Secret Passage. North of this are two parallel rows of vaults
dating from pre-Saracenic times as is seen from repairs
evidently Saracenic. When these vaults were constructed
their course was hindered by a large building made of drafted
stones. This structure is no doubt one of the oldest pieces of
masonry in Jerusalem and is called the Ancient Hall.

And so following the whole course of this Tyropean Valley
until it merges into the Kedron valley the excavator has
found a most fertile soil. Foundations of buildings, cisterns
and drains show the immensity of the work that has been ex-
pended upon it at various periods of the history of the city.
A large part of it is outside the present walls, as in fact is a
large part of the ground covered by the ancient city.

There was also in early times a considerable valley north of
the temple area which assisted in the protection of the sacred
enclosure. This commences north of the present wall of the
city, descends in a southerly direction and turns to the east
just west of the Church of Saint Anne, shortly afterward

240 Jerusalem the Holy

merging into the Kedron. This valley is mentioned by
Josephus in the Antiquities xiv. 4, 2, and in the Wars 1, 7, 3.
Pompey sought to fill up this valley and found it a serious un-
dertaking. The great reservoir, commonly called, though
erroneously, the Pool of Bethesda, lies in this valley. The
natives term it Birket Israel, or Pool of Israel. It extends
along the north wall of the Mosque enclosure for 360 feet and
has a breadth of 126 feet and depth of eighty feet. It is, how-
ever, rapidly being filled up by refuse and part of it, never
covered by water, is being used as a vegetable garden.

The excavations just outside the walls of the Mosque area,
and the several examinations of the cistern within the en-
closure which have been permitted by the Moslem custodians
enable us to have a reasonably correct idea of the original
contour of Mount Moriah. The summit was the sacred rock
now under the Dome. From this the rock shelved off on all
sides, except at the northwest corner where the rock was
prominent and on which now stands the Turkish barracks oc-
cupying the old site of the Tower of Antonia. A neck of
rock formerly joined Mount Moriah to Bezetha, but this was
artificially cut through at an early date.

The Kedron valley has witnessed many attempts at excava-
tion. Great difficulties were experienced here and owing to
the loose nature of the debris always will be. Mixed with the
soil is an immense amount of stone chippings, which prevent
the soil from cohering and make deep excavating dangerous.
Unfortunately only deep excavating is of any value here for
the depth of the debris, which is all comparatively modern,
is great and any discoveries that will throw light upon ancient
times are found beneath this.

The original bed of the Kedron is forty feet west of the
present. The unstable nature of the debris has gradually
forced it thus far to the east, at the same time filling up the
bed and raising its surface about twelve feet. A wall built for
the purpose of retaining the accumulations on the west has

Excavations in Jerusalem 241

been uncovered just west of the true bed. It has long been
overcome by the moving mass, which has forced itself east-
ward until it threatens to cover and hide from view the many
tombs of the Hebrews that were thought to have been buried
at a safe distance from the winter brook.

This eastern wall of the sanctuary has been already ex-
amined and some of the results of subterranean investigation
mentioned. But what is known, compared to what is yet to
be revealed, is very little. The cause of this ignorance is the
presence of what is always a bane to explorers, a Moslem
cemetery. This extends over a large part of the ground be-
tween the southeast corner of the wall and St. Stephen's Gate.
North of the Golden Gate, however, it is known that the
depth of the debris is 125 feet, and that the wall is built up
from the native rock foundation. This was learned only after
most laborious excavation by Sir Charles Warren. Perhaps,
as Warren has supposed, if excavating could be done in the
Moslem cemetery and along the wall the huge stones — twenty
cubits long by six cubits thick — which Solomon placed on this
side would be uncovered.

The Ophel hill, which is but the southern slope of Moriah,
is very different in appearance from what it was when it was
within the city proper. It is now covered by gardens that are
tilled in rich soil that overlies the houses of former Jerusalem-
ites. And where the solemn priests once wended their way to
the temple and its services the Fellahin now delve and guard
their small patches of ground. Amid the gardens Warren
discovered the Ophel wall which has a width at its base of
fifteen feet and at its top of twelve feet. This wall was followed
southward for seventy-six feet where it turned to the west and
continued for 700 feet. Several towers of great strength were
observed. Among the many interesting antiquities that were
found within this wall was a cavern containing fullers' vats,
very near to the traditional place where Saint James was thrown
from the temple wall and killed by a fuller's club.

242 Jerusalem the Holy

The Siloam aqueduct is interesting in showing the early
engineering of the Jews. This aqueduct extends from the
Virgin's Fountain through the spur of Ophel to the Pool of
Siloam. The distance between the Fountain and the Pool is,
in a straight line, about 900 feet. But the course followed by
the conduit makes it 1,708 feet. Why this tortuous route was
taken has given rise to conjecture, some supposing it was taken
intentionally in order to avoid the tombs of the kings. But
there is no evidence whatever that these tombs are on this
ridge of Ophel, and it is more likely that the great length of
the aqueduct was due to the ignorance of its makers in sub-
terranean engineering. This belief is supported by the fact
that openings have been found from the tunnel to the surface,
indicating in all likelihood that they were made in order that
the excavators might thus get their bearings.

Modern explorers have managed with difficulty to crawl
through this aqueduct. Doctor Robinson was the first of these.
Doctor Barclay also succeeded before the Palestine Exploration
Fund's workers under Colonel Warren were on the ground.
To the latter, however, belongs the credit of having made a
careful survey of the route. With their great care, however,
the most important secret the tunnel contained was not dis-
covered. This is what is now known as the Siloam Inscrip-
tion, and is the oldest Hebrew inscription in existence. It
was found in 1880 by a Fellah working under the direction of
Herr Conrad Schick. This laborer fell into the water of the
tunnel accidentally and happened then to notice some lettering
on the wall cut in the solid rock. Later inspection showed
that the face of the rock had been smoothed into a tablet form
of about twenty-seven inches square. This was found about
fifteen feet from the Siloam end of the tunnel, on the right
side as one would enter it.

Several men of prominence in Jerusalem exploration worked
upon this inscription. During the centuries of its existence a
deposit of lime had formed over it. This Doctor Guthe, the

Excavations in Jerusalem 243

German authority on Jerusalem topography, removed by wash-
ing the tablet in a weak solution of hydrochloric acid. A
" squeeze " of the inscription was taken by Major Conder un-
der great difficulties, he and his assistant Lieutenant Mantell
having to remain in an uncomfortable position partially in
water for several hours. Professor Sayce had seen the original
inscription in situ, but used as the basis of his study of it the
squeeze made by Conder. The following is Sayce's translation
of the text :

1. " (Behold the) Excavation. Now this is the history of
the excavation. While the excavators were still lifting up

2. "The pick, each toward his neighbor, and while there
were yet three cubits to (excavate, there was heard) the voice
of one man

3. " Calling to his neighbor, for there was an excess (?) in
the rock on the right hand (and on the left ?). And after that
on the day

4. "Of excavating the excavators had struck pick against
pick, one against another,

5. "The waters flowed from the spring to the pool for a
distance of 1,200 cubits. And (part)

6. " Of a cubit was the height of the rock over the head
of the excavators "

Each verse of the above translation represents a line on the
tablet. The characters are in ancient Hebrew resembling
closely those on the Moabite Stone. Their existence sets at
rest the ignorant assertion that the early Israelites were unable
to write.

The most recent scientific exploring has been done by the
Palestine Exploration Fund, with Doctor Fredrick J. Bliss as the
man in charge. Excavating is not easy work and the Fund
soon found that an assistant to Doctor Bliss was necessary. Mr.
A. C. Dickie was the assistant selected. These two able and
enthusiastic explorers spent the working seasons of three con-
secutive years mostly on the southern slope of Mount Zion

244 Jerusalem the Holy

and in the Tyropean valley. Full reports of their labors and
"finds" are given in the Quarterly Statement of the Fund.
Work was begun in the spring of 1894.

Commencing at the so-called Rock Scarp of Zion this scarp
was followed for a considerable distance. Inside the scarp a
long line of fine masonry in situ was found. A massive gate
way in the wall was uncovered, which is thought to be the
Dung Gate of Scripture. A paved street led up to this gate
and beneath the street was found a large drain. This gate
must have once been the main exit from the city to the south.

No evidence of a wall on the scarp was found. But the
wall within was definitely traced for 1,050 feet, and the trac-
ing then had to be discontinued because it led through the
ancient Zion burial-place of the Jews. In the wall thus ex-
posed five different styles of masonry are recognized, viz: —
rubble foundation, roughly-dressed stones, smooth-faced stones,
drafted stones with flat centres, drafted stones with projecting
bosses. To what period to assign these various styles no one
knows positively, and no key is given by the stones themselves,
as none bore any inscription or ornamentation. The masonry
was all small, but this fact tells nothing about the date. The
probability is that this wall represents several reconstructions.
In the time of the city's greatest prosperity and extent a wall
certainly stood here, and that it was a single wall we learn
from Josephus who gives as a reason for it the exceeding steep-
ness of the valley beneath it. In all probability Hadrian's
southern wall ran on this line, as did also that of the Crusaders',
judging from Marina Samito's map.

As the age of masonry in Jerusalem cannot be positively
told by the dressing of the stones, the assigning of the build-
ing of this southern wall to any particular age or century is
impossible. This much is certain, that it reveals the work of
at least three periods when walls were built, or rebuilt, on this
line ; also that it marks the city's greatest possible extent in
this direction. The inference is safe that at the time of the

Excavations in Jerusalem 245

greatest prosperity of Jerusalem it extended as far south as at
any time and that at that time — the reign of Herod the Great
— there existed a wall on this site. That Doctor Bliss in follow-
ing the ruined south wall was tracing the route of a wall that
was standing at the time of Christ there can be no reasonable
doubt.

No excavating was done in the Jewish cemetery already
mentioned, so the wall for a distance of 700 feet was not ex-
amined. Just east of the cemetery it was rediscovered and
followed, not without great difficulty, past a tower and gate,
along the brow of Mount Zion to the Pool of Siloam. In the
side excavations that were made while the wall was being fol-
lowed ruins of houses, pools, streets, drains and stairways cut
in the rock of Mount Zion were unearthed.

But perhaps the most interesting work was done in the im-
mediate vicinity of the Siloam Pool. There was a great stair-
way to the west of the pool consisting of thirty- four steps
" arranged in a system of wide and narrow treads alternately."
Some of these steps are cut out of the natural rock and are
much worn by the feet of former generations. These steps
were the means of ascent and descent to the waters of the
pool.

Of considerable importance was the recovery of the ruins
of an ancient Christian Church, whose south aisle was "built
over the north arcade of the ancient pool." A church was
known to have been built here and the ruins were thought to
be hidden under the debris, but to Doctor Bliss and architect
Dickie belongs the honor of unearthing and describing and
depicting the ruin. The lower parts of the building were in a
good state of preservation and the length and breadth of the
original structure were easily determined. It was eighty-four
feet in length, fifty-one feet six inches in width, and the width
of the nave was twenty-five feet ten inches.

This church was probably built under the direction and by
the patronage of the Empress Eudocia. When the Bordeaux

246 Jerusalem the Holy-

Pilgrim visited Jerusalem in 333 a. d., there was no church
here, or he certainly would have noted it, as he does describe
the pool and mentions its having a four-sided portico. Arcul-
fus in 670 was in Jerusalem and is recognized as the authority
for the city's churches as they then were. He does not men-
tion this church at Siloam. He does say, however, that Eu-
docia extended the walls of the city so as to include the pool.
It is known that this Empress, who died in 460, spent the last
ten years of her life in Jerusalem and that she occupied her
time in building churches and strengthening the city walls.
It is probable that when she built the wall to include the pool,
she intended it also as a protection for her Siloam Church.

The ruins of this wall which Eudocia built were those found
just south of the old, or lower, Siloam pool, which is just at the
junction of the Tyropean valley with that of Jehoshaphat, and
is now always polluted by the refuse water from the city. But
another thing was assured by the excavations here, namely,
that Eudocia was not the first to bring the Siloam pool within
the walls of Jerusalem. In the debris, thirty feet under the
present surface, were found the remains of an ancient wall,
many of the stones of which are in situ. Perhaps when the
Siloam tunnel that made the pool possible was excavated, the
city authorities built this including wall to protect this im-
portant reservoir.

Other excavations on Mount Zion and on Ophel were made
under the direction of Doctor Bliss, which revealed that the
parts of these hills now outside the walls of the city and given
over to gardens were once built over with houses. The results
of these excavations are of interest to the special student of
Jerusalem topography, but not to the general reader. They are
found in detail in the Quarterly Reports of the Palestine Ex-
ploration Fund.

CLIMATE AND HEALTH

Great Variety of Climate in Palestine — Causes — Tempera-
ture of Jerusalem — Sudden Changes — Lack of Forests — Two
Seasons — Rains, Early and Latter — Heaviest Rains — Winter
— Spring — Snow — Summer — Disadvantages of Climate — An-
nual Rainfall — Increased Necessary — Mists — Dews — Winds —
Sirocco — Jerusalem a Healthful City — Sanitary Violations —
Odors — Cholera — Quarantine — Nature's Provision for Health
— Fever — Water Supply — A Summer Resort — Spring Water —
Mortality Among Children — Children's Hospital.

248

CHAPTER XIV

CLIMATE AND HEALTH

NO country on earth has at once so limited an area and so
great a variety of climate as Palestine. Though not
under the tropics, the Jordan valley enjoys tropical heat and
vegetation. Mount Hermon is just beyond the northern bound-
ary of Palestine proper, and from the perpetual summer of the
Ghor, or Jordan Valley, can be seen lifting up its head to a
height where the snow remains throughout the year. This
diversity of climate is due to the physical features of the land
— features peculiar, indeed unique. The Dead Sea lies 1,30c
feet below sea level. Mount Hermon rises 9,050 above sea
level. Between these two extremes there is variety enough to
satisfy the most exacting. A Jerusalem resident can reach the
region of continual summer by making a journey sixteen miles
to the east, during which journey he will descend nearly 4,000
feet ; he can reach the orange groves of Jaffa, with their soft
Florida climate, after a journey of forty-three miles; he is only
one hundred and fifty miles from the summit of Hermon. In
midsummer one can stand on the shore of the Dead Sea with
the thermometer registering the almost insufferable heat of
1400 Fahrenheit and, looking up the Ghor, or Jordan valley,
see the snow fields on the top of Hermon. In his own city,
2,600 feet above the Mediterranean, and 3,900 feet above the
Dead Sea, the Jerusalemite has in summer a temperature
seldom rising above 95 ° Fahrenheit in the shade, and in mid-
winter seldom going lower than the freezing point, and that
only at night.

The position of the city, between the high mountains on the
north and the hot desert lands on the south and east, renders
it subject to rather sudden changes of temperature. Only oc-

249

250 Jerusalem the Holy

casionally, however, are the changes severe enough to cause
suffering even among the lightly clad denizens of the place.
These changes are now more frequent and more severe than
they once were, owing to the denuded condition of the country
as regards forests ; there is practically no timber in any part
of Palestine. There are some districts that might be called
woodland in a country where woods were not abundant.
These woods, a low copse-like growth, are found only on
Carmel and in Gilead ; and they can have no affect upon the
rainfall or temperature. And yet there are those 1 acquainted
with the land in its present condition and with the descriptions
of it contained in the Bible and other ancient records who as-
sert that " we may safely conclude that the land was never
very much more wooded than it is to-day." Whether this
view be correct or not, certainly under present conditions
there is no prospect of any increase in timber growth. With
an utter disregard of the future the inhabitants have in most
quarters stripped the hills of every tree. What little fuel is
necessary is procured by grubbing out the roots of the ground-
oak and the fragments of olive-trees. As for tree culture there
is nothing of the kind practiced. The fact that in Bible times
the rainfall was more abundant and the natural springs more
numerous and copious would lead to the inference that at that
time the forests covered a considerable part of the land. One
other thing is assured, namely, that Palestine could never have
supported the population accredited to it at certain periods of
its history, had it always been in its present condition as re-
gards moisture.

Jerusalem and the neighboring districts have but two sea-
sons— the wet and the dry. One has only to pass a year in
the city to be convinced that these two are plainly marked.
"Seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer,"
are the Biblical names. And each term is exact. The wet
season is the "seed time, the cold, the winter" ; the dry sea-
1 George Adam Smith in " Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land," p. 81.

Climate and Health 251

son is " the harvest, the heat, the summer." There are like-
wise two periods of rain called in our English Bible "the
former," or "early," and "the latter rains." The early
rains usually commence late in October or early in November.
Until the first or middle of December the fall is not large, but
its effect is very beneficent. It opens the agricultural season,
softening the earth that has been dried hard by the long sum-
mer and making it possible for the husbandman to use his
rude plow, an implement which has been in no way improved
since the days of the patriarchs. During the early rains the
weather is very changeable. One day will be warm and clear
with no sign of cloud or suggestion of winter ; the next day
rain will be falling, perhaps mingled with snow or sleet; and
on the third a cold bitter wind will be blowing out of the
north, sending the clouds flying across the heavens and making
half-clad humanity draw its clothes more tightly around it and
seek the shelter of some friendly building or wall.

Between "the early" and "latter rains" there is usually a
period of a week or two during which fair weather prevails,
though it is not to be counted on. In January and February
the heaviest showers fall. In March and April come the " latter
rains " of Scripture. These are very important, being necessary
for the maturing of the crops and preparing the land and peo-
ple for the long rainless summer. Frequent mention is made
in the Bible of the "early and latter rains," and the impression
is gotten by some that there are two distinct times of rain, viz,
at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. But the truth is that
the rainy season lasts during all the winter months. Their
importance is the cause of their frequent mention. By the
time the heavy showers of March and April set in Nature has
begun to put on her beautiful garments, and by the middle of
April "the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the
flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is
come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land." This
is the balmy time of the year and those who can visit the city

252 Jerusalem the Holy

and land at this season cannot but have delightful remem-
brances of it.

During every winter there are usually a few days of freezing
weather ; a thin coating of ice forms on small pools during the
night, but it disappears before the following noon unless in a
very protected place. Snow is an occasional, and to the na-
tives a very unwelcome, visitor. It has been known to fall and
remain for several days at a time, but conditions admitting
this very seldom arise. Three heavy falls of snow occurred
during the months of January and February of this year, 1898,
when the winter was exceptionally cold and much suffering
was endured by the people.

Summer begins about the middle of May and continues un-
til the last of September or well into October. During this
time hardly a drop of rain falls. The sky is generally per-
fectly free from clouds, though occasionally soft fleecy ones are
blown up from the Mediterranean, linger for awhile and then
disappear. " Clouds are they without water." * By the mid-
dle of June the flowers and grass have perished for lack of
moisture ; only the olive and fig trees and the low grapevines
show any sign of green. A haziness fills the atmosphere and
limits the circle of vision. Often for days at a time the Moab
hills cannot be seen. This is due to the effect of the sun upon
the naked hills, heating the lower stratum of the air and caus-
ing it to rise rapidly. But here in the Judean hills the climate
in midsummer is much more endurable than in New York or
in any city south of it on the Atlantic seaboard ; it is more
agreeable than that of any American inland city, whether in
summer or winter. Its great disadvantage is the length of its
rainless period and consequent scarcity of water and abundance
of dust. If the rains could be distributed throughout the year
this disadvantage would be overcome, for in the five winter
months more rain falls than in most places in the United
States during twelve months; the average annual precipitation

1 Jude 12.

Climate and Health 253

is about thirty inches. There is some indication that the rain-
fall is increasing and this to many is regarded as a strong
proof of the fulfillment, in the near future, of certain prophe-
cies relating to the land. If the land ever recovers its former
glory such as it had when it was characterized as "a delight-
some land," x " the glory of all lands," 2 " an exceeding good
land,"3 "the land flowing with milk and honey" * or "the
land which the Lord thy God careth for," it will have to be
more blessed with water during the summer than it now is.
This lends some weight to the opinion 4 that there was still an-
other rainy season which occurred just after the harvest was all
gathered in, a period of moisture which would make up just
what is lacking, for a rain then would refresh the entire land,
blessing the mountain pastures where the sheep and goats now
hunt almost in vain for a few spears of grass, and laying the
dust in the city and suburbs.

In the summer morning mists are occasional and oftentimes
so dense as to prevent an observer in the city from seeing the
Mount of Olives. I have been on some of the high points
around the city early on a July morning and had face and hands
made quite wet by a mist that would do credit to a Scotch
highland ; but when the sun rises above the Moab hills the fog
and mist vanish rapidly. From this sudden disappearance
the Hebrew writers drew many of their figures illustrative of
the frailty and brevity of life. " What is your life ? " 5 asks
James in his epistle and answers it by a reference well known.
"It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then
vanisheth away." The dews at night are often quite heavy and
on the streets and surrounding roads in the early morning one
might imagine that a modern sprinkler had passed ; were the

1 Mai. iii. 12. a Ezek. xx. 6.

3 Numbers xiv. 7. 4 Ex. xxxiii. 3; Lev. xx. 24; Numbers xiv. 8 ;
Jer. xxxii. 22 ; Ezek. xx. 6.

* Barclay, " City of the Great King," p. 54.
5 James iv. 1 4.

254

Jerusalem the Holy-

resident of experience not quite incapable of conceiving so
useful an engine in the hands of Turkish officials.

The belief that the annual rainfall is increasing is well
founded. Records at hand for the years succeeding 1861, if
estimated in decades, will show this. From 1861 to 1870 the
average annual rainfall was 21.87 inches; from 1871 to 1880
it was 24.60 inches, while the decade ending with 1890
averaged annually 27.69 inches, an increase of 3.09 inches
over the decade ending with 1880 and of 5.82 inches over that
ending with 1870. During this entire period the smallest pre-
cipitation for any one year was in 1889, when the registration
amounted to 13.79 inches. Thus far during the present dec-
ade the fall has been abundant each year and gives support to
the frequently made statement that the rainfall of Palestine is
increasing. For the figures here given for the present decade
I am indebted to the Rev. A. Hastings Kelk, rector of
Christ's Church, Jerusalem : —

1890

1891

1892

i893

1894

1895

1896

1897

1898

6.30

4-6S

3-65

.69

7-85

I3-31

4.40

3-5o

i-43

5.15

2.86

7.2

6.39

5-74

22.71

i.45

9- 52

7.18

4-77

4-93

7-4i

5-76

i-34

.28

1.67

1.83

2.14

.04

.84

• 23

.42

•25

.01

July

•035

•°3

.11

.04

2.41

5.08

•49

5-75

9.67

2.08

3°3

9-56

7-25

6.25

6.68

4-37

6.34

Yearly Total

35.5i

34.72

27.78

22.73

30.08

20.05

29.03

37.68

Jerusalem is decidedly a windy city. Her winds, while
sometimes exceedingly boisterous and careering over the

Climate and Health 255

mountains at a rate that would do justice to a Dakota breeze,
are her best friends. The sultry and sickening winds from the
desert are fortunately infrequent. In every part of the city
but the low underground hovels of the Jewish quarter and
some of the narrow, arched streets, fresh air can always be en-
joyed. I confess that it is not always enjoyed, for the deni-
zens of some parts of the city are so vile in their habits of life
that they seem to prefer the odors of decaying vegetable and
animal matter to the combination of fresh sea and mountain
air. This preference on their part gives the casual visitors of a
day or two a wrong idea of the city, because in order to see
many of the interesting places they have to pass through these
villainous alleys of putrefaction. In winter the prevailing
wind is from the west ; it blows up fresh from the Mediter-
ranean and drives the welcome clouds, heavy with moisture,
before it, until, reaching the cooler altitude of the hills, they
drop their refreshment upon the thousand-mouthed earth. It
is not always true now, as our Lord's assertion would lead us
to believe it was in His day, that " When ye see a cloud rise
out of the west, straightway ye say ' There cometh a shower
and so it is,' " 1 for very often the winds drive before them
heavy threatening banks of leaden clouds having every evi-
dence of "abundance of rain," only to have them pass away
without leaving a blessing on the waiting fields. " Clouds are
they without water, carried about of winds." 2 In summer the
prevalent winds are from the northwest. They are not shower
bringers, but are welcome because of their coolness. Nearly
every morning they commence to blow and continue their
cheer through most of the day. Occasionally they increase to
violence, and gathering the dust in their embrace sweep it
along in such quantities as to be a great discomfort to men
and animals. This northwest wind performs good service for
the native threshers who winnow their grain against it, throw-

1 Luke xxii. 54. 2 Jude 12.

256 Jerusalem the Holy

ing the mixed wheat and chaff up from the threshing floor on
some hilltop and letting the wind carry the chaff away.1

With the exception of these winds from the northwest " the
wind bloweth where it listeth." But winds from other quar-
ters are not very desirable. The east and south winds are not
frequent, but are very effective ; they are hot and enervating
and their departure is most welcome. True it is that, " when
ye see the south wind blow ye say, There will be heat and it
cometh to pass " 2 these south winds are called "sirocco " by
European residents and "sherkiyeh" by the Arabs. Dis-
comfort to man and beast and injury to vegetation result from
them. Fine sand accompanies the sirocco and sifts into every
part of the house, so that it is literally true that you can " see "
it. Isaiah must have had some experience with this unwelcome
visitor, but drew certain consolation from the fact that it was
attended by nothing worse. "He stayeth his rough wind in
the day of the east wind."3 I have known the temperature
to rise 300 Fahrenheit as a result of one of these siroccos be-
tween sunrise and noon, and the spirits to sink correspondingly.
One would suppose that the natives, who have been accustomed
to these winds all their lives, would not notice them much.
That they do notice and are affected by them fully as much
as are Europeans or Americans is the fact. When a ' ' sher-
kiyeh " is blowing they do nothing except to get as much as
possible out of it, draw their loose garments about their faces
and make the best of it by sleeping. The sirocco never
brings rain and is of no use to the thresher. Jeremiah * may
have it in mind speaking of it as "A dry wind of the high
places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people,
neither to fan nor to cleanse."

Not only does the sirocco depress one's spirits and, as Barclay
says,5 " cause a feeling of perfect good-for-nothingness," it

•Psalm i. 4; Dan. ii. 35 ; Hosea xiii. 3; Luke iii. 17.

sLuke xii. 55,, 3 Is. xxvii. 8. * Jeremiah iv. II.

* " City of the Great King," p. 61.

Climate and Health

257

also induces fever, and a low type of malaria is sure to make
its appearance when this wind is frequent and continued.
The coolness and refreshment of the breezes from the west and
north fortunately overbalance any evils brought by those from
the opposite direction; without them Jerusalem would be a
most unhealthy place of residence. I question if any city in
the world of its size violates more flagrantly the primal laws
of sanitation. Regardless of these laws and indifferent to
their surroundings the people in some parts throw all the re-
fuse of their living into the narrow, unventilated streets and
allow it to lie there exhaling its poisonous vapors, until the
street-cleaning brigade, consisting of a couple of donkeys and
as many boys, with little more intelligence than their long-
eared helpers, come along and carry it off to the common
dumping grounds. To a foreigner — even to some whose own
cities are by no means models of cleanliness — the odors from
some of the Holy City's side streets are excruciating. The
wonder is that such utter disregard of sanitation does not
frequently result in fatal epidemics. But it does not. Cholera
is a frequent visitor to some parts of the Turkish dominions,
but for thirty years Jerusalem has escaped its ravages. On
the first reports of its approach in the Levant, Jaffa quarantines
against every vessel coming from an infected port. This pro-
tects Jerusalem from the sea. Every road leading into the
city is guarded and no one admitted in this way. All goods
are quarantined for some days and then fumigated. I have
seen them washing money in the sea at Jaffa in order to free
it from any clinging cholera bacilli, while at the same time in
the streets of that city and in Jerusalem were unnoticed piles
of decaying, cholera breeding matter, a great deal more likely
to work injury to the inhabitants. There are two reasons why
disastrous results do not follow such negligence, the power of
the sun to dry all putrefying matter and the continual breezes
that carry off the poisonous gases.

Nature has made this a healthy city in spite of the filthy

258 Jerusalem the Holy-

habits of the majority of its inhabitants and the puerility of
its official class. Its high altitude and deep encompassing
valleys counteract this carelessness and childishness. Had
Jerusalem been built on a plain and its people had the habits
of its present population it would long ago have been depopu-
lated or at least sunk to the condition of the wretched villages
of the Maritime plain. It has a sewer system of most primi-
tive construction, which any sanitary engineer would pro-
nounce more destructive of than conducive to health. The
streets and sewers could not be flushed if the authorities had
any inclination to resort to such modern novelties, owing to
the lack of any kind of waterworks. This condition of
affairs is the wonder and disgust of visitors and civilized
residents. Often have I heard this or similar remarks, "Well,
of all places I was ever in this is the filthiest and can produce
the most villainous odors. It must be one of the most un-
healthy places on earth." The sights and smells of some
quarters are as bad as the most vivid imagination can conceive
them, but the conclusion usually drawn is incorrect. Never-
theless this carelessness does not pass unpunished altogether.
During the summer months there is a great deal of what is
commonly known as Jerusalem fever. This is a low type of
malaria, and while seldom leading to fatal results does pro-
duce an intense longing in the bosom of its victim — a longing
to be in a city less renowned for holiness, and more distin-
guished for cleanliness.

One great cause of this fever is the condition of the water
supply. Standing for months in ill-kept cisterns the water
has become tainted and the free use of it for drinking pur-
poses, especially in August and September, is apt to result
in this fever. Other causes assist, but this is the most fruit-
ful source, and cleaning the cisterns each year would pro-
duce good effects. But year after year, without so much as a
thought being given to their condition, these cisterns are used
and one year's corruption is added to another's. This fever

Climate and Health 259

has a deterrent effect upon summer visitors. Reports of it
have spread abroad and the wily tourist keeps far distant. He
does not want to be scorched externally by the Judean sun or
burned internally by the Jerusalem fever, so he comes in the
winter and exposes himself to the rains and chilly winds, has
difficulty in keeping dry and greater difficulty in keeping
warm and risks pneumonia, all to escape the heat and the
fever.

And yet, as has been said, the climate in summer is prefer-
able to that of the majority of places in the temperate zone.
The city's altitude, dry air and proximity to the sea and the
mountains, make it something of a summer resort. Many
missionaries residing in the surrounding districts and in
Egypt spend their vacations here, coming up from the plains
and cities along the Syrian coast and from neighboring villages.
And they find what they seek, rest and a change of climate.

No matter what the day is, though it is seldom hot enough
to be uncomfortable indoors, the nights are always cool. As
soon as the sun dips into the western sea coolness comes that
would be the envy of our American cities even in the Northern
States. If New York and Philadelphia and Chicago could
enjoy the same temperature at night fewer of their citizens
would need to "waste their substance" in paying the high
rates of seashore, lake and mountain resorts, where they think
they must go in order to make existence bearable.

But the water; its impurity and scarcity is the great objec-
tion. Still nobody desiring a daily bath need go without it,
and good, pure water, as healthful as any water on earth,
gushes out in living springs from the limestone hills near enough
to the city to admit of its being brought in and sold at the not
too exorbitant figure of three cents per gallon.

There is one thing that must be mentioned, and that is, the
great mortality among children. To one acquainted with the
conditions this is not surprising. The wonder is that any of
the native children of parents of the lower classes survive.

260 Jerusalem the Holy-

After living for two years near Doctor Sandreczky's Children's
Hospital ; after seeing children in the homes of native Chris-
tians, Jews and Moslems, I am certain that had the children
of America and Europe the same treatment, very few of
them would reach years of maturity. Often have I seen un-
weaned babies munching away at green cucumbers and other
vegetables raw and equally indigestible. Among a number of
cases I have known brought to Doctor Sandreczky's Hospital
was that of a boy twelve years old who never in his life had
had a bath. Before he was born his mother had made a vow
to this effect and the worst of it was she was faithful to her
vow. The first thing that happened at the hospital was to
break the vow so far as it affected the boy. This with a little
careful treatment was all he needed.

What has been said of the climate and health of Jerusalem
ought certainly to correct some false impressions, usually
hastily received, and take away from the old city some un-
merited reproach.

PASSION WEEK AND EASTER

A Comparison — Easter Week Generally — In Jerusalem —
Pilgrims — Inconveniences — Passover Conditions — Passover and
Easter — Religious Metropolis — Variety of the City's Guests at
Easter — Easter of 1895 — Palm Sunday — Pilgrim Ignorance —
Procession Around the Sepulchre — Greek Patriarch — Tourist
Discourtesy — Religious Disturbances — Church Jealousy — The
Washing of Feet — Miracle Plays — Latin Service — Good Fri-
day— Midnight in the Church — The Holy Fire — Scenes at the
Fire — Soldiers — Riot of 1834 — A Trivial Difficulty — Respon-
sibility for the Holy Fire — The Procession — The Chapel —
The Riot of 1895 — Cause — America's Contribution — The
Coming of the Fire — An Offensive Delusion — Antiquity —
Origin of the Ceremony — Easter Morning.

262

CHAPTER XV

PASSION WEEK AND EASTER

AS a general statement it is true that the further away one
is from Jerusalem the less ceremony he will see in
connection with Easter and the days of fast and feast that fall
near it. There is more ceremony in the Greek and other dis-
tinctively Oriental Churches than there is in the Latin, more
in the Latin than in the established Churches of Germany and
England, more in these established Churches than there is in
the independent Protestant denominations of America. Fur-
thermore it is true that there is more ceremony in the Latin
Church in Italy than there is in the same body in France and
Spain and the Latin-American countries ; more in these last
than there is in the same Church in the United States. In
spite of the Church of Rome's assertion that she is "semper
idem"; she differs in different lands; not in essentials it is
true, but in matters serious enough to be noticeable. This
remark is not made by way of detraction ; it is true of all
branches of the Church and merely goes to prove that as an
institution the Church of Christ in the world is not beyond being
influenced by the conditions which surround her. She may
have a superior organization and triumph where other merely
human institutions fail, but so long as the human element
enters into her, it will affect and in some measure control her.
This dependence upon conditions will account for the varieties
of church government and for the difference of forms in differ-
ent churches having the same government. In this respect as
in others variety is life.

Easter week is the most important week in the ecclesiastical
year, and it is celebrated in Jerusalem with greater pomp than
in any other city on earth. Nor is the reason of this far to

263

264 Jerusalem the Holy

seek. In Jerusalem Christ spent the days of Passion week ;
and on each day he performed some memorable act. In Je-
rusalem the great tragedy of the crucifixion was carried to its
eventful close ; in Jerusalem the Crucified One triumphed over
His enemies and over death itself by His glorious resurrection.
Never can locality and event be more inseparably united than
the places in Jerusalem and the events of Passion week and
that first Easter morning. Human uncertainty as to the exact
location is immaterial ; the events took place in Jerusalem, and
to Jerusalem, as to the place most appropriate, Christians come
to commemorate these events. Opinions of the truly pious
may differ as to the necessity and benefit of such commemo-
ration, but two-thirds of the Christian world care nothing for
opinions on such matters. They believe in the power and
appropriateness of such observances, and if they cannot in
person participate in them hope for the time to come when
they may. Thousands do take part ; the narrow streets are
full of pilgrims and tourists, the former actuated by motives
of religion, the latter by a laudable curiosity to see the ancient
city and the sights of Easter week. The many hospices of the
various churches and religious orders are crowded ; the hotels
have doubled their sleeping accommodations and are often
compelled to refuse desirable guests. Visitors have to put up
with many inconveniences and do so generally without com-
plaint, very glad that there is any place for them. In the
olive groves around the city many tents are pitched, where
people unable to obtain hotel apartments and some who prefer
tent life are making themselves as comfortable as possible. If
the weather is favorable the tent-dwellers are really better off
than those in the hotels ; but this is the season of the latter
rains.

This crowded condition of the city and its suburbs is some-
thing as it must have been in the long ago when the Jews
came up from all lands to celebrate their great Passover feast
in their ancestral holy city. Then as now the houses were

Passion Week and Easter 265

filled with guests and the various hostelries were taxed to their
utmost ; then as now tents and booths took shelter under the
olive trees in the valleys or along the hillsides, furnishing rest
at night to their occupants who spent the day within the walls ;
then as now every nation was represented, only now the
variety is greater, for Gentile nations then unheard of send
their thousands to participate. Then as now one great past
event was commemorated — in reality the same event — for the
symbolic meaning of the slaying of the Paschal lamb found its
fulfillment in the sacrifice of Christ.

Easter is the Christian Passover and Jerusalem is a very
appropriate place to commemorate it. The city has changed
much for the worse during these Christian centuries, but its
power of suggestion is not lost. Its glorious temple and won-
derful palaces have crumbled before the shock of the ram or
the power of the flame, but it is Jerusalem still. The palaces
and walls and temples were the pride of the ancient inhabitant,
but if the city's fame depended upon these it would be to-day
like the cities of the Nile or Mesopotamia. What has made
Jerusalem known more widely than any city of antiquity is her
spiritual preeminence ; she is the world's religious metropolis.
Other places are recognized as the centres of the religious life
of a nation or some particular branch of the Church, but in the
streets of the Holy City they all unite. The Jew comes from
countries most remote to dwell for a time within the city of
his fathers, to weep because his sacred place is in the hands
of the heathen, and to pray here on holy ground to that
Jehovah who so miraculously established his people in this
land, and who, he believes, will restore it to them in His own
good time. The swarthy African Christian, member of the
ancient Coptic or Abyssinian Church, meets on these streets,
or around the traditional tomb of their common Saviour, the
fair-faced European or American Christian. They rejoice in
the possession of the same blessings from the same God and
Saviour and in the same hopes of immortality through the

266 Jerusalem the Holy-

finished work of the same Redeemer. They may differ in a
thousand other respects, but they meet here on the same level
and honor Jerusalem for the sake of its association with that
Divine Person whom all acknowledge as the Founder of their
faith. The Moslem, too, comes here on his holy pilgrimage
and about Easter time many strangers holding the faith of the
Prophet may be seen. The latter calls Jerusalem " El-Kuds,"
the Holy. Next to Mecca it is his heart's desire. His
pilgrimage is not complete till he has visited it and bowed in
prayer beneath the Dome of the Rock.

Thus if one wishes to see Jerusalem at the most interesting
time of the year he should come at the Easter season. The
variety of costume is endless; the variety of methods of
worship likewise. As the Greek and Latin calendars differ,
the Easters of these two Churches usually fall on different
dates. As nearly all the Oriental Churches follow the Greeks,
the crowds are larger and more enthusiastic, and religious and
other sights novel to the Occidental are much more numerous
at the time of the Greek Easter. Occasionally the calendars
of all agree, and the following account is descriptive of the
scenes and incidents of such a year, namely Easter week of
1895. There was nothing very distinctive about this particular
week of this particular year, however ; it differed little, if at
all, from the same week of other years.

For several days preceding Palm Sunday the dealers in palm-
branches did a rushing business. No pilgrim was too poor to
be furnished with some emblem of the Lord's triumphal entry,
or too modest to show his token of rejoicing on the anniversary
of that event. Some were satisfied with a plain straight branch
of this tree, others who could afford it had theirs woven into
various shapes with gay-colored ribbons intertwined. A visi-
tor from another sphere, had he landed in Jerusalem on that
Sunday morning, would have known that some great celebra-
tion was being held. Every pilgrim was out, going to or
coming from some church service. Each one was dressed in

Passion Week and Easter 267

his best apparel and carried the palm-branch indicative of re-
joicing. In every church that morning there was a special
service, though in the Latin churches it does not equal in
splendor and consequent interest what can be seen in Rome
on the same day.

The Crusaders used to represent the Christ's triumphal
entry, carrying it out in detail. A priest personating the
Saviour rode on an ass from Bethphage ; others as his dis-
ciples followed or went before him crying "Hosanna," and
a crowd with palm and olive branches came out from the
city to meet them. Now, however, the entire service is con-
ducted in the Church of the Sepulchre; this is more quiet
and orderly, but it is not an uncommon sight on this Sunday
afternoon to see that many of the Russian pilgrims, both men
and women, have allowed their excess of joy to steal away
their senses. Too freely have they imbibed of that which in-
toxicates, and while as a general thing they are not boisterous
in their words or actions they do illustrate a phase of life far
removed from the Christianity of Christ. But Christianity
comes to them very much adulterated by human opinions, very
much distorted by ecclesiasticism and priestly innovations.
They cannot read and so religion must be taught them by pic-
tures. They have no conception of the spiritual and to "wor-
ship in spirit" is impossible for them. The Church to which
they belong tells them that this is a great feast day, a day on
which they are to rejoice, and they do so in the way they most
relish. This is not to be understood as applying to all classes ;
there are Russian pilgrims just as intelligent and just as de-
corous as come from any other land, but their proportion to
the entire number is very small.

The centre of interest for those desiring to see the church
services is, as usual, at the Holy Sepulchre. This is one of
the days on which the richest vestments of patriarchs, bishops
and priests may be seen, in the procession made around the
tomb. At ten o'clock on Palm Sunday morning we edged our

268 Jerusalem the Holy

way through the crowd around and in the church, climbed a
series of stairways and took a position in the Franciscan con-
vent from which a good view of all the proceedings could be
had. Singing began in the Greek chapel some minutes before
there was any sign of singer or of priest. Then from this
chapel, which is directly east of the Holy Cave, came eight
young men carrying banners on which were painted appro-
priate scenes. The first member of the procession was a lad
carrying an immense olive branch. Immediately after the
singers came the priests in double file to the number of seventy,
each with his ordinary garb hidden by a long robe that reached
to the feet and which was stiff with gold embroidery. Then
came the censer-bearers and just following them was the Greek
Patriarch of Jerusalem — a man with a fine, intellectual face
and dignified bearing. His robes were princely in their mag-
nificence, but the most striking feature was his crown, which
was encrusted with sparkling jewels of great value. His see is
one of the richest in Christendom. Money can be procured
for the Church in Jerusalem even when there is great lack of
it in other places, so that the patriarch can maintain his posi-
tion as becomes a prince of the Church. It is one of the
sights of the city, permitted to very few, to have a glimpse of
his treasuries.

The tomb is encircled three times by the procession.
Every few steps the censer-bearers turn toward the patriarch
and swing their censers so that the fumes pass over his
person. When the patriarch has passed once around and
has come in front of the entrance to the sepulchre he does
obeisance and makes the sign of the cross. The crown
he has been wearing is then removed from his head and
another supplied, no less rich in appearance, but evidently of
lighter weight. The procession is then continued, and by the
time the remaining two rounds are made over an hour has
been consumed. The singing has never stopped, and as the
notes are few and have been repeated over and over again, has

Passion Week and Easter '269

become very monotonous. But the crowd below has no doubt
appreciated it, and as it was intended for them the disapproval
of outsiders is of no consequence. They have seen a wonder-
ful exhibition of pictures and candles, of vestments and jewels
and it has made an impression upon their minds not soon to
be forgotten. It is part of their religion ; they have endured
hardships to witness it. On this occasion a number of devout
Russian women had by remaining all night in the church
secured good positions just in front of the Holy Sepulchre.
But priority of possession gives no title in such a case. A
party of tourists had come in just a few minutes before the
procession began ; they had come to see, and like most tour-
ists of every nation they were not solicitous about the rights
or the feelings of others. The Turkish guard of the church
was "seen" and a couple of soldiers put at the disposal of
this party ; a way was forced through the crowd to the door
of the sepulchre; the Russian pilgrims were rudely thrust
aside and made to stand where they could not see the long-
desired sight, and the tourists, to whom the whole affair was
merely a matter of curiosity, quietly and unconcernedly took
their places. A little " bucksheesh " goes a long way with
the average Turk, but nothing can go far enough to justify the
behavior of some tourists.

The Latins, Armenians and other Churches have their special
services on this day in this place. When Easter falls on the
same day for all, some prearrangement as to time must be
made. For several reasons no two of the sects could have
their religious exercises going on at the same time. The
crowds would be too great and confusion follow, and, more
serious than this reason, the participants in the service could
not preserve the peace. By mistake, or intention, one party
might infringe upon the rights or do something contrary to the
wishes of the other ; in which case an altercation would be
begun at once, regardless of the disturbing effect upon the
service. And the altercation might not cease with words.

270 Jerusalem the Holy

More than once in recent times this great Cathedral church of
Oriental Christendom has witnessed proceedings most un-
Christian-like. Each Church, we are informed, must be jeal-
ous in the assertion and protection of its rights, or it would
soon have none to assert or protect. Each wants as much of
this sacred ground and edifice as it can obtain and is not
always above suspicion of dishonesty in the methods used to
acquire possession. A precedent counts immensely and if one
sect were this year to permit another to enjoy its privilege or
to trespass on its part of the church, next year the sect thus
favored would just as likely demand this as its right. The
aggressive spirit manifested in efforts to own parts of the
church would be commendable and beautiful if it were ex-
panded in illustrating and advancing true Christianity. As it
is the energy is used without benefit to the one exercising it
and without blessing upon anybody.

After the Palm-Sunday processionals there is little of inter-
est, religiously speaking. Services are held every day in some
of the churches so that none so inclined need suffer from lack
of religious opportunity. But when Thursday arrives there is
considerable that to an Occidental is novel and interesting. At
eight o'clock on the morning of this particular day the court
in front of the Sepulchre Church is filled with a solid mass of
reverent or curious humanity. Every available nook and
corner of the old church is occupied. The steps leading to
the Chapel of the Agony, the roofs of neighboring buildings
and of the church itself, the balconies and windows overlook-
ing the court are thronged with people of many nationalities.
Side by side with the Christian from some Fellah village
among the hills of Judah or Benjamin is a polite Greek from
Athens, a stolid German from the Fatherland, a dapper
Frenchman and smooth Italian, while conspicuous among all
is the indifferent and typical Englishman in his suit of grey
tweed, and the professional globe-trotter from the land of
great travellers — the United States. Some of the audience —

Passion Week and Easter 271

especially the religiously inclined — took up their positions the
night before and kept them during the long watches before the
sun showed himself above Olivet. In the midst of a sea of
faces an elevated platform is seen, with stands for candles at
its four corners and seats for a dozen or more persons. A
chair of state occupies a small elevated position at the western
end of this platform, facing the east. In front of the platform
on the wall of the building a temporary pulpit has been
erected. A stranger would know that some important cere-
mony was about to take place. About eight o'clock a proces-
sion of Greek priests files out of the main door of the church.
The shouting of the multitude that has been going on for
hours ceases, and the Turkish soldiers who have been trying
to restrain the mob enjoy a rest. The patriarch ascends the
platform and takes the conspicuous chair, and twelve priests,
representing the twelve apostles, arrange themselves along both
sides and in front of him. Their robes are splendid and, as
the morning sun strikes upon them, they emit a glitter that is
dazzling to the eyes ; but the robes of the patriarch himself
are the centre of attraction. The richest of materials adorned
with the most delicate needlework cover his entire person,
while his head dress is resplendent with jewels.

A relic of the old miracle plays is about to be enacted. It
is a play in which Jesus and His disciples are to be personated,
though there is nothing in the manner or garb of the patriarch
and priests to suggest the appearance or actions of the Origi-
nals. It is more like an ecclesiastical dress parade, whose de-
sign is not to call to the minds of the observers the solemn
occasion in the " Upper room " when the Master, laying aside
His garments and girding Himself with a towel began to wash
His disciples' feet, so much as it is to impress upon them
the richness of the clerical vestments and the importance of
the wearers. A choir in attendance sings and sings well.
The passage in John, thirteenth chapter, is read by a priest
standing in the temporary pulpit. Then the patriarch lays

272 Jerusalem the Holy-

aside his gorgeous outer robe, a priest takes his bejewelled
crown, while another rolls back his rose-colored satin sleeves
and lays a towel over his arm. From a stand an immense
silver wash bowl is taken and partly filled with rose-water.
Then the actual ceremony of the feet-washing begins. It is car-
ried out in detail though it has nothing about it suggestive of
that humility which Christ wished to illustrate before, and
thus encourage in, His disciples. While this is going on it re-
quires every effort of the soldiers of the Sultan to keep back
the crowding, crushing mob. Each one is anxious to have
his handkerchief or some small possession dipped into the
basin of rose-water that is being used. It is said that a hand-
kerchief thus treated becomes a very precious thing and is
highly prized by its owner. On the two occasions I witnessed
the performance many handkerchiefs were thus elevated in
value. As soon as the owner received his from the hand of
one of the obliging priests he immediately rubbed it over
hands and face, and became blessed above his fellows. For
though there was seemingly no scarcity of rose-water the sup-
ply would not have sufficed to gratify all the devotees.

This part of the service being completed a brief rest is taken
and then the people are transported in imagination to the
Garden of Gethsemane. There is no change of scenery nor of
costume, the acting and imagination must supply any lack in
these respects. Just at the foot of the stairs leading up to the
platform the patriarch and three priests represent Christ in the
agony of prayer in the garden and His three drowsy disciples.
Here, too, the dress of the modern portrayers of this solemn
"night scene " in the Saviour's life was in strange contrast to
what we have been taught, and rightly, to believe was the con-
dition as to apparel of our Lord and His followers. In strange
contrast, also, to the midnight stillness of deepshaded Gethsem-
ane, when no eye but the Father's beheld the praying Christ,
was this curious myriad-eyed throng, straining in the garish
light of day to see this tawdry imitation of a sacred scene.

Passion Week and Easter 273

This part being ended the patriarch and priests again took
their places on the platform. Robes were arranged and crown
donned and then, while this spiritual head t of the Greek
Church in Jerusalem stood clad in his robes and the insignia
of his high office, a photographer in a neighboring window
was quietly signalled to and the camera preserved the scene.
The great ceremony of the washing of the feet is over and the
procession files back into the church. As he goes the patriarch
dips a large bouquet he is carrying into what remains of the
rose-water and sprays it over the throng, the majority of whom
reverently bow their bared heads to receive it.

On the afternoon of the same day the Latins have a similar
service, but it is done quietly and inside the church. The
uproar that characterized the morning observance is agreeably
absent at that of the afternoon. The costumes of the officiat-
ing Latin priests do not compare in richness with those of the
Greeks, but the effect upon the worshippers is equally good, if
there is any good whatever resulting from these portrayals of
the scenes in the Saviour's earthly life. There may have been
a time when such things were helps to faith, there may be
some minds yet which can receive impressions only in this
way, but that time certainly ought to have passed long ago,
and has passed in those countries where Christianity has not
been throttled and supplanted by sacerdotalism. At the door
of the church that tolerates it must be laid the blame for that
condition of ignorance which demands such exhibitions in
order to keep its faith alive.

The one notable event of Good Friday — notable in the sense
of being out of the ordinary — is the mystery play representing
the scenes that were witnessed just previous to, during, and
immediately after the crucifixion. A small figure of the Christ
is brought into the Chapel of the Nailing to the Cross by the
Franciscans — the order which has entire charge of this per-
formance. The figure is less than half life-size and is hideous
in the extreme. In the Chapel of the Nailing it is crucified

274 Jerusalem the Holy

and a crown of thorns placed upon the head. Over the im*
age, as it lies upon the floor surrounded by priests and specta-
tors, one of the Franciscan brothers delivers a sermon in Ger-
man. The procession then moves a few feet to the west and
is in the Chapel of the Crucifixion. This is Greek property,
and Latin intrusion is tolerated within certain limits. The
cross bearing the image is erected just back of the altar that
covers the "hole in the rock," where tradition asserts that
the " true cross " stood. Then a brother preaches a sermon in
French, appropriate to the occasion, after which with much
pomp and an appearance of solemnity the figure is taken
down from the cross, placed upon a richly embroidered cloth
and carried through the closely packed crowd on Calvary
down the stairs to the Stone of Unction. Here the procession
halts awhile, the figure is anointed and a sermon in Arabic
given. After this linen grave-clothes are wrapped about the
image, and it is carried through the vaulted passage to the
sepulchre and laid upon the marble covering of the traditional
tomb of Christ ; there it remains until the following Sunday
morning, when it is quietly removed.

There is little to be said in commendation of this mystery
play. A relic of semi-barbarous days, it is neither interest-
ing nor edifying. If it were not that the subject of the play
is so sacred the whole affair would be ridiculous. It is an an-
cient practice begun in an age of ignorance, but is certainly
an anachronism in the closing years of the nineteenth century
even in the unchanging Orient.

After this mystery play is over the curious are glad to wan-
der through the secluded chapels of the old church and along
its vaulted passages. It is nearly midnight and the deep
shadows are intensified by the flicker of the almost consumed
candles and glimmer of the little oil lamps with their floating
wicks. The throng of Latin worshippers has gone and the
Moslem guard will soon close the church for the night, but
there is an evident intention on the part of many to pass the

Passion Week and Easter 275

night within the sacred enclosure. In out of the way places,
on the narrow stairways leading to the dome, along the
gloomy, unventilated corridors, heavy with the poison exhaled
from a thousand lungs, are to be seen the sleeping forms of
many Greek and Russian pilgrims. They have had no part
nor interest in the evening's performance, but have taken the
opportunity to come in and secure a place to pass the night so
as to be ready in the morning to take up a position near the
Holy Sepulchre to witness what is to them the most convinc-
ing proof of divine communion with men. This is the " mir-
acle" of the Holy Fire, scheduled to take place between three
and four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. The suffering these
people endure in order to witness this greatest of frauds is de-
serving of more consideration than it gets. For at least six-
teen hours they remain in the church possessed of one desire,
namely to witness the descent of the " holy fire " and to light
their candles from it. During at least eight of these hours
they stand in one place, crowded to suffocation and moving
only when some convulsion moves the entire mass or when the
Turkish soldiers force them aside to make a way for some
civil dignitary to pass through.

Pilgrims are not the only ones who are willing to put them-
selves to great inconvenience to behold this strange spectacle
and the cause of it. American and English ladies and gentle-
men have gone here early on the morning of this day, taken
their lunch with them, and securing the best place they could
find, there stayed through the long stifling hours, crushed and
crowded ; and treated to the continual din of a mob whose
shouting would drown the voices of the brokers on the floor of
the New York Stock Exchange on an exciting day.

No one can describe the scene that is enacted at this time.

It has been attempted many times, but without success. There

is nothing to which one can compare it, for there is nothing

on earth like it. Dean Stanley1 tries to convey it to the

1 Sinai and Palestine, p. 466.

276 Jerusalem the Holy

minds of his readers by saying "A succession of gambols takes
place which an Englishman can only compare to a mixture of
prisoner's base, football and leap frog, round and round the
Holy Sepulchre." It is all this and much more. Added to
the shouts of men are the screams of women and the cries of
babies. One pities the babies and wonders at the folly of the
parents who bring them to such a place at such a time. Here
and there are men standing upon the shoulders of others or
walking about from shoulder to shoulder over the heads of
others, wildly gesticulating and yelling under the frenzy of re-
ligious enthusiasm. The Greek and Arab Christians are much
more vociferous than the Russians. It was formerly believed
that unless they ran around the tomb a certain number of times
the fire from heaven would not come. There is no such run-
ning now. Humanity is wedged together too closely, and the
bulwark of Turkish soldiers prevents it.

As the hour approached on Easter eve of 1895 when the
procession of Greek priests was expected to make its appear-
ance the noise was almost deafening. With wild shouting,
frenzied hand -clapping and blowing of horns the crowd
amused itself and the spectators in the galleries of the Latins,
where each consul is given an alcove to which he can invite
his male friends to the number of ten or more. The burden
of the shouting can be made out by practiced ears. A knot
of a dozen or so men stationed near the entrance of the
sepulchre are repeating in chorus and incessantly, "This is
the tomb of Jesus Christ." Not far from them are others
vying with them in loudness of tone, but their strain is " This
is the day the Jew mourns and the Christian rejoices." An-
other lot repeat "Jesus Christ has redeemed us." Amidst it
all can be heard occasionally, "God save the Sultan." For a
professedly religious exercise this is wondrously inappropriate.
The stolid Turkish soldiers, no doubt wondering at these un-
seemly acts and cries of Christians in this their most sacred
cathedral, stand around the sepulchre ready when the signal

Passion Week and Easter 277

is given to clear a passage for the patriarchal procession or to
obey any command of their superiors. Strange as it may
seem these soldiers are a necessary adjunct to the affair. The
performance could not go on without them and yet their only
object is to keep the peace and prevent Christians of different
sects from shedding each other's blood. At this time more
than any other the feeling of bitter sectarianism runs high and
all it needs is for some brainless fanatic to transgress the rights
of some other than his own sect and a riot will be on in a
minute. This happened in 1834 and is likely to recur at any
time. On that occasion a disturbance took place and an order
was issued to suppress it. The soldiers were only too willing
to obey, and in a short time the floor was strewn with three
hundred bodies of those who had been slain by Turkish
weapons, or trampled to death during that short reign of
terror. The present soldiers look like men who would not
hesitate to repeat that scene with this generation of Christians
for their victims.

When two o'clock arrived on this particular afternoon Bed-
lam was equalled by the commotion and noise. All were in
suspense waiting for the signal for the procession to begin.
Time wore on till half-past two and there was no sign given.
A little difficulty had arisen about which the multitude knew
nothing. It was so trivial as to be childish, and yet it was
considered so serious that the patriarchs of the Greek and
Armenian Churches took it up, the Moslem Pasha of Jerusalem
was appealed to as an arbiter and it looked for a time as if the
coming of the "holy fire" was to be indefinitely postponed.
Seated as I was near the Pasha the whole by-play was plain
before me. First would come a Greek, then an Armenian,
each endeavoring to persuade His Excellency as to the justice
of his presentation of the facts. It was all over a miserable
little oil lamp worth a few cents, but it was Greek property,
and the Armenian had blown out its light by mistake or
touched it, or done something equally heinous, and deserved

278 Jerusalem the Holy

instant and severe punishment. The point was finally decided,
but not to the satisfaction of the Armenians, and the unholy
farce proceeded.

In former times all the Churches participated in this cere-
mony. The Greeks now assume entire responsibility for it
though the Armenians and Copts are represented in the pro-
cession. Up to the sixteenth century the Latins were eager
participants in it, but now the enmity existing for centuries
between these two Churches finds vent in the ridicule heaped by
the Latin priests, on the Greek fire. In " The Annals of the
Propagation of the Faith " they show their present estimate of
it by terming it "a ridiculous and superstitious ceremony."

Several bells in the Greek chapel begin ringing vigorously
and the crowd knows by this and by the voices of singers that
the first scene is about to be presented. Immediately room is
made by the double line of soldiers, as shoulder to shoulder
they back against the apparently solid mass of humanity
around the sepulchre and the walls of the rotunda. But the
way is cleared ; the banners, taking in the ritual the places of
images, are borne in front, and just after them is a double line
of singers and chanting priests, in all about fifty. For a time
the noise of the rabble ceases, but as the procession moves
slowly and with evident solemnity it again breaks out, and
along with the chanting is heard the shriek of the half-savage
Arab Christian.

One thing now noticed is the Holy Sepulchre chapel itself.
There it stands grim and silent and dark amid that sea of
faces and roar of voices — a quiet protest, one can almost
imagine, against the whole nefarious business. Every candle
and lamp has been extinguished. On ordinary feast days
there are hundreds of these burning. On the morning of this
day is the only time in the year when they are put out and
new candles and flesh oil supplied, all to be lighted again by
the fire from heaven. This absence of artificial light makes
the chapel have a neglected look. One sees it just as it is,

Passion Week and Easter 279

with the exception of the cheap pictures which are hung
around it, and which look all the cheaper now. But this
absence of light within and without is necessary. There must
be no visible suggestion of imposture, no matter how much
actual imposture there may be.

The procession moves very slowly around, along the passage
flanked on both sides with soldiers. There is a tremor in the
crowd and in the very air itself as though something unusual
were about to take place — something more than the coming of
the fire. A number of Armenian priests having looks of de-
termination in their faces are standing on the south side of the
sepulchre near the wall of the rotunda. When the procession
is making its third round and the patriarch is about to ascend
to the little platform in front of the Holy Cave, there is a
grand rush on the part of the Armenians. It was a movement
that would have done honor to the rush line of a 'Varsity foot-
ball team. They forced their way through the crowd of pil-
grims, through the line of soldiers and placed one of their
priests right beside the Greek patriarch. Some such action on
their part was expected, and when it came Greeks and Turks
were partially prepared. Then there was war. It was a mass
of wriggling, struggling, shrieking priests and soldiers, each
apparently endeavoring to do all possible injury to whomever
he could reach. No respect was shown the patriarch. He
was pushed and pulled by his own and the opposing priests and
was only with difficulty saved from severe treatment. His
episcopal dignity was gone, his heavy crown almost rolled on
the floor and he himself was quivering with fright when they
finally got him out of the reach of harm. But the fight went
on. Greek trampled on Armenian, and Armenian on Greek, and
Turk on both. Though doing his very best the commanding
orficer seemed unable to separate the combatants. The bugle
rr.ng out time after time and detachment after detachment of
soldiers plunged into the melee. At times they seemed to
have it under control and then it would break out with re-

280 Jerusalem the Holy

newed vigor. This went on for fifteen minutes. Just how
much damage was done nobody will ever know. There were a
number of bruised faces and broken heads, and a report was
current that two pilgrims had died from the effects of injuries
received. An incident like this shows just how necessary the
soldiers are on these occasions. Had they not been on hand
these frenzied fanatics would have killed each other, and there
would have been little cause for regret if they had.

The trouble arose because of a desire on the part of the Ar-
menians to have two of their priests go with the Greek patri-
arch as far as the Chapel of the Angels. The Armenians
generally regard the holy fire as a fraud and their patriarch at
Jerusalem will have nothing to do with the perpetration of it.
He sends one of his ordinary priests to represent him. This
priest and a Coptic delegate have the right to go as far as the
above mentioned chapel, while the Greek patriarch goes alone
into the Sepulchre Chapel proper. This year, report says,
the Armenians tried to have two priests go in, not that they
cared thus to honor the "fire," but simply to annoy the
Greeks. This is what started this disgraceful row — the worst
for years — so say the Greeks ; the Armenians refuse to speak
of it ; which goes to prove that they were in the wrong, or
else are justly ashamed of having been party to the shameful
occurrence.

The Armenians failed to carry their point. America con-
tributed largely to their defeat. Just here the Greeks showed
their foresight. Anticipating trouble they had secured the
services of an American professional boxer and wrestler, fitted
him up in the garb of a priest and made him one of the patri-
arch's bodyguard. He did good service for the cause for
which he had been retained. As soon as the patriarch was in
danger the American seized him, forced his way through the
crowd and helped him into the sepulchre. Then he stood
guard at the door and as fast as any of the opposition came
in the way made them feel the force of his ponderous fist. It

Passion Week and Easter 281

was a beautiful exhibition of professional skill, but not of a
profession usually associated with priests or exhibited in holy
places.

Quiet was finally restored. The patriarch was in the little
Chapel of the Sepulchre. The runners were at the openings
through which the fire would come if it came at all. Tourists
and pilgrims were on the alert to catch the first view of it.
In a few moments the hand of a priest reaching in drew out
what appeared to be a large torch all aflame, first on the side of
the Greeks and then on that of the Armenians. Off dashed
the runners with it to light the lamps and candles in the vari-
ous chapels near. A horseman carries it to Bethlehem and the
lamps in the Greek Church there and in the Grotto of the
Nativity are relighted. It is carried north, and the churches
and convents through the land as far as Nazareth get the fresh
fire. In an incredibly short time the whole floor of the ro-
tunda is a mass of moving flame. Pilgrims and tourists had
candles which they lit as fast as they could pass the fire from
one to the other. Every pilgrim believes that this light is
caused by the descent of the Spirit upon the tomb. Every
intelligent priest and tourist believes it is caused by the patri-
arch with the assistance of a match. The patriarch and priests
say nothing about it. They allow each to have his opinion.

In a recent conversation with one of the Greek priests,
one very near to the patriarch, I was informed that the
Church did not hold that this fire really came down from
heaven. "But," I replied, "do not the ignorant pilgrims,
and in fact the great majority of the membership of your
Church, so believe ; and does the Church through its spiritual
leaders do anything to let them know the truth about it ? " He
acknowledged that it did not and gave as a reason that it dared
not. The shock this information would give to the faith of
the pilgrims in their Church would be fatal. Their Church is
their religion and it has allowed them to believe, if it has not
actually taught them, that this fire is of divine origin, really

282 Jerusalem the Holy

the visible manifestation of God Himself. What ignorance on
the one hand ; what wretched weakness on the other !

In ten minutes after the first appearance of the fire every
candle and lamp has been lighted. The pilgrims have held
their hands in the flame of their tapers and not been burned,
have let the melted wax run onto their hands and then rubbed
them over their faces and through their hair. Up the stairs,
through the dark passages, into every chapel and alcove the
fire has been passed. Everything is rejoicing in fresh illumi-
nation except the Latin chapels and that part of the rotunda
in the second story belonging to the Franciscans. In this lat-
ter place are the consuls of the various powers with their
friends. In that part assigned to the American were a couple
of gentlemen who wished to take away some memento of the
occasion and had brought candles to light, let burn awhile and
then extinguish. Not knowing the absolute enmity of the
Franciscans against the recent proceedings they took the fire
from some Greeks in a near apartment which communicated
with theirs by a grated window. In an instant an infuriated
creature in the garb of a monk rushed in, seized the candles in
the hand of one of the party and before the owner of them
knew what was going on had torn them from his grasp. Then
turning to another whose candles were still burning he seized
these and extinguished them. This person had recovered
from his surprise and resenting what looked like an uncalled
for insult treated the monk to a specimen of true American re-
sentment. The surprise was now on the other side and when
the brother gathered himself together he immediately appealed
to the French consul who is the protector of the Latins.
Matters were soon explained between the two consuls and
peace restored for the time. This incident proved that the
Latins are just as violent in their fanaticism as the Greeks
whom they ridicule on this account. And no less a personage
than the president of the Franciscan convent was the chief
actor in this scene.

Passion Week and Easter 283

As soon as all have received the fire the wild enthusiasm
ceases so suddenly as to excite wonder. All the curious vis-
itors leave the church, glad the weird, wild ceremony is over
and rejoicing to be again in the fresh air. They have seen the
"holy fire" once, and once is enough for all time. But the
pilgrims do not leave the church. For them there is yet
something of importance, and they are to spend another night
within the sacred enclosure. When the shadows deepen they
can be seen — men and women — as on the previous night,
sleeping in every available corner except the Latin chapel.
They are preparing themselves for the midnight office, when
the services of Easter morning begin.

With the coming of the "holy fire" the main part of the
Greek Easter is over. Surely no one ought to be more thank-
ful that it is passed than the patriarch himself. To be con-
scious of having played the chief part in a stupendous fraud,
a part he must play or be deposed from his patriarchate,1 must
belittle a man in his own estimation. Taking everything into
consideration, the place, the time and the attendant circum-
stances, this so-called " miracle of the holy fire " is as Dean
Stanley characterizes it, " probably the most offensive delusion
to be found in the world."

The perpetrators of this unprofitable and inexcusable fraud
claim for the practice a very great antiquity ; and justly, for it
is mentioned by a traveller2 as early as the ninth century. It
has been continued ever since during Christian occupation of
the city ; it was one of the causes that led to the destruction
of the church by the Caliph Hakam. On the reconstruction
of the building the " holy fire " rite was revived and just be-
fore the Crusaders entered Jerusalem one of the Fatimite

1 Van Egmont gives an account of an exile he met at Mount Sinai who
had refused appointment to the Jerusalem patriarchate because of his un-
willingness to take part in what he regarded as a fraud. See Sinai and
Palestine, p. 470, note.

* Bernard the Wise 870 c. Early Travels in Palestine.

284 Jerusalem the Holy

caliphs of Egypt is said to have tested the genuineness of the
miracle. Instead of permitting the use of ordinary wicks for
the lamps, he had iron ones prepared, rightly inferring that if
the fire was from heaven the quality of the wicks would not
affect its appearance. We are informed that the fire appeared
as usual and the iron wicks immediately ignited.

Just when or why this ceremony was first performed no one
can say positively. It may have been one of the earliest of
the miracle-plays in which was represented the descent of the
Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost after our Lord's ascension,
when "There appeared cloven tongues like as of fire and it
sat upon each of them." * Or it may be a continuation into
Christian times of a belief that was prevalent in ancient days
among most peoples — a belief in the miraculous appearance of
fire. The modern Moslems assert that on every Friday this
dazzling heavenly light appears in the tombs of their saints.
On a visit2 to the Mosque at Hebron I was informed by one of
the sheikhs that the reason the cave where the bodies of the
patriarchs lie buried is closed up by masonry is because of the
powerful light within which would immediately strike with
blindness or even death any one who was unfortunate enough
to behold it.

Whatever was originally symbolized by this Greek fire has
been so long lost that nothing now remains but the supersti-
tious idea of the pilgrims that it is the manifestation of God.
How long this idea will hold them depends upon the power of
the Church to keep the people in ignorance. The ceremony
is not the same in every particular as formerly ; certain fea-
tures have been omitted, as, for instance, the letting out of a
dove from the sepulchre just before the fire appeared. The
continuance of the whole observance is a sacrilege and an evi-
dence of great weakness in the Church that is responsible for it.

By ten o'clock on Sunday morning Easter is over. In the
grounds about the Russian buildings a general moving day has

1 Acts ii. 3. « May 13th, 1895, m company with Minister Terrell.

Passion Week and Easter 285

come. Hundreds have their bundles and boxes packed and
are waiting for porters and wagons to carry them to the station
near the colony of the German Templars, half a mile south -
west of the city. A special train takes the uncouth, but exult-
ant pilgrims to Jaffa, where after many tribulations they are
transported from the shore to a Russian ship that is waiting to
convey them to Odessa. On arriving there they separate and
seek their various homes in the land of the Tsar.

THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM

The Jew and Civilization — Religion and Culture — Unfair
Estimate of the Hebrew — Peculiar — Persecutions — Number of
Jews in Jerusalem — A Census — Variety of Jews — Increasing —
Causes of Increase — Prohibition — Departures — Racial Purity
— Divisions — Ashkenazim — Sephardim — Persians — Yemenites
— Caraites — Chassidim — Bond of Religion — Rabbis — Syna-
gogues— Wall of Wailing — Visitors — Wretched Homes — Suf-
fering— Jewish Colonies — Home Life — Respect for Parents —
Jewish Women — Resemblance to Arabs — Education — Schools
— Unwisdom of the Jew — Marriages — Divorce — Religious
Feasts — Day of Atonement — Purim — Tabernacles — Supersti-
tions— Messianic Beliefs — Christian Missions — A Charem —
Opposition to Missions — Haluka, or Charity Funds — Kolil
America — Jewish Nationalism.

288

CHAPTER XVI

THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM

THE features and the habits of the descendants of Jacob
are known in every part of the civilized world. The
Jew has been the agent of civilization. His proverbial acute-
ness has led him to reap the benefits of civilization ; while in
his world-wide dispersion he has carried the advantages of
civilization with him to quarters where its benign influence
had not been felt. Whatever the popular view may be, the
Jew has undoubtedly been an advance agent and a continuing
force in the spread of civilization.

When the legions of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and drove its
inhabitants into exile, the homeless ones carried into strange
lands their religion and their culture. Of their religion his-
torians have told us again and again. But of their culture we
are not so well informed. The historians of this people give
an undue weight to their religious beliefs and practices. There
is a large volume yet to be written concerning their intellec-
tual and aesthetic beliefs and practices. To the lack of such
accounts is due the great ignorance among people otherwise
intelligent as to the Jew's contribution to the present state of
the civilized world. We have estimated the race long enough
from what we have seen of a few specimens of peddlers and
dealers in old clothes ; or perhaps from that sleek and sly
representative who is always on the alert to benefit himself at
the expense of others regardless of the method. It ought to
be remembered that these are exceptions, the dregs, as it were,
of a people, which, in whatever land it has been, has con-
tributed largely to its moral, intellectual and political advance-
ment.

289

290 Jerusalem the Holy

With these few preliminary remarks we turn to view the
remnant of this people, which, in its wanderings, has found
its way back to its ancestral city.

Wherever the Jew is he is worthy of intelligent considera-
tion. He has always been regarded as peculiar ; and justly
so. Because of this peculiarity he is doubtfully regarded in
most communities and in some looked upon with a disfavor so
decided that it results in persecution. The Anti-Semitism,
which is disgracefully conspicuous in some parts of the world
even now, is directed against this peculiarity. To my mind it
is but the expression of envy and is a method which meanness
takes to injure a successful rival. It has been the cause in
times past and now of bringing back to Jerusalem the descend-
ants of its former inhabitants.

In the days of Ferdinand and Isabella, when the Jews were
driven from Spain, some of the refugees never rested perma-
nently till they found protection under the Sultan and made
homes for themselves in the then poor little city that occupied
part of the site of the once glorious capital of their nation.
There are families here now who can trace their descent in
unbroken line from these victims of Spanish oppression.

Many cities of America and Europe have larger Jewish
populations than has this — the world's capital of Judaism.
London and New York each has more of these people than
can be found in all Palestine. The superiority in population
of these cities does not, however, detract from the religious
preeminence of the City of Zion, nor can it give them the
place in the hearts or the prayers of this scattered people that
Jerusalem holds.

Of the 85,000 Jews in Palestine fully one-half are living
within the walls of Jerusalem, or in the twenty-three colonies
that cluster just outside the walls. This number, 42,500, is
an estimate only, but is made after careful investigation by
good judges. No house-to-house census is ever taken here.
The Jews are opposed to it on the grounds of religion, and on

The Jews in Jerusalem 291

very good financial grounds also. They fear a new tax, and
would certainly prevaricate to avoid it.

Among the number of Jews here can be found citizens of
nearly every country on earth. The list of strangers who were
in the city on the Day of Pentecost, as described in the second
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, can be duplicated to-day
and increased by the names of many lands and nations of
which history was not then cognizant. These foreign subjects
remain foreigners, their papers of citizenship bring the evi-
dence of their right to protection under some Christian flag,
though they dwell in the Sultan's realm. Fully one-half of
the Jewish residents owe allegiance to foreign powers. This
is, no doubt, a good thing for them, but it is hardly justice to
the Turk, nor in fact to the power that protects them. The
various Sultans of Turkey have shown great courtesy to the
Jews at various times, but just now the Jews under foreign
protection seem to prefer to remain there. For political rea-
sons Jewish Congresses may pass resolutions complimenting
the Sultan, as we have recently seen, but at the same time and
for the same reasons the members passing the resolutions prefer
not to transfer their citizenship.

The number of Jews in Jerusalem is slowly increasing.
During the last years of the decade previous to 1890 the in-
crease was phenomenal. Cruel oppression in Russia com-
pelled many to look elsewhere for homes and their eyes turned
longingly to the land promised to their fathers. They came
in large numbers, hoping to better their condition, and, had
the free entrance granted at that time been continued, the
Hebrew population of to-day would have been at least double
what it is. Just why the permission was not continued no One
outside of official circles knows. Their coming certainly
would have added to the importance and wealth of Palestine.
But the Turkish authorities are sensitive and perhaps they felt
that a large increase of these foreigners would so complicate
matters as to give rise to difficulties of a serious political na-

292 Jerusalem the Holy

ture. They would soon present a problem which the Turkish
authorities might have great trouble in solving. In order not
to have to solve it Jewish immigration was prohibited. Now
they do not come in large numbers, but this part of the city's
population is continually on the increase. Hardly a vessel
puts in at Jaffa, but leaves one or more who has come to live
in the Holy City.

The officials of Jaffa frequently exercise their authority
against these newcomers and some having made the long
journey are not allowed to set foot on shore. However, more
land in joy than depart in sorrow. When the strict passport
regulations have been complied with, there is little difficulty.

That the prohibition does not prohibit may be easily in-
ferred from the continued increase of the Jewish population in
the cities and colonies. In Jerusalem new houses are con-
tinually being built, and as soon as they are finished, they are
occupied. At the same time it must be noted that many are
leaving the Holy City and Land to join the dispersion among
the Gentiles. The young men and women, many of them,
have a longing to experience a more active life than can be
enjoyed here. Reports of business prosperity come to them
from friends who have preceded them and a desire to partici-
pate in similar successes impels them to desert for a time the
quiet, unbusinesslike city of their fathers. Many of these
more progressive ones look to the great Republic across the
Atlantic, and, as soon as they have means sufficient to pay
their passage, thither they go. I have met many of these,
but among them have never known one who was leaving with-
out the intention to return. They are going to sojourn for a
time in the city of the stranger and then come back and make
a home in the city they love. To have a competence sufficient
to enable them to live comfortably in Jerusalem is their ideal,
and to obtain it they are willing to endure years of exile.

A study of the Jew in modern Jerusalem will compel the
honest inquirer to revise some of his preconceived notions of

The Jews in Jerusalem 293

the Jewish race. There is no doubt that as a race the Jews
are more clearly defined and of purer descent than any other
civilized nation of to-day. Because of their general refusal to
intermarry with the people among whom they are resident,
and because of their strict adherence to their law, which
applies to every department of life, they have remained apart.
That this exclusiveness and obedience to law have resulted in
racial purity is not to be wondered at. At the same time they
have not produced unity in the race, and when we discourse
about the Jewish type, we must, in order to be exact, describe
what type, for they are many. In the varied experiences
through which these people have passed during historical
times, foreign elements have been forcibly engrafted upon
them and Jewish maidens have become the wives of their con-
querors. At least in one instance a whole non-Jewish tribe —
the Chazari — became converted to Judaism and were assimi-
lated. The Jew also is no exception to the rule that a person is
affected by climatic and social conditions. He comes in time
to resemble the people among whom he lives and to partake to
a greater or less degree of their peculiarities. This will
account for the great variety of Jew, in appearance, in habits,
and in intelligence, as seen in Jerusalem to-day. The
Occidental Jew differs in every respect from his Oriental co-
religionist as much as the American differs from the Arab.

Among the Jerusalem Jews there are several clearly marked
divisions, divisions not caused by religious variations, except
in the case of the Caraites, but due to the difference in locality.
The largest division is that of the Ashkenazim, and includes
those from Russia and the countries of Central Europe. These
all speak a common language. It is called Yiddish and is a
jargon in which German predominates, though Russian and
Hebrew words are not uncommon and English has been drawn
upon to some extent. The construction of this conglomerate
speech is that of the German, but the method of speaking and
the accent given to many of the words make it difficult for

294 Jerusalem the Holy

those acquainted with pure German to understand. The
written Yiddish is even more anomalous and hence more
difficult.

Among the Ashkenazim one meets a great variety of people.
There is the Russian Jew, a man whose ancestors have for
generations lived in the land of the Tsar. He resembles the
pure Russian in many ways. There is the German Jew, the
English and the American, each partaking in some measure
of the peculiar traits of the people among whom he lived be-
fore coming here. Most of these are of foreign birth and it is
only within comparatively recent years that they have begun
to be "lovers of Zion " to an extent sufficient to induce them
to come and live within her walls. The injustice which they
have suffered in Russia has no doubt impelled many to leave
that land and to seek the peace they longed for within the
Sultan's dominions. From choice and a desire to dwell on
holy soil and be buried in it those from America and England
have come.

The next division in point of numbers is the Sephardim..
These come from the Latin countries of Europe and date their
arrival from the persecutions that were inflicted upon them,
because of their religion, at the close of the fourteenth cen-
tury. Theirs was an honorable position in Spain especially,
and in Portugal, Italy and France. Spanish injustice deprived
them of their honors, confiscated their lands and sent them
adrift as homeless wanderers to find dwellings where they
could. Many went to Holland, many to Italy, taking with
them their culture and abilities in the learned professions.
Some wandered as far as Constantinople and found protection
under the reigning Sultan, Salim, and gained high positions
under him and his successors during the sixteenth century.
Some came to Jerusalem, and their descendants are here yet.
They brought back with them the culture and refinement for
which they were noted even in courtly Spain, and these excel-
lent parts are seen in some of their descendants who have never

The Jews in Jerusalem 295

been outside of Palestine. Many of them are poor, but poverty
has not detracted from their manhood or gentility.

In this respect they are generally in favorable contrast to
the Ashkenazim. The latter are less careful in their personal
appearance and in the condition of their residences. The
cause of this is not that the Ashkenazim are poorer, for the
opposite is the case. It is due to previous conditions. The
Askenaz is the descendant of the Ghetto and the limitations
that were then prescribed bind him in a measure still.

It has at times struck me as something surprising how
cheaply and how apparently comfortably a Sephardim family
can live. In some cases the father by his daily toil earns but*
two dollars per week. It suffices, and he does not ask that it
be augmented by a donation from the charity funds which are
contributed for the support of their unfortunate co-religionists
by prosperous Jews in other parts of the world.

The next division in point of numbers is the Jews from
Persia. These are strictly Oriental in appearance and in hab-
its. With few exceptions they are poor in this world's goods,
having come from a country where opportunities for money-
getting are limited. They have become victims of a habit
very common in the Orient, namely that of begging, and per-
sist in practicing it even when there is no need of doing so.
Of all the Jews here they are the most ignorant and, like their
ancestors of long ago, have partaken deeply of Persian super-
stition ; in their social life too they are, as a class, degraded.

Another type of Jew has within the past few years made his
appearance in the Holy City. He differs as much from the
Occidental Jew as the lithe, sinewy Bedouin of the desert
differs from the heavy, coarse-featured Russian. Having come
fn m Yemen this people are called, for lack of a better term,
Yemenites. In appearance they are very dark-skinned, small-
featured and of medium height. Their history is not well
known, but they are thought to be descendants of the tribe of
Gad, who, after the exile in Babylon, went southward and

296 Jerusalem the Holy

settled in Arabia, preferring a voluntary exile to a return to
their devasted city among the Judean hills. The story of their
return now, as it has been told me, has much of the romantic
and pathetic in it. Cut off from all communications with the
outside world they had become possessed with the belief that
their long-promised Messiah was about to make his appearance
in Jerusalem. Wishing to be present at that sublime event
forty families made the arduous journey from their Arabian
homes to Jerusalem. Having no means and no friends their
condition was, on their arrival, pitiable. Applications for as-
sistance made to the local rabbis were treated coldly, and in
;their perplexity these Yemenites camped on a vacant lot on the
Jaffa road just outside the city and as the people passed called
upon all alike to witness their condition and help them. This
appeal aroused the Jewish authorities to activity and temporary
homes were provided for them. They were worthy people and
have since demonstrated their industry and thrift. Some of
them are now well-to-do and own their own little, well-kept
homes.

The Caraites are a very small community consisting in all
of about fifty souls. They are in disfavor with all the other
Jews because of their non-acceptance of the Talmud. They
discard all of the Mishnic, or Oral Law, and regard the Old
Testament as " the only rule of faith and practice." This sect
of Jews was founded at Bagdad, but most of its adherents are
now living in southern Russia. Their liturgy is much simpler
and more impressive than that used in the orthodox synagogues.
While very firm in their beliefs they have but little influence in
the social or religious life of the city. They are possessed of
but one synagogue, which is located almost in the centre of
the town and from its condition appears to be one of the oldest
structures. It is almost entirely underground. In it are some
rare old manuscripts. The Caraites are thought to resemble
the old Sadducean party and are designated by Conder as

The Jews in Jerusalem 297

"low Church" Jews. They are certainly the most liberal
Jewish sect here.

To these divisions, which largely follow national lines, there
are others which are marked by religious differences. The
Chassidim are, as their name implies, the ultra-pious Jews, and
are now, as they have been since post-exilic times, the bul-
wark of Jewish orthodoxy. They first organized themselves to
resist the Grecianizing influences that were alienating the peo-
ple from their pure Jehovah worship. Their present purpose
is similar to the ancient one, but the power against which they
direct their energies is Christianity. Although arrogating to
themselves the special virtues of protecting Judaism and call-
ing themselves " the pious ones " the Jerusalem representatives
have been sufficiently active in worldly affairs to obtain a fair
share of temporal wealth. As a class they are considered the
wealthiest among the Jerusalem Jews, though those from Russia
are generally quite poor. Their number in the city is about
three thousand five hundred.

From a knowledge of the various divisions of Judaism in the
Holy City, and from a study that has proved to me that the
Jew represents in appearance and in character " all sorts and
conditions of men " I have come to the conclusion that Isaac
DTsraeli was correct in saying that, "The Jewish people are
not a nation, for they consist of many nations; they are
Spanish or Portuguese, German or Polish ; they are Italian,
English and French, and, like the chameleon, they reflect the
color of the spot they rest on. The people of Israel are like
the waters running through the countries, tinged in their course
with all the varieties of the soil where they deposit themselves.
After a few generations the Hebrews assimilate with the char-
acter, and are actuated by the feelings of the nation of which
they become part. What a distinct people are the Jews of
London, of Paris, of Amsterdam, from the Jews of Morocco,
Damascus and the Volga." While this is true, it is no less so
that amid this great variety there is one strong bond that

298 Jerusalem the Holy

makes them a homogeneous people. It is the bond of a com-
mon religion, stronger than any obligation imposed upon them
by the nations to which they have attached themselves; to
which they have generously contributed of their energies and
talents, and for which, when occasion required it, they have
not hesitated to shed their blood.

This bond of religion that holds so firmly is what makes
unity amidst such great diversity. It is what has kept
the Jews a "peculiar people," and, unfortunately, it has been
the real cause of much of the persecution they have endured
during their sojourn among the nations. In no place in the
world will this religion in its purity be seen to better and to
worse advantage than in Jerusalem. To better advantage, be-
cause here are living pious Jews who are " Israelites indeed,"
men who combine zeal in their religion with the highest
qualities of genuine manhood, and who would be respected
for their sterling worth in any place where honor and real
character are appreciated. It can here be seen at its worst,
because there are those who, under the pretense of piety and
with a show of zeal, practice to deceive, their sole object be-
ing to impose upon the charitable feelings of their co-religion-
ists in other parts of the world, and thus to maintain them-
selves in comfortable idleness. I am sorry to have to record
as my belief that the latter class outnumbers the former. I
am sustained in this view by the opinions of many of the
honorable Jews here.

Rabbi is a very familiar title among the Jews in Jerusalem.
How many are deserving enough to have it applied to them is a
question. In most instances it is simply used as a term of re-
spect. There are those, however, who exercise the functions
of masters and are recognized by their people as acting within
their jurisdiction when they do so. Chief among these and
the one officially recognized by the Turkish government
authorities is the Chachem Bashi, Jacob Saul Elyashur. He
is a man of great age, being nearly ninety, and of great

The Jews in Jerusalem 299

power. In a recent test of strength he proved himself a
greater force in the community than the Moslem Pasha of
Palestine. Other rabbis, such as Joshua Diskin and Samuel
Salant, are known, the former for his erudition, the latter for
his executive ability, wherever Jews are found.

In every quarter of the city, within and without the walls,
small synagogues are located. The entire number is about
two hundred. It must not be thought, however, that each
synagogue is a separate building. Any room in any building
may be devoted to this purpose, provided it has been properly
consecrated. It is the ambition of many aged Jews, who
come here to die and be buried in the holy soil of Olivet, to
provide for the establishment of a small synagogue, in which
prayers may be offered.

Any ten adult males — a Jew reaches his majority at thirteen
— may petition to have such a room set apart where they may
read their prayers and spend their time in the study of their
Law. Such a petition is usually granted provided the peti-
tioners pledge themselves to see that their synagogue is prop-
erly maintained.

Three large synagogues are located within the walls in the
Jewish quarter. Two of these belong to the Sephardim and
are known as Beth Yakob, or House of Jacob, and Tiphereth
Israel, or the Glory of Israel. K'hal Stambouli, the Stamboul
Congregation, is the large meeting-place of the Ashkenazim.
There are here really four synagogues in one, which united
can accommodate eight hundred worshippers. At all hours of
the day men will be found in these larger structures busily en-
gaged in the study of the Talmud and in prayer. Many of
these are aged men who have spent their lives in this way,
supported by the charity of the pious Jews of foreign lands,
who, themselves unable to come to Jerusalem, thus secure a
representative whose prayers ascend from the Holy City for
them. It maybe truthfully said now that "Prayer is made
continually in Jerusalem."

300 Jerusalem the Holy

Not a synagogue, but a place as holy to the Jew and to the
Gentile far more interesting, is a small paved court near the
southwest corner of the wall enclosing the Haram area. This
is the "Place of Wailing," — the nearest approach the pious
Jew ever makes to the sacred enclosure within which formerly
stood the Temple of his God. Here on a Friday evening and
on fast days may be witnessed a sight unparalleled for strange-
ness and pathos. Against the stones of the old wall that were
put in place by the masons of long ago Jewish men and
women, quaint specimens of a once great nation — stand and
read their prayers and weep over their departed glories and
their desolated city, just as their fathers wept by the waters of
Babylon. The old stones are worn smooth by the affectionate
kisses of the faithful and by the touch of reverent hands. It
is hard to doubt that these tears are sincere. Surely as a
people the Jews have suffered enough to warrant their tears,
and here in the shadow of the temple wall the meagreness of
their present privileges is sufficient to suggest the bitterness of
their experiences.

On a day that permits this small court will be filled with
men and women who have come to beseech Jehovah to re-
member with favor His ancient people. It is a strange gather-
ing, unlike any other on earth. To the frivolous observer the
varied and quaint costumes, the peculiar intonations and the
unusual motions of the body are amusing, but the serious man
considers their motive which lends an air of sanctity to the
place. Surely a plot of ground that has been a place of
prayer for centuries has some claims to reverence, and a peo-
ple who through generations have continued faithful to their
religious convictions, however mistaken they may be, will be
treated with disrespect only by the despicable.

The practice of meeting at the "Wall of Wailing" has
continued since the Middle Ages. The same litany has been
chanted all these years and the same prayers read. And the
end is not yet ! In their chant the leader says, " We sit in

The Jews in Jerusalem 301

solitude and mourn, for the palace that is destroyed ; for the
walls that are overthrown ; for our majesty that is departed ;
for the great men who lie dead ; for the precious stones that
are burned ; for the priests who have stumbled ; for our kings
who have despised us." After each of these statements the
people respond in pathetic tones, " We sit in solitude and
mourn." Occasionally another prayer is used. The leader
says, " May peace and joy abide with Zion," and the sug-
gestive response comes, ' ' And may the Branch spring up at
Jerusalem."

Few of the many annual visitors from Europe and America
take the trouble to visit the real Jewish quarter of the city,
and they thus miss a lasting impression. There are places of
human habitation that are as wretched as some of these, but
surely there can be none that surpass them in squalor. More
unwholesome residences could not be devised than are some of
these underground hovels where no breath of untainted air
ever finds its way. From observations made by day and by
night in these wretched holes, misnamed homes, I think I
have learned one of the secrets of the indestructibility of the
Hebrews : they can survive and increase and seem to thrive
amid conditions that would be fatal to the average mortal.

It is amazing how many of these people can live in one
small room, a room whose only method of ventilation is by
the door, which during the night is closed and barred. Ten
is not an uncommon number to find thus living. There will
be little furniture in such a room and the beds are but heaps
of rags on the floor. There are those even too poor to afford
such meagre accommodations. Some of these are provided
for in places not fit for cattle. I have seen in this quarter of
the city deserted wives with their young children sleeping in
sheltered corners of alleys and under low arches that span the
narrow streets. In winter when the weather is severe, as it
frequently is, the suffering among the homeless poor is very
great. At such times the synagogues are thrown open and

302 Jerusalem the Holy

men and boys who have no more comfortable place are al-
lowed to sleep on the floors. How these unfortunates manage
to keep soul and body together is a mystery more difficult of
solution than that which surrounds the fate of the charity
funds that are poured into the coffers of the rabbis.

From the contemplation of such scenes it is pleasant to turn
to the Jewish colonies outside the walls, and which nearly sur-
round the city. The houses in these are usually small, but
comfortable and sufficiently exposed for the circulation of
fresh air. At the same time one cannot avoid the conclusion,
after visiting some of these colonies and seeing what they are
and what they might be, that their inhabitants prefer to have
their surroundings filthy and to see to what extent they can
violate all sanitary laws and still live.

In treating of the home life of Jerusalem Jews only the most
general statements can be made. There are Jewish homes
here just as commodious and as tastefully furnished and as
carefully kept as any homes in the city. Israel has always
been noted for the purity of its home life. In the true Jewish
home there abides a spirit of devotion to religion, often bur-
densome to be sure, because bound in the fetters of rabbi nism.
The law provided for the regulation of home life, but at the
same time permitted a certain freedom of action. Rabbinism,
which descends to minutest particulars, leaves no room for
choice. Its followers are slaves to the letter, and thus make a
perpetual task of what was intended to be a continual joy.
This "joy in the Lord" is what one misses in these homes.
One noticeable positive virtue is the respect and reverence
which the children have for their parents. This is universal.
It is inculcated in infancy and continues through life. Hos-
pitality is also practiced to the extent of the means of the head
of the family. In morals the Jews everywhere will be found
to compare favorable with any class of people. These domes-
tic and moral virtues, which are Israel's strength, cannot be
separated from his religion, for they are part of it. An un-

The Jews in Jerusalem 303

dutiful child is impious ; an immoral person is irreligious ; the
Law severely condemns both.

In the home the wife is the equal of her husband. She is
not so regarded, however, in the synagogue, nor has she any
voice in public affairs. She does not count as a member of
the congregation, and her place when she attends public wor-
ship is in a retired part of the synagogue, usually a small, re-
mote gallery, where she can see and hear, but not be seen.
In any question that concerns the community her husband is
the one to act. She may advise him, but he alone is respon-
sible for results. I have never heard of a case in Jerusalem of
a wife being dissatisfied with this arrangement.

In one particular concerning the family the native Jerusalem
Jew resembles his Arab half-brother. He wishes his children
all to be boys, and when a girl baby is born the rejoicing over
the event is not nearly so marked as it would have been had
the little one been a boy. The congratulations of friends are
regulated by the sex of the infant. This is a peculiarity which
is accounted for because of the religious superiority of males.
In one other respect, namely that of education, the boys have
the advantage over their sisters here. Boys' schools are abun-
dant. In them the pupils are taught the rudiments of a general
education and prepared for a career of usefulness. There are
also industrial schools where trades are learned, and Talmud-
Torah schools where special religious instruction is given. In
the latter years are passed, lives oftentimes, in traversing "the
sea of the Talmud." There is just one school for girls. It is
supported by the Paris branch of the Rothschild family, and
is called the Evelyn Rothschild School for Girls. This insti-
tution is ably conducted and has an attendance of three hun-
dred and fifty. It is an innovation not fully approved of by
the rabbis. Perhaps it would be unjust to say that these mas-
ters do not wish their women to know anything ; the fact re-
mains that they do not establish ariy other schools of this kind.

This failure to provide for the education of his daughters is

304 Jerusalem the Holy

one evidence of the unwisdom of the Jerusalem Jew ; another
evidence is seen in the marriage customs that largely prevail.
Rabbinical laws regulate these also. To an uninitiated ob-
server the majority of marriages here seem to be mere alliances
for convenience. They are arranged by parents or friends
and the young couple simply carry out the arrangements.
Financial considerations have great weight, and the bride us-
ually furnishes the weightier ones. But such marriages are
not confined to Jerusalem, nor to Paris ; not to the Jews, nor
to the French. Divorce among the Jews here is a very common
occurrence and more easily obtained than in Oklahoma. Un-
der certain conditions polygamy is admissible, though it is
practiced only by the Sephardim, and very rarely. The
Chacham Bashi has two wives, as has also the chief rabbi of
the Mughrabee Jews. They seem not to be thought any less
of for this indulgence.

In the observance of their great annual religious feasts the
spirit of Judaism is manifest. To properly celebrate some of
these requires the temple and an officiating priesthood. In
the absence of these the impressiveness of the service is lost
and the effort to supply something that will make up for the
loss is pitiable and in some instances almost ridiculous. The
Day of Atonement is still observed in a way. None knows
better than the Jews themselves how far it fails to be the sol-
emn impressive day that it once was in Jerusalem. But the
modern service could and should be improved upon. It could
point in a clearer and more serious way to the necessity of
true repentance. The spiritual degeneracy of Judaism is seen
in this, that its most sacredly solemn Day has become a sub-
ject for ridicule. Twisting the neck of a young fowl is re-
garded as a sufficient substitute for the requirements of the
sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. In preparation for the Day of
Atonement some of the Chassidim, those who would be consid-
ered of special holiness, gather in the synagogue and submit
themselves to the " whip of scourging," As they lie on the

The Jews in Jerusalem 305

floor in the attitude of humiliation each receives the "forty
stripes save one."

The Feast of Purim is still kept vigorously. The deliver-
ance of the exiled portion of their race from the massacre
arranged by the devices of Haman was a divine intervention
not to be forgotten. The name "Purim" is used in irony,
perhaps, because Haman was given to casting "lots," and
did so on this occasion in order to learn which would be the
most auspicious day for the inauguration of the proposed
slaughter. Formerly there were certain days on which it was
considered improper for this festival to be begun. But now the
custom seems to be to commence the celebration as soon as the
stars appear on the fourteenth of the month Adar. It will be
remembered that the day is considered by the Jews as begin-
ning at sundown. For this feast candles are lit, as an evi-
dence of a lack of fear, and as a sign of rejoicing, and the
people assemble in their various synagogues for a short reli-
gious service, during which the Book of Esther is read. At
each mention of Haman's name by the reader, the congrega-
tion stamp their feet and cry " May his name be blotted out."
The children present are taught to show their hatred for this
ancient enemy. They are provided with stones on which
Haman's name is written. These they rub together until the
name is obliterated.

Next morning a service somewhat similar to that of the pre-
ceding evening is held, at which, after the prayers for the day,
the passage in Exodus xvii., from verse eighth to sixteenth, is
read. This relates to the destruction of the Amalekites, from
whom they believe Haman was descended. The Book of
Esther is again read and the synagogue service is over. Then
comes the real rejoicing. Presents are exchanged ; the chil-
dren are supplied with an abundance of sweetmeats, and as
generous a feast as can be afforded is indulged in. Wine is
freely partaken of, as the Talmud enjoins, and he who is not
intoxicated by the time the festivities are over is considered as

306 Jerusalem the Holy

not having kept the feast properly. In this connection we
may observe that it is not possible for a religious Jew to be a
total abstainer. Talmudic injunctions require the partaking
of wine on the Sabbath, at the Passover Feast and at Purim.

The Feast of Tabernacles is kept with something of its orig-
inal simplicity and rejoicing. It comes at the time of year
when grateful thoughts are natural to the recipient of divine
favors. It was originally a national thanksgiving, and is yet
in a sense, though the conditions for its proper celebration are
not possible to dispersed Israel. Two of the former require-
ments, namely, "joyous festivities and dwelling in booths" are
practiced. The third, that of sacrifice, has been discontinued
since the fall of the temple. This feast lasted seven days —
from the fifteenth to the twenty-first of the month Tishri — and
was followed by a day of "holy convocation." During these
days all the Jews appear in holiday attire. Booths are built in
the yards or on the flat roofs or balconies of every house. In
these booths the male members of the family reside during the
week. Here the family partakes of its meals and receives
friends. At night all except the most rigid religionists occupy
their accustomed beds under substantial roofs. As the booths
as now constructed afford little protection from the weather
this move indoors at night is certainly the part of wisdom.
The symbolic meaning of this feast is lost sight of by the
Jews. As the feast of ingathering of the full harvest it pointed
forward to the final ingathering, " the glory of the latter day,"
when all nations shall appear before the Lord.

To these practices, which have a Biblical foundation, others
with no such basis have been added and are observed as care-
fully as if there were a "thus saith the Lord" to support
them ; but to enter into a discussion of these would carry us
beyond the limits of a work of this kind.

Among the strictly Oriental Jews there are many practices
that seem to be mere superstitions. In common with their
Moslem neighbors the fear of the " evil eye" is quite preva-

The Jews in Jerusalem 307

lent. Charms are worn to counteract this baleful influence
and numerous invocations are used to protect against it. Over
the doors of many of the houses will be seen the whitewashed
or painted representation of a hand. The resemblance to a
hand is generally a very distant one, there being simply five
straight lines diverging from a point. These lines are meant
to represent "the Hand of Might." This symbol has a sig-
nificance similar to a horseshoe nailed above the door ; namely,
to bring good luck to the household and to protect it from
the evil spirits. Amulets are resorted to in cases of severe ill-
ness and are frequently applied when a physician's treatment
does not appear to be successful.

Among the orthodox here, as everywhere, belief in the
coming of the Messiah still obtains ; Him whom the Christian
world recognizes as its Messiah the Jerusalem Jew utterly dis-
regards. Many will not endure the mention of His name
without expressions of contempt, and to speak of Him in their
presence as the Anointed One of Israel will evoke from them
what sounds to Christian ears as the harshest blasphemy. This
estimate of Jesus of Nazareth is taught to the children as soon
as they are old enough to comprehend it. It is impressed upon
them throughout their life until maturity. What wonder, when
to this teaching is added the accounts of how Israel has been
maltreated among the nations, that Christianity has made
hardly any impression upon this citadel of Judaism !

Systematic Christian mission work is done among these peo-
ple, but the results lead to the conclusion that the time of the
" ingathering " is not yet. There are some sheaves, however,
for one may see on any Sunday during the year at the services
of Christ's Church a fair-sized congregation of Hebrew Chris-
tians. Nor is anything to be said against missionary methods
as applied by the London Jews Society, the Missionary Alli-
ance and other independent workers who are employing them-
selves in presenting Christ to the Jews. It is simply a conclu-
sion reached after some years of study and observation on the

308 Jerusalem the Holy

ground, that the great body of Israel remains untouched by
the Gospel. Years of faithful preaching, teaching and medi-
cal mission work have failed to break down the wall of di-
vision.

That some work is effective may be judged by the recent
violent opposition of the rabbis to the hospital of the London
Jews Society. A fine new hospital building has just been
completed in one of the most attractive parts of the city, and
at an expense of seventy thousand dollars. Here Jewish pa-
tients were received and treated free of charge. No sooner
were the hospital quarters removed from the old building to
the new than war was declared by the rabbis. A " charem "
was issued against the new hospital and all Jews were warned
against applying there for treatment and threatened with ex-
communication if they disobeyed the warning. One Jewess
dared the wrath of the rabbis and entered the hospital for
treatment. She died, and burial was refused her by the Jew-
ish authorities in their cemetery. Influence was brought to
bear upon the chief rabbi to permit the interment, but he
positively refused. Having disobeyed the "charem" she was
no longer considered as a Jewess. The hospital authorities
brought the matter before the English consul, who communi-
cated with the Pasha. The excitement lasted for three days
and in spite of all protests the chief rabbi won. The woman
was buried in a secluded corner of ground not in the Jewish
cemetery, and had no service of any kind at her grave. This
incident has had the effect of so frightening the Jews that they
will not go near the new hospital. This opposition will prob-
ably be very short-lived.

Nor is this opposition to Christian missions confined to
Jerusalem. It seems to be a concerted plan of the rabbis
everywhere, apparently due to fears that all the efforts being
made to convert the Jew are not fruitless. In Jewish period-
icals recently there has been much said against all " conver-
sionists," and much contempt heaped upon the proselyte.

The Jews in Jerusalem 309

One cannot much blame the spiritual leaders of Israel for seek-
ing to hold their people within the ancient pale of their re-
ligion ; some criticism is possible of the methods used.

Besides the spiritual terrors which the Jerusalem rabbis have
at their disposal, there is also a weighty temporal force which
they can make effective. In all parts of the world where Jews
are found there are collections made for their brethren in the
Holy City. The house of every pious Jew of the Dispersion
has a little box in which the members of the family deposit
now and then a small coin which is meant for Jerusalem.
Collectors are appointed, each one having a certain district,
who visit the houses and empty these charity boxes. How
much money from these finds its way each year to the old city
none but the rabbis who handle it can tell. But that it is a
considerable sum may be estimated from the number of people
who are supported out of it. It is known as the Haluka, or
charity fund, and, with but few exceptions, every family in the
city draws upon it. Any one asking can receive ; consequently
many having no need of charity are sharing that which was
intended for the poor. The really poor whose daily bread de-
pends upon this charity fund must obey the commands of the
dispensing rabbi or suffer.

A large Haluka is raised in America. I am informed that
about forty-five thousand dollars is the annual amount collected
there for the Jerusalem poor. I am assured here that only six
thousand dollars ever reaches Jerusalem. Where the rest goes
is a matter of speculation which does not require much astute-
ness. In the spring of 1896 some intelligent American Jews
residing in Jerusalem concluded to remedy this palpable
wrong, which really amounted to fraud, and decided to organ-
ize an American congregation. They laid their case before
their co-religionists in the United States, informed them how
their charity was being dispensed, and proposed the organiza-
tion of a strictly American society which would see to the col-
lecting and forwarding of the fund in an honorable business

310 Jerusalem the Holy-

way, and promised to see that it was dispensed in the same
way to only the deserving poor here. A storm of opposition
was raised by the collectors and forwarders in America and by
the distributers in Jerusalem, and rabbis in Russia and Austria
protested strongly at the proposed innovation. But the inno-
vators had right on their side and there is now in the Holy
City an American Hebrew congregation, managed by honor-
able American Jews, and contributors to the Haluka may be
assured that their charity is not lost.

Like their brothers in other parts of the world the Jews of
Jerusalem, and of the rest of Palestine, are being moved by
the spirit of Nationalism. In numbers the Hebrew nation is
respectable ; in wealth and abilities it is wonderful. A sense
of what it is, is compelling it to think of what it might be and
to discuss methods of fulfilling its destiny. In these discus-
sions Palestine is coming into prominence and the formerly
indifferent are made " Lovers of Zion." Israel needs a home,
a land he can call his own, a city where he can work out his
salvation. He has none of these now. His present home is
among strangers, people with whom he has little sympathy
and who have little for him. The lands in which he lives are
not his own, though he has frequently shed his blood for their
preservation. The cities he has helped to build are not his;
they never can be. Israel's hope of a home land is possible of
realization, but it will be realized only in Palestine.

I would not enter upon the discussion as to how the dis-
persed nation is to be gathered, or when. There are obstacles
in the way, which will not be removed to-day or to-morrow ;
that they can be removed is enough. There is coming a time
when Israel shall " no more be termed forsaken " nor his
"land any more be termed desolate." Then Jerusalem shall
be called " Sought out. A city not forsaken." 1
i Isaiah lxii.

THE CHRISTIANS IN JERUSALEM

Beginnings of Christianity — Christian Affection — Evidences
of that Affection and Reasons for It — Historical Experiences
— Variety of Religions — Greek Church — Church Statistics —
Religious Paupers — Ecclesiastics — Criticism of Missions — Mis-
sion Difficulties — Houses of Industry — "Peculiar" Christians
— People with " Missions " — The Second Advent — Incidents of
Peculiarities — Work of the Oriental Churches — Russian Influ-
ence— Greek Church Possessions — Latin Possessions — Schools
— The Latin Patriarch — Armenians — Syrians — Anglican
Church — London Jews Society — Germans — Children's Hos-
pital— German Colony — American Missionaries.

312

XVII

THE CHRISTIANS IN JERUSALEM

THE beginnings of Christianity were in this sacred city of
Judaism, and since the dark Friday, when by His death
on the cross the Son of God sealed His earthly ministry, there
have always been some of His followers residing here. While
not regarding it with the same feelings of devout veneration
as do the Jews, Christians generally have a peculiar affection
for Jerusalem, founded upon the hallowed events with which
the old city is associated. The words and acts of Christ, the
establishment of the Church, the bitter trials and cruel perse-
cutions which the Apostles endured for their faith, the organ-
ization of the first missionary band and its starting out into the
wide world with its Gospel of love and salvation, these are
reasons sufficient for that sentiment. Some of us at this " end
of the age," fettered by the iron chains of hard utilitarianism,
may refuse to acknowledge the presence of this feeling in our
hearts ; and thereby we lose not a little that is commendable,
and much that would be beneficial. The event is always
greater than the place in which it occurred : Christianity is
greater than Jerusalem. Still, our high regard for the former
should not cause entire forgetfulness of the latter.

That Jerusalem is not forgotten, and has not been through
the centuries by Christians, can be known by a perusal of the
history of pilgrimages. There have been those "afar off"
whose eyes turned longingly to the poor city in which their
Lord died. There are those to-day — the number is increas-
ing— who from Christian lands far distant come to see this
city which, though still insignificant as compared with the

313

314 Jerusalem the Holy-

great cities of the earth, is the world's religious capital. It
would be otherwise a miserable village, peopled by a few
wretched Jews and miserable Moslems.

The history of Christianity in the Holy City has been
marked by many scenes of blood. Some of these have been
enacted in the name and for the supposed glory of the Prince
of Peace, some because of enmity to that Prince and His fol-
lowers. Perhaps no city of its size has witnessed so much of
the horror of religious persecution as this chief city of Pales-
tine. Perhaps none to-day exhibits to the world such a diver-
sity of religions and so many varieties of the Christian religion
in particular. Certainly there is none where, because of ec-
clesiastical intolerance, the unlovely spirit of hatred for each
other dominates to such a degree the various confessions.
This unloveliness in the name of love is the cause of much
grief to the earnest Christian and much of the suspicion with
which Jew and Moslem regard the religion of the Crucified.

Since the return of the Christians from Pella, there has
been no time when there has not been a resident Christian
community. During most of the time previous to the Mo-
hammedan occupation the Christians had been in the majority
and held the official positions. Since that time (637), with
the exception of the one century — the twelfth — when the Cru-
saders held the city against the Saracens, they have had no
nominal and very little real power. At present the Christians
outnumber the Moslems and both together are outnumbered,
three to one, by the Jews. And nearly every ordinary Chris-
tian sect is here, along with a good many which would not be
possible in any other place.

Of the entire Christian population nearly a half are adher-
ents of the Greek Orthodox 'Church — the wealthiest and most
influential of all. Next in order are the Roman Catholics who
number three thousand two hundred, and who as a Church are
by no means poor in this world's goods. The following list
will give a concise idea of the various Christian bodies.

The Christians in Jerusalem 315

Greek Orthodox 4,000

Roman Catholic 3,200

Armenian 600

Protestants (all forms) 500

Coptic 120

Greek Catholic ........ 100

Abyssinian 60

Syrian 50

Total 8,630

Of this number a great many are practically supported
by the various religious societies operating in the city. If
every private house occupied by a Christian were destroyed
there is room enough in the convents, hospices and nunneries
to give every family comfortable quarters. The Greeks and
Latins have large revenues from the faithful in other parts of
the world who do not forget the " poor saints which are at
Jerusalem." They use a great deal of this income to supply
bread to their native adherents. In this way they manage to
retain many who would otherwise be indifferent to religion.
Twice a week each of the two great Churches distributes food
to the needy, and it is notorious that some of the recipients
are Greeks on the day the Greeks distribute and Latins on the
day the Latins dispense bounty. While it is a worthy work to
supply the wants of the needy it is a work that is carried on
to such an extent in Jerusalem as to make paupers out of many
who are capable of self-support. But it is very easy to obtain
funds for charity in Jerusalem. The very name of the place
appeals to all the Jewish and Christian world and the amounts
of money that come in for the regularly organized missionary
and charitable societies, as well as for private independent
workers, are truly surprising. For the amount of work done,
as well as results accomplished, there is more money spent in
the Holy City than in any other city on earth. And a great
part of that money comes from America. It would be useless

316 Jerusalem the Holy

to decry this expenditure or to attempt to turn some of this
revenue into more useful channels. The charitably inclined
wish to send it here and the stewards of the distribution are
glad to receive it ; and it will continue to come.

The city ought to be "holy " if the presence of rabbis,
priests, lay missionaries, religious sheikhs and dervishes be
conducive to holiness. At any time of the day and in any
part of the city you can see one or other of these " holy men."
The Christian priests seem to be the most numerous and it is
not an exaggeration to say that there is a priest for every
fifteen of the Christian community. Some of these priests are
engaged in mission work, some in teaching in the various
schools; but the majority do nothing distinctively religious.
They enjoy the comforts of life and walk about in their long
robes, visiting the holy places and appearing holy themselves.
Jewish rabbis and Moslem sheikhs lead similar lives, each
guarding their own peculiar beliefs and places and enabled to
keep up the best of appearances by means of the generosity of
the faithful in other lands.

It would be doing a great injustice to many faithful men
and women to criticise without reservation all the mission
work that is being done. I shall have to leave that for those
professional critics of Christian missions who are all too ready
to publish their ignorance and are all too readily believed. If
those who criticise these workers and their methods in other
parts of the world have as little experimental knowledge of
them as has the average critic of the Jerusalem missions what
they say is not worth listening to, for it is false.

This must be said of the majority of Protestant Christian
workers, that they are faithfully living and preaching the Gospel
of the Master as they believe it. They are teaching these peo-
ple how to live for this world as well as for that which is to
come. And if there is one thing the native of Palestine needs to
learn it is how to live so that life will be something more than
animal existence.

The Christians in Jerusalem 317

It should be borne in mind also that those who are here
doing the Master's work as they see it have one of the hardest
fields in the world to work. Christianity is no new thing to
these people, but the Christianity of Christ is. The Oriental
Churches have been on the ground for centuries. They have
repelled rather than attracted the non-Christian element.
They sadly need a reformation. During all these centuries
they have had no converts from Islam or Judaism. Their pol-
icy toward the Jew is one of hatred ; toward the Moslem one
of indifference. To people whose only idea of Christianity is
obtained from such representatives the western missionaries
come. What wonder that they are not received and have first
to break down a strong hedge of prejudice before Jew or
Moslem will tolerate them even to the extent of listening to
them ! It is true that the apparent results are small, but they
are substantial.

The "Houses of Industry," where young men are taught
some useful trade, are in themselves a blessing. These young
Arabs go out to the different villages scattered over the land
able to do something more than pass their time in idleness.
They also have some idea of what the true religion of Jesus
is, even if they do not brave the ridicule and possible dangers
that a public profession of it would bring upon them. There
are girls in the mission schools who are taught ideas of clean-
liness and get valuable lessons in home-making. This is work
that will tell in the coming generation. If nothing more were
being done than such work as this it ought to silence adverse
criticism. And it would if the adverse critics knew it was
going on. But they come to the city for a few days, spend
those days in seeing the sights, among which mission work is
not one, and then go away to answer any who may question
them about it that there is very little if any such work being
done. All that such people need is an object lesson showing
what these boys and girls were when they entered the schools,

318 Jerusalem the Holy

or Houses of Industry, and what they are when they leave to
take their places in the world.

There is another class of individuals making a part of the
population who are counted among the Christians and that a
mistake is made in so counting them is not for me to say.
The name most suited to them is the modern word " crank."
If any one in Europe or America has any particular religious
vagary, which in his or her diseased imagination is God-in-
spired and which the whole world must accept or be forever
lost, he comes to Jerusalem if he is able. It would take a
good sized volume to describe these people and their views.
It would make strange, but unprofitable reading. America
leads in the number furnished to this class.

They all differ in most respects but in one particular all are
agreed ; all the world is hopelessly in error as to religion ;
the Christian Church is either intentionally or ignorantly cor-
rupt and there is no salvation for it. By a dream, or a vision,
or some special inspiration God has showed them the only
true way and appointed them to herald the truth to the world.
The Apostles began at Jerusalem, so must these apostles of a
new dispensation. They arrive in the city full of enthusiasm
over what they have been "called" to do. One man, the
disciple of a new kind of Mormonism, arrived in the city,
immediately called at the consulate and requested to be shown
the offices of the leading newspapers, as he wished to announce
his arrival and give a prospectus of his work. As there is not
a single newspaper published in the place this request was
easily answered. But he managed to make his announcement.
Five years have witnessed no results. He has given up trying,
but still retains belief in his divine appointment.

During the winter of 1894-95 a very intelligent gentleman
arrived. He looked and acted like an ordinary tourist, but
one had to converse with him but a short time to learn that he
too had a "mission." "I have come with a message to the
Jews," he informed me, "and I want to know if you think

The Christians in Jerusalem 319

there would be anything in the way of my procuring a large
tent, setting it up in a vacant lot and delivering ray message to
the people to whom I am sent."

"No," I replied, "there will be nothing in the way except
getting the Jews to come to the tent."

"Oh, that will be all right. The Lord will take care of
that."

"Can you speak Hebrew, or Spanish or the Jewish Jargon ? "
"No. I cannot." "Then how will you convey the mes-
sage? Very few of these people understand English."

" Oh, the Lord will take care of that. He sent me here to
remain for thirty days and in this time I must get my message
to all the Jews."

In about two weeks I saw him again. He had reconsidered
the matter of the tent and had decided to issue two addresses
in Hebrew, one to the rabbis and another to the common
people. This he did and scattered them broadcast. At the
end of thirty days, true to his mission, he returned to his home
in the United States.

The belief that the Second Coming of the Lord is near at
hand, and that His first appearance will be on the Mount of
Olives, has drawn many to this place. They are patiently
waiting to see their belief realized. Some have knowledge of
the exact day of His coming; others only know it is to be
soon.

One good old lady, now gone to her rest, went day after
day to the Mount and made her afternoon tea. Questioned as
to why she did this she replied, " Christ is coming and I want
to be on Olivet when He comes and have a cup of tea ready
for Him."

The story is told, though the genuineness of it is not vouched
for here, that an American of this peculiar stamp had come to
the city to announce what he called the New Gospel. Walk-
ing down David street he was met by a fellow countryman and
a general conversation ensued. Very soon the man with the

320 Jerusalem the Holy

message was asked how long he intended to remain in Jerusalem,
and replied, "I have come here to stay." "Indeed; but
what are you going to do here. This is no place to live."

" It may not be the place for you, but it is for me. I have
come to preach the New Gospel."

" Is that so ? and what, may I ask, is the New Gospel ? "

"It is the Gospel that there is to be no more death.
Death has controlled long enough and I am to preach that its
power is ended from this time on. Death is played out."

This was a revelation to the man who did not feel that he
had any special mission in the Holy City and he hardly knew
what reply to make to it. Finally he said, " But, my friend,
are not all the facts against the truth of your Gospel ?
People are dying this very moment in spite of your Gospel."

"Yes, I know it; but the Gospel of no death has not yet
been announced. I was sent here to announce it and as soon
as this is done no more deaths will occur."

"Very well; that is very comforting, but just suppose, after
you have published your Gospel, that you yourself should die,
what would become of this Gospel then? "

"Oh, if such should happen, if I should die after proclaim-
ing this, the whole blame thing would 'bust up.' " And so
it would.

So would many of the other so-called gospels that just now
have one or several advocates residing here and doing what
they can to propagate them. There was a company of de-
luded people who came here fourteen years ago and announced
that none of them were going to die until the Lord appeared.
In as many years thirteen of them have died.

All these religious vagaries, and there are many others,
each with its ardent supporter who misses no opportunity to
voice his belief, has its deterring effect upon the regular mis-
sionary efforts. Moslem and Jew regard them all as phases of
Christianity and wonder at a religion that produces them.
The city could very well dispense with the presence of all this

SYRIAN BISHOP OF JERUSALEM.

The Christians in Jerusalem 321

class of its population. The only redeeming thing about them
is that they are not numerous.

In this connection it will be proper to speak of the dis-
tinctive mission work done by the Christian Church in Jerusa-
lem. Concerning the Oriental branches there is little to be
said for they are satisfied to retain their native adherents and
make little effort to spread the Gospel among non-Christians.
They seem to have forgotten their "marching orders" to
"preach the Gospel to every creature." Oriental Christianity
is little else than lifeless form, and to "preach the Gospel"
seems to be no part of the labor of its numerous clergy. Their
work is to care for the holy places, look after their large prop-
erty interests in and near the city, see that their privileges are
not infringed upon by other sects, repeat their prayers and
live comfortably. The Greeks are far more active in getting
possession of land in and near the city than in anything else.
Any piece of property that is at all desirable that comes on the
market is soon bought up by those who manage the temporal
affairs of this community. Where the money comes from to
make these purchases is a matter to speculate about. While
this patriarchate has the largest revenue of any in the Church
there is a pretty general belief that the property is not all paid
for out of this. Russia's desire to number the Holy Land
among her possessions is well known, and her diplomats may
be using this arm of her established Church to accomplish that
desire. In the event of the dismemberment of the Turkish
empire these possessions — if they be Russian — would no doubt
have considerable weight in deciding to which one of the in-
terested European powers this land would fall. In the event
of the land falling to any other power, Russia's claim to her
purchased territory would in all probability be recognized, and
she would at least suffer no loss.

The Greeks possess the following buildings devoted solely to
religious, educational or charitable purposes : —

The Monasteries of St. Helena and Constantine, Abraham

322 Jerusalem the Holy

and Gethsemane ; the Convents of St. Basil, St. Catharine, two
of St. George, St. Michael, St. Theodore, Carolombos, Deme-
trius, Euthymius, Sectuagia, Nicholas, John the Baptist, Nativ-
ity of Mary, Spiridon and Spirito. They have a girls' school, a
boys' school and a hospital. Besides these are numerous priv-
ate residences and stores from which a good income is derived.

The Russian Mission, whose aim it seems to be to Russianize
the land rather than Christianize the people, has a fine prop-
erty just northwest of the city, with a large cathedral church,
several pilgrim houses and an extensive hospital. The Russian
Palestine Society is making its presence felt and seems to have
an abundance of means and great influence.

The Latin Church is a missionary institution and its priests
do not lose sight of that fact. Each one of them is a mis-
sionary and wherever he is holds in mind his commission to
make Latin Christianity supreme. There can be no ques-
tioning this fact by any one who takes the time to view their
operations in Jerusalem and Palestine. In Jerusalem itself are
the following schools and orders for the propagation of the
Latin faith.

Sisters of St. Joseph, having under their care the parish
school for native girls with an average attendance of one
hundred and twenty pupils. This order also conducts an
orphanage and hospital.

Sisters of Zion, with an excellent school and orphanage for
girls, the school caring for about one hundred resident pupils.

Franciscan Sisters. These carry on an orphanage and
have under their care always about fifty little girls.

Sisters of Charity. These do an excellent and much
needed work in their quiet, but effective way in supporting a
house for aged, infirm men and women and a home for found-
lings. There are usually about twenty of the latter unfortunate
little ones whom they care for.

The following are the schools for boys carried on by the
different orders of the Latin Church :

The Christians in Jerusalem 323

The Franciscans have an institution for the study of
theology, an orphanage for boys, a parish and an industrial
school.

The Dominicans also have a school for Bible study.

The White Brothers of St. Anne have a home, church and
school for the education of Greek Catholics.

The Brothers of St. Peter have an orphanage and house of
industry.

Herein these Latins show their wisdom. They are caring
for the future by getting hold of the children. This is really
the only effective way ; and it is very effective. The Church
that employs such enginery is bound to progress, and the one
that does not is sure to be surpassed. The Latins are caring
not only for the children of Latin parents, but are providing
education for children of the Greek and other Churches. They
are very willing to do this, spending time, and money also,
for they are bringing up as Latin Christians the children of
non-Latin parentage.

The present Latin Patriarch, Monseigneur Leodovico Piavi,
is a broad-minded, intelligent man, whose kindly face is ex-
pressive of great power. The position requires such a man,
for it demands of the incumbent in the patriarchal chair the
exercise of executive powers and political acumen rather than
great learning. However, the Patriarch's executive and
political abilities have interfered but little with his scholarly
attainments and I have wondered how a man whose time is so
fully occupied could manage to be so well informed as to
current events in all parts of the world.

The Latin Church is by no means poor in worldly goods in
Jerusalem. With the same success that they seem to have in
other parts of the world they have here found the means to
secure some of the most desirable property and have erected
substantial buildings. In the school of the Sisters of Zion
they possess one of the most interesting sites in the city, even
if it be not the place of Pilate's judgment hall where Christ

324 Jerusalem the Holy

was condemned ; though I see no reason for doubting this
claim. In the Freres' College in the northwest angle of the
walls they hold the most commanding position within the city.
Add to these the churches, namely, that of the Patriarch, St.
Salvator, St. Anne, Ecce Homo, Notre Dame du Spasme, the
Chapel of the Agony, the Monasteries of the Holy Sepulchre,
the Scourging, the Dominicans, the Brethren of the African
Mission, the Convents of the Carmelite Sisters, the Sisters of
Zion, the Sisters of the Rosary, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and
to these the Hospices for the entertainment of Pilgrims, namely
the Casa Nuova, the German Catholic, the Austrian and the
immense French Pilgrim building, and it forms a list of pos-
sessions in the Holy City well worthy even of that Church to
which they belong.

The Armenians have an extensive property on Mount Zion
near the Tower of David. The patriarch lives in a large
monastery near the Zion Gate, where, when the occasion
arises, a thousand pilgrims may be housed.

The other Oriental Churches are rather poor; the Syrians
have a quaint old church on the eastern slope of Zion near
which their Bishop resides. The Copts have two monasteries.
The Abyssinians possess a monastery in the city and a fine
church in the new city on the northwest.

The Church of England, represented by the Church Mis-
sionary Society and the London Society for the Promotion of
Christianity among the Jews, carries on the most extensive
mission work done by the Protestants. The former society
confines its efforts to the native population and works in the
neighboring villages as well as in Jerusalem. Their native ad-
herents number about 130, many of whom derive support from
the mission. For the number of workers the results appear
very small, and when one compares the amount of money ex-
pended with these small results the wonder is that the sup-
porters of the work do not become discouraged and apply the
money here used to more appreciative people in other parts of

The Christians in Jerusalem 325

the world. Plainly, Jerusalem is over-missionized. This is
saying nothing derogatory to the missionaries, both men and
women, for whom one cannot but have the very highest regard.
If there is any censure it belongs to the Church Boards of Eng-
land and America, who keep increasing the number of workers
and the amount of expenditures without any intelligent con-
sideration of the conditions. If the object of the Churches is
to increase the working force on the mission field it is attained ;
but if it be to make the best use of time and money — two things
which ought never to be lost sight of in this as in all other
kinds of work — thorough knowledge of the conditions, and
the conduct of affairs in strict accordance with that knowl-
edge, must take the place of the present methods. Until this
change is made, the missionaries will continue to be subjects
of criticism because of their lives of apparent ease ; and con-
clusions unfavorable to all missionary effort will continue to be
drawn by those who have no real interest in the Christianizing
of the Moslem and the Jew.

The Church Missionary Society employs in all about twenty
workers. These are preachers, teachers, and house to house
visitors. Services in Arabic are held every Sunday in St.
Paul's Church north of the city. There is a boys' boarding-
school, founded by Bishop Gobat, where about seventy boys
are educated ; it is situated on the southwestern slope of Zion.
This society also conducts a day school for boys and girls.

The "London Jews Society" owns the handsome stone
church on Mount Zion, just opposite the Tower of David.
Services are held every Sunday and are in English and He-
brew. A fine boys' school adjoins the church where children
of Jewish parentage are cared for. To the north of the city
is the girls' school of this society which is ably conducted and
possesses the best equipped school building in Palestine, with
the exception of the American Friends' School at Ramallah.
Under the care of the society is also a "house of industry"
where young proselytes are taught useful trades; and just now

326 Jerusalem the Holy

there is being erected a magnificent new hospital a short dis-
tance north of the British Consulate.

The British Ophthalmic Hospital near the railroad station,
which is supported by the English Knights of St. John, is do-
ing a noble work.

The German Evangelical Community numbers about two
hundred. These with the English community formerly united
under one Protestant bishop, supported by Prussia and Eng-
land ; an arrangement which was not found altogether satis-
factory and was dissolved in 1887. The Anglican Bishopric
is still maintained and the office held by the Right Reverend
G. F. Popham Blyth, D. D.

The German religious and charitable institutions under the
care of the Evangelicals are the girls' orphanage, Talitha Cumi,
conducted by the Deaconnesses of Kaiserswerth ; Schneller's
orphanage for boys; the Hospital of St. John; the Hospital
of the Deaconnesses of Kaiserswerth. In this connection
should be named the estimable work done by Doctor San-
dreczky and his family in the Children's Hospital. Though
hampered by lack of means, the results accomplished by the
doctor in his small institution are beyond praise. Any one
has but to see the wretched condition of the native children of
Palestine and the children of poor Jews to appreciate what a
blessing such an institution is. The hospital is always over-
crowded by the little sufferers and their mothers, and were the
means provided the accommodations could be indefinitely in-
creased. As it is the doctor and his family serve gratuitously
and by doing their very best cannot supply the needs of all the
deserving applicants. Their work is done without ostentation
and most economically.

Very worthy of mention also is the Lepers' Hospital south-
west of the city, which is supported by the Brethren of Herrn-
hut. The form of leprosy that may now be seen all too fre-
quently in the environs of Jerusalem is not the same as that of
Bible times. Hideously repulsive as the victims of it are and

The Christians in Jerusalem 327

fatal as are its results it is not contagious. There is no doubt
that it could be stamped out in a single generation if the au-
thorities would seclude the infected ones and prevent any of
them from marrying. The disease is hereditary and the chil-
dren of afflicted parents are sure to have it sooner or later.

The Evangelical Germans own one of the finest pieces of
property in the city. This was a gift from the Sultan to
Prussia, made in 1869 on the occasion of the visit to Con-
stantinople of the Crown Prince. The property is now called
the Muristan. Since the time of Charlemagne Christian build-
ings have stood on this ground. The most important of these,
the remains of which still exist, were the work of Raymond du
Puy in 1130 to 1140. In the conquest of Saladin this mag-
nificent property was given as an endowment to the Mosque
of Omar. As usual with such possessions in Moslem lands the
buildings were permitted to fall into decay. City refuse was
thrown in and about the grounds so that when the Prussians
came into possession an immense amount of labor and expense
was necessary in order to clear away the rubbish. At present
the Germans hold services in a temporary chapel which was
formerly the refectory of the Hospitallers. The fine new church
that is being erected on this site will soon be ready for occu-
pancy, and when completed will be the most imposing struc-
ture owned by the Protestants in Jerusalem.

Southwest of the city is the pleasant German colony num-
bering about three hundred souls. The members of it are
Templars and are now engaged in business and useful trades.
Their settlement here and in other parts of Palestine was the
result of a religious movement in Wiirtemburg in i860. The
leaders of this movement considered that it was the duty of
Christianity to illustrate and embody the Kingdom of Christ
on earth ; and accordingly they started these Christian social
settlements with the avowed object of regenerating the Church
and the social life of Europe. They have discarded the doc-
trine of the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ. Numerous

328 Jerusalem the Holy-

schisms have disturbed them and their object in coming and
founding these communities seems a long way from being real-
ized. By their industry and frugality, however, they set a
good example for the natives about them, though their com-
munity is not " ideal."

Though the first Protestant Mission in Jerusalem was opened
by Christians from the United States, the mission representa-
tion from that far-away country is now small, and, with the
exception of three ladies under appointment from the Chris-
tian Alliance of New York, is confined to three or four independ-
ent workers whose labors are for the conversion of the Jews.
The Spafford Community near the Damascus Gate, originally
composed of Americans, cannot be classed as missionaries, as
they do not pretend to do any mission work.

After this recital of Christian institutions and laborers, one
unacquainted with the place might look for the immediate
conversion to Christianity of all the non-Christians. But it
must be said that there is no place in the world where indiffer-
ence and opposition are so manifest. Indifference is the atti-
tude of the Moslem, while opposition characterizes the Jew.
The results of the mission work are necessarily small, and will
be so as long as there is so much called by the name of Christ
that is unlovely and false, and in some instances despicable.
Here as elsewhere Christianity is judged by its fruits, and so
much of the product is undesirable that the whole is refused.
Before the indifference can be changed to interest and the op-
position to favor, there must be a radical change in the Chris-
tian Church. It must return to the Christianity of Christ,
exhibiting less of outward form and more of love. Until that
change is made — when dead form will give place to genuine
Christian living — the results can be no greater. At present
the time given to this work is almost wasted and the money
spent well-nigh lost.

THE MOSLEMS

Their Names for Jerusalem — Religious Reverence for It —
El Kuds — Mukaddasi the Historian — Early Moslem History —
Abu Bekr — Abou Abeidah — Omar's Conquest of the City —
Terms of Surrender — Moslem Occupation Previous to Crusades
— Christian Pilgrimages — Peter the Hermit — Christian Con-
quest— Saladin — Frederic II -The Kharezmians — Crusade of

St. Louis — Sulieman — Jerusalem's Governor — Megliss — Mos-
lem Population — The Unwelcome Turk — Arab Aristocracy —
Moslem Fatalism — " Children of the Sultan " — Military Serv-
ice— Domestic Life — Social Life — Masculine Superiority — Fe-
male Education — Moslem Toleration — Religious Practices —
Indifference — Fasts and Feasts — Nebi Moosa — Moslem Places
of Burial — Death — End of Moslem Supremacy.

33°

XVIII

THE MOSLEMS

SOME idea of the position which Jerusalem occupies in the
estimation of Moslems may be obtained by a brief con-
sideration of the names they give it. We must first, however,
take into account an exceeding fondness for religious expres-
sions and titles which is peculiar to the Oriental. By no peo-
ple is this fondness exhibited more than by the Arabs ; judg-
ing by their conversation at times, one unacquainted with them
would imagine them to be an exceedingly holy and religious
race. Religious they are, but in the majority of cases it would
be a mistake to call them holy. They have a fondness, too,
for reverencing certain places, because of some real or sup-
posed connection of the place with an event in the history of
the nation or with the life of a worthy individual. Through-
out Mohammedan lands there are reputed holy places, and as
the true follower of the Prophet passes these he stops to breathe a
prayer ; and if it should be the regular prayer hour he spreads
his rug or arbeyyeh and piously prostrates himself.

But of all holy places in Palestine Jerusalem is the most re-
nowned. No pious Moslem comes within sight of it without
emotion and some religious expression. All about, on the
neighboring hills, where a first view of the city is had are
small piles of stones set up as memorials. These are silent
prayers of thanksgiving and adoration — thanksgiving because
the ones who erected them have been permitted to attain these
view-points, and adoration at what they behold. It is the
"holy of holies" of Palestine; hence the names they have
given it. Many of the natives within a short distance of the
city do not know the word "Jerusalem," and if one were to

33i

332 Jerusalem the Holy

ask them where the city of that name is would not understand.
The name would be new to them. To the Moslem Jerusalem
is always El Kuds — the Holy. Sometimes he speaks of it as
Bait El Mukaddas or Makdis — the Holy House.

Early Arab historians were loud in their praises of the city.
In poetry it is occasionally spoken of as El Balat, meaning
"the court" or "royal residence," a word supposed to be a
corruption of the Latin palatium. Mukaddasi, whose name
indicates that he was a native of "the Holy House," writing
near the close of the tenth century, says :

" The Holy City, Bait el Makdis, is also known as Iliya and
El Balat. Among provincial towns none is larger than Jeru-
salem, and many capitals are, in fact, smaller. Neither the
cold nor the heat is excessive here, and snow falls but rarely.
The Kadi Abu-1 Kasim, son of the Kadi of the Holy Cities
of Makkah and Al Madinah, inquired of me once concerning
the climate of Jerusalem. I answered: "It is betwixt and
between — neither very hot nor very cold." Said he in reply :
"Just as that of Paradise."1 This quotation is here intro-
duced to show that at the time it was written the name Aelia
(Iliya), given to the city by Hadrian, in a. d. 130, was still
in use and also that the ancient Jewish name was known.

The history of how Palestine became the possession of the
followers of the Arab Prophet while exceedingly interesting
can be but touched upon here.

Mohammed, driven from his native Mecca, barely escaping
with his life, was soon to return at the head of ten thousand
zealous followers, take that city, crush his enemies, shatter the
idols of the Caaba, give a new religion to Arabia and begin
that marvellous conquest of fanaticism, which was to sweep
like a fury over eastern Asia and northern Africa ; enter Eu-
rope at its eastern and western extremities and retain much of
that territory to this day.

Belief in the divine mission of their Prophet sent the wan-
» " Palestine under the Moslems," p. 84.

The Moslems 333

dering Arabs, fired with holy zeal, out from the "parched
plains of the Hejjaz," with its wastes of dreary landscape, to
the more fertile and much more attractive lands to the west.
Abu Bekr, the successor of the Prophet, looked with covetous
eyes upon Palestine, and, issuing an appeal to the sheikhs of
the various tribes of Arabs, exhorted them to assist him in
adding it to his territorial possessions. The response was all
that could have been desired, and an army was soon on the
way. The Christians made a feeble resistance. One by one
the cities of Syria fell into the hands of the invaders. After
the battle of Yarmuk, in 636 a. d., where the Christians met
a disastrous defeat, nothing prevented the victors from march-
ing against Jerusalem. The Moslems were then commanded
by Abou Obeidah. Arriving at the fords of the Jordan this
general despatched a messenger to the Patriarch of Aelia de-
manding the absolute surrender of the city. His message was
couched in the following terse but determined words : "In
the name of God, merciful and gracious ! From Abou
Obeidah Ibn-el-Jirah to the Christians of the people of
Aelia, health ! and to all who follow the right way, and be-
lieve in God and in His Prophet ! To come to the point.
For my part I beg you to bear witness that there is no God
but God, and Mohammed is the apostle of God ; and that the
moment of judgment will come beyond all doubt, and that
God will raise men from the dead. And if you will stand to
this your blood is sacred unto us as well as your property, and
your children, and you shall be to us as brothers; but if you
will refuse I will bring down upon you a people more earnest
in their love of death than are you in the drinking of wine or
eating of hogs' flesh, nor will I ever pass away from you,
please God, until I have killed your warriors and made cap-
tive your children." 1

Such a proposal was enough to arouse the ire of all in Jeru-
salem. It was refused and for four months the Christians in
!Ockley's "Saracens," Vol. I., p. 214.

334 Jerusalem the Holy

the city held out. But at the end of this time, seeing the
hopelessness of resistance, the patriarch from the city wall
called the Moslem general for a parley. No terms satisfactory
to both could be agreed upon, so that finally the patriarch de-
cided to capitulate. That he was still regarded as a respect-
able adversary is shown by his refusal to treat as to terms of
capitulation with anybody but the caliph himself. His request
was granted. Omar was sent for and came. Terms were
agreed upon and Jerusalem became a Moslem city. The
terms were rather severe on the Christians, but were more
favorable than they would have been able to secure had they
refused and resorted to the judgment of the sword. The con-
quered were guaranteed security for their persons and prop-
erty; freedom to practice their religious exercises in their
churches, except that at all hours the churches must be open
to Moslem inspection ; Christians must always treat Moslems
with the greatest respect, affording them hospitality when
asked, rising to receive them and granting to them the places
of honor in their assemblies. Christians must build no new
churches; have no public exhibitions of their religion; not
wear the cross or exhibit the sign of it on the street ; in no
way were they permitted to imitate Moslems. They were to
carry no arms; use no bells; not place their lamps in public
places, nor enter a Moslem house for any purpose whatever.
No Christian should strike a Moslem. Violation of any of
these stipulations might cost the offender his life, as he was
"deserving of the punishment inflicted upon rebellious sub-
jects."1

To accept such terms was an evidence of the weakness of
the Christians, and we may be sure that there was a silent de-
termination to better those terms just as soon as the strength
was theirs. In the meantime they must make the best of their
bad condition.

The Moslem conquerors were not harder masters than they
i" History of Jerusalem," Besant and Palmer, p. 8l.

The Moslems 335

had to be, and were probably more lenient in their treatment
of the vanquished than the vanquished would have been to
them had the positions been reversed. It is true, on the other
hand, that the promises of the caliphs were frequently made
of none effect by the generals in the field. By many of the
latter the Christians were regarded as legitimate prey, whom,
to leave " unplucked " was out of the question. Consequently
the unfortunate non-Moslems were often roughly treated,
beaten and robbed.

During the Moslem occupation previous to the Crusades the
Christian population of Palestine were frequent sufferers at the
hands of their political masters. Warring tribes of Moslems
kept them in fear of their lives, and the result of every change
in the caliphate was anxiously awaited. But all the oppres-
sions of all his predecessors were forgotten in the awful perse-
cutions inflicted upon them by El Hakem Biamr Ullah. This
madman was the third caliph of the Fatimite dynasty.
Hakem ascended the throne in the year 996, at the age of
eleven. Four years later Christians and Jews began to reap
the harvest of his hatred. Important persons had the choice
of embracing Islam or losing all their property, and those who
made the latter choice often suffered violent death. On Jeru-
salem Hakem's destructive hand fell and, in the year 10 10,
the order was given for the demolition of the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre. The order was executed, only to be fol-
lowed shortly after by one for the restoration of the Church.
Various reasons are advanced to explain Hakem's actions, but
the only satisfactory one is that he was mad and that this was
one of the freaks of his madness.

The restoration of the Church of the Sepulchre was com-
pleted thirty-seven years after the destruction. It could not
really have been called a restoration, for it was only a partial
rebuilding. The Basilica of Constantine was not included in
the work, while Calvary and other sacred sites near at hand
were covered by small chapels. The persecutions, however,

336 Jerusalem the Holy

did not cease, nor was the condition of the Christians alle-
viated by any of Hakem's successors. It became worse, until
the sufferings they endured were terrible. The treatment ac-
corded pilgrims from the west was such as would lead one to
imagine that the desire to make pilgrimages would cease. On
the contrary, that pious ardor could not be smothered. The
people still came in crowds. At the same time the indignities
the pilgrims suffered were arousing in Europe a spirit of ha-
tred against the Moslems, and a determination to wrest from
them the places made holy by their association with the Lord
and His disciples. For at least a century before the preaching
of the Crusade by Peter the Hermit the patriarchs of Jerusalem
and those high in the ecclesiastical position in the west felt
that the pilgrimages must cease or the pilgrims be protected.
Either seemed impossible. The effort was made to stop the
pilgrims and to convince them that it was possible to worship
God and venerate the memory of Christ without leaving home.
But the tide of pilgrimage kept rising each year.

In the year 1050 (cir.) there was born in Picardy a child
who was to be known in history as Peter the Hermit. When
over forty years of age he joined the pilgrims to Palestine.
What he saw along the route and in the Holy Land itself
called up in him a spirit of enterprise that was not to be put
down. With the sanction of Pope Urban he went through
Europe and with irresistible eloquence summoned the people
to take part in the glorious work of recovering Jerusalem from
the sacrilegious presence of the infidels.

It does not belong to such a work as this to describe the
forces operating in Europe that assisted in the rousing of
public opinion, the raising of immense bodies of men, the
starting them on that dreadful march of death to the Holy
Land. A miserable remnant finally reached their destination,
and, on June 7th, 1099, pitched camp before the walls of
Jerusalem. It was not until the fifteenth of the following
July that an entrance was effected. Then Jerusalem became

The Moslems 337

a Christian possession and so remained, nominally, for nearly
a hundred years, or until the year 1186. It was retaken by
Saladin, the Magnificent, after a tedious siege during which
the Christian inhabitants fought with the courage of despair,
and secured by their heroism much better terms, when they
finally capitulated, than they had any reason to expect. No
more famous or liberal prince has appeared in Moslem history
than this conqueror of the city. He was a man of many
virtues, a true knight, and the peer of any prince among the
Crusaders.

At Saladin's death the kingdom he had won was divided
between his two sons Efdhal and Aziz, the former retaining
Syria with his capital at Damascus, the latter succeeding to
the throne of Egypt. Aziz dying shortly after, his uncle
Aadel became virtual ruler of Egypt. Internal wars marked
the course of the succeeding rulers at Cairo and Damascus.
These weakened the power of the defenders of Islam and
gave some encouragement to Christian hopes that the city of
Jerusalem might be recovered by them. The spirit of the
Crusaders had not yet subsided.

These hopes of the Christians were realized, but not in a
way expected, nor was there any rejoicing in Christendom
when the fact that Jerusalem had been ceded to the Emperor
Frederic II. was known. The Church was against this prince
as he was under the interdict of the Pope, having been twice
excommunicated by Gregory. In spite of the pontifical mal-
edictions Frederic went on his Crusade to the Holy Land and
soon after landing at Acre, where he was acknowledged as
king by the Knights Templars and Hospitallers, entered into
secret communications with the sultan Kamil of Damascus.
A treaty was soon effected, and Jerusalem was again a Chris-
tian city, with the exception of the Mosque of Omar, to which
Mohammedans were to have free access and where they might
practice undisturbed, their religious observances. Frederic
went to Jerusalem, entered the Holy Sepulchre, accompanied

338 Jerusalem the Holy-

only by his trusty retainers, took the crown and placed it on
his own head. The clergy of all degrees refused to partici-
pate in the act of coronation and without religious ceremony
Frederic became the Christian king of Jerusalem. However,
he soon returned to Europe ; the city was left defenceless and
its Christian population were in constant fear of danger from
their unfriendly neighbors.

In 1244 a new terror to Christian and Moslem alike appeared.
Driven out of their land by Tartar bands the Kharezmians ap-
peared in Syria. Death to all followed the course of their
march. To appease them the Sultan of Cairo gave them
Palestine as their own on condition that they should conquer
it, and the condition was met by the slaughter of nearly all
Jerusalem Christians. The Sultan failed to carry out his
promise to give them Palestine, thinking to satisfy them with
Damascus which they captured and plundered ; they were not
to be thus put off however, and making war to establish their
right were, after ten battles, hopelessly defeated. Four years
will cover the period they were known to history.

To encourage the few remaining Christians and, if possible,
repeople the depleted land with their co-religionists from the
west the Crusades of Saint Louis were undertaken. This was
the fifth move of this kind. It was begun in 1250 and was a
failure, as was that of Edward, the Black Prince, in 1270.
Subsequent attempts at arousing the crusading spirit all failed.
Priest and poet used all their powers to this end, but without
effect. Repeated disasters had chilled the ardor of the people.
They were content to rest quietly at home, regretting that the
holy places were in infidel possession, but not willing to un-
dertake the heavy task of displacing the unbelievers.

For the next three hundred years nothing worthy of a place
in history happened in this city that once defied the armies of
imperial Rome. There were strifes at arms around it, but the
contestants were members of Moslem clans little better than
highwaymen, and their quarrels were tribal disputes. The

The Moslems 339

ecclesiastics who were permitted to remain, for lack of prof-
itable employment, indulged in theological hair-splitting,
wordy contentions unprofitable to themselves and to the
world.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the power of the
Egyptian Sultans had so waned that some of their outlying
provinces were merely nominally under their control. Such
was their authority over Palestine, where the governor was the
virtual ruler and carried out the Sultan's orders when they
coincided with his own wishes. Outside the city the sheikhs
of the various tribes of the Bedouin and Fellahin were beyond
the control of anybody and could not be called to account for
any of their numerous deeds of violence. It was a condition
bordering on anarchy. At this time Selim I., the Ottoman
Sultan came into power. Both before and after his conquest
of Egpyt he visited Jerusalem. Under his successor Suleiman
(1542) Jerusalem again rose to some little importance. Her
walls, as they stand to-day, were erected by this monarch.

For the next century and a half the city was too insignif-
icant to command any marked attention from the outside
world. During the revolution of Mohammed-Ali it came
peaceably into this really great general's possession in 1832,
but was restored to the Porte after the bombardment of Acre in
1840. It now enjoys the distinction of being the capital of a
pashalic.

The Pasha of the city, called Mutaserif, receives his ap-
pointment from the Sultan, and is responsible for government
affairs over the entire province of El Kuds, which compre-
hends all southern Palestine west of the river Jordan and the
Dead Sea. The present governor is a Turkish gentleman of
high character who admirably maintains the dignity of his
office and whose integrity has never been questioned. Nor
has he an easy post to fill. The variety of nationalities repre-
sented in his district, their amenability to their consular rep-
resentatives and the rights guaranteed them under treaty, the

340 Jerusalem the Holy

untrustworthiness of some of the officials upon whom he must
depend for the management of certain branches of the gov-
ernment, all conspire to complicate matters and make abso-
lutely necessary a head clear in planning and a will determined
in execution. That he sometimes fails to give satisfaction to
all parties is no discredit. Any one who knows the obstacles
against which the governor has to contend will be sparing in
criticism of his failures, and wonder that he accomplishes with
so little friction his many duties.

In the management of city affairs the Pasha is assisted
by a local council, called Megliss, composed of nine Moslems,
one Jew and one Christian. The power of this council, how-
ever, is very limited, and its findings are liable at any time to
reversal.

The worst sufferers at the hands of the officers of the law
are the Jews. These people are not wanted in this city by the
government, and those who have government affairs in charge
make it difficult for them to get here and still more difficult to
remain. But in this respect the various Christian nations have
little to say to the Moslem. The records of Jewish oppression
in Christian lands are quite as painful as any that the Orient
can show. Yet the Hebrew not only endures his many wrongs :
wonderful as it is, he thrives in spite of them.

Of the Moslem population, which numbers between seven
and eight thousand, not more than three hundred are genuine
Turks, but these three hundred hold the chief civil and mili-
tary positions, and it is true of them, as of Turks in other
parts of the empire, that they are an unwelcome minority.
The Arabs do not like them and would be glad if some event
would cause their removal. The reason for this is not far to
seek. As long as the Turks are present they will hold the
offices, and the opportunities for advancement that go with
them, to the exclusion of the native Moslems, who are quite
ready to serve the Sultan in this way. They are certainly
right in considering themselves equally competent with their

The Moslems 341

Turkish brethren, but it will be a discouragingly long time
before their turn arrives.

The native Moslems nearly all lay claim to aristocratic ori-
gin, that is to say, they trace their descent from the Prophet,
or some relation of the Prophet. Guarded as zealously as the
greatest treasure is the genealogical tree, a transcript of which,
in ornamental Arabic characters, may be seen in the chief
room of each of the houses. There is no doubt that the line
has been kept unbroken, and that their progenitors did come
at the time of the conquest of Omar and settle here. The
leading families are the Husseini, Jawani, Khaldi, Jarallah,
Ersasi, El Jaberi, El Kelami, Dijani, and Denaf. Some of
these are well provided with this world's goods, so that to do
any sort of labor is a matter of choice with them; others are
quite poor, and though the blood of the Prophet — equal to
that of any king — flows in their veins, they are compelled to
engage in some remunerative employment. There are trades-
men and storekeepers among them, and the fact that they can
do business where the Jew so largely predominates is all the
evidence one needs that their abilities in this line are not
to be despised.

The real Moslem is a good deal of a fatalist. This is ex-
hibited in even the smallest matters of life. No one is more
frequent in pious ejaculations, brief prayers for Divine assist-
ance and thanksgiving for favors. They seem to rise naturally
to his lips and, no matter what the surroundings or other mat-
ters in hand, must be expressed. When he opens his shop in
the morning he invokes Allah's blessing on the new day and
the business that may come with it, saying,

" Oh, Opener of the day, oh, Gracious One,
Oh, Restorer of property, oh, Bountiful One."

And then with assiduity he proceeds to business, using every
effort to make as much as he can, but never complaining. All
comes from God.

342 Jerusalem the Holy

The soldiers wearing the uniform of the Sultan form a con-
spicuous part of the population. There are usually from six
hundred to a thousand of these " children of the Sultan " sta-
tioned in Jerusalem. All are Moslems. To have Christians
or Jews in their armies is not thought of by the Turks, or, if
thought of, very wisely never put into execution. The Turk
well knows that his subjects of other faiths have no love for
him and in case of war with a Christian Power would be cer-
tain to desert the Crescent and favor the Cross. Consequently
his regiments are composed of Moslems only, while his Chris-
tian and Jewish subjects are taxed to support them. At first
view this looks a little severe, as if it were sort of " taxation
without representation " ; but it is the only way out of the dif-
ficulty. No doubt both Christians and Jews are very glad not
to have to serve, for the life of a soldier here is not attractive ;
his quarters are miserable, his food abominable, the uniform
he wears every day was never intended for him, is made of the
cheapest shoddy which soon fades to a sickly blue, and is worn
until it has become so dilapidated as to be beyond repair.
When a special occasion requires it the same careless looking
fellows can display neat uniforms and orderly behavior ; and
when it comes to actual war they show splendid fighting quali-
ties and hardly know what fear is.

There is a resident general in Jerusalem who has charge of
all the military affairs of the province, and as the troops are
frequently changed from post to post his position is not a si-
necure. The bashi-bazouks (military police) form part of the
force. They are distinguished for their excellent horseman-
ship.

The term of service for the soldiers is seven years, and it is
an experience entered upon by most of them with great re-
luctance. Annual conscriptions are made and various are the
devices employed to escape the officers. It is only a question
of time, however ; in the end they are caught, and once in
the toils they settle down to serve their time with characteristic

The Moslems 343

resignation. Though in times of peace their duties are light,
no one can doubt that their remuneration, thirty piastres
($1.20) per month, with food and clothing, is well earned.

Moslem domestic life has few attractions for an Occidental.
Even among the highest classes there is a lack of cheerfulness
in the home life, due, no doubt, to the assumed inequality of
the sexes and the consequent inferior position which woman is
compelled to occupy. Before girls have passed the age of
childhood they are denied that freedom of action so essential
to the happiness of children; they are kept secluded, and
when they do appear on the streets it must be with face hidden
by a veil and with the body covered entirely by a loose flowing
garment, called jibbe, which conceals any grace of form its
wearer may possess. Once the veil is donned no man except
father, brother, husband or son must see the face. To allow a
stranger to look upon it without its covering veil would be con-
sidered a disgrace.

There is no social function ever held at which men and
women mingle. At occasional family celebrations friends are
invited, but the ladies occupy one part of the house and the
gentlemen the other. The amusements consist of conversa-
tion, smoking and coffee drinking, in all which the female
guests will equal the males.

In earliest childhood the daughters of the household are
made to feel their inferiority to their brothers. A girl baby is
always unwelcome, and the mother of many daughters is al-
most sure to lose favor in her husband's eyes, while the
mother of sons gains it. The boys soon learn that they are
considered superior to their sisters and act accordingly. Be-
fore they are very old they do not hesitate to assume suprem-
acy over their mothers. Another cause of woman's inferiority
is her lack of education. Within a few years there have been
some improvements in this regard, but it is said that as late as
twenty years ago there was not a Moslem woman in Jerusalem
who could write her own name or read it when it was written.

344 Jerusalem the Holy

Now there are a few who can read and write, and within a
year a school for the education of girls has been opened by
the Moslem authorities. This is a decided innovation and
was doubtless done to counteract the influence of the various
Christian schools which were attracting the daughters of some
of the careless Moslem parents. The authorities saw a danger
in these Christian institutions and concluded that the only
way to avert it was to establish a school of their own so as to
control the teachers and the teaching.

It must be said of the Jerusalem Moslems that they are
much more tolerant of other religious beliefs and practices
than are their co-religionists generally. In the universal con-
demnation of Moslem fanaticism this should be remembered
to their credit. . Their religion is intolerant. It has little
sympathy for the adherents of other faiths. It once advocated
an extermination of the " infidels." Perhaps it would con-
tinue in that advocacy did its leaders dare. There are evi-
dences in other parts of the Empire that give reasons for such
an opinion. But after several years of acquaintance with
some of the leading Moslems of Jerusalem I cannot but re-
gard them as gentlemen of very liberal views, who, while they
are firm in their belief in their religion, have no desire to in-
terfere with or injure any who differ from them. They are
certainly as tolerant of the Jerusalem Jew or Christian as the
Jew or Christian is of them. The only exceptions are the
Mohammedans who live on Mount Zion and have charge of
the Mosque Nebi Daud. These are very fanatical and lose no
opportunity to insult strangers who go too near this, one of
their holy places. They resemble in this the Moslems of He-
bron and Nabulus.

Of the religious practices of the followers of the Prophet
little need be said ; they are the same here as in other Mo-
hammedan places. The stated hours for daily prayer are still
cried from the minarets : the summons are obeyed by some,
but many pay no attention whatever. Indifference is certainly

The Moslems 345

on the increase and its growth is one of several grounds for
the belief that the doctrines of Islam are losing their power.
Other reasons are found in the private life of the people. The
commands of the Koran concerning temperance and purity
are openly violated. It is true that no saloons or houses of
ill-fame where Moslems congregate can be seen, but that they
exist is an open secret, and that nameless iniquitous practices
are common is well known. Only the uninformed will listen
to the ignorant, or intentionally deceptive comparisons of the
results of Islam and Christianity in the lives of their respective
followers which are unfavorable to the latter.

Like the Jews and Christians the Moslems have their re-
ligious fasts and feasts. The fast of Ramadan and the feast of
Beiram are the greatest of their kind. These are observed in
all Moslem lands and have been often described. A festival
peculiar to Jerusalem is the annual procession to the tomb of
Moses. Moslem tradition locates this tomb in the wilderness
west of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Over the site
buildings have been erected capable of accommodating several
hundred pilgrims. Just before the pilgrimage is made crowds
of Moslems from all over the country and from other parts of
the Empire throng to Jerusalem. As it usually comes about
Easter-time the city is thronged until the streets are almost im-
passable. Men, women and children, on foot, on donkeys or
camels, and in palanquins, to the music of pipes and drums
and cymbals march through the Jaffa Gate and make their way
to the grounds of the Mosque of Omar. They are several
days in gathering, during which time the spirit of fanaticism runs
high. No strangers are admitted to the Mosque area during
this week, for the governor cannot control the actions of these
visitors from the villages. On Friday, after prayers in the
Haram, the procession forms. Accompanied by mounted
police and led by the military band the pilgrims file out of the
St. Stephen's Gate. The Bethany road for a mile or more
is lined on both sides by spectators, who are anxious to see

346 Jerusalem the Holy

this display. And it is a display ! Such varieties of cos-
tume, such wealth of banners, such a display of colors can
be seen only in the Orient. The pilgrims walk to the tomb of
Moses, twenty miles distant, and spend a week in feasting and
semi-religious exercises. The entertainment is provided by
the Houssani family, of Jerusalem, who have charge of the
tomb and grounds.

Moslem women have a special fondness for tomb visiting.
On any pleasant afternoon you may see them in any of their
three cemeteries, sitting in twos and threes among the desolate
graves. There are no more cheerless and desolate places in
this land of rather dreary aspects than the Moslem fields of
sepulture. And yet the memory of their dead is well pre-
served. Believing that the spirits of the departed are near
and can understand what is said the women come and sit for
hours by the grave of a loved one and tell all that has hap-
pened since their last visit. It is a wonder that with this be-
lief does not come a desire to have the last resting-place of
their dead show some evidences of care. Most important of
the three cemeteries is that just outside the east wall of the
Haram enclosure. Its importance is not due to its size, but to
its alleged proximity to the seat of the last judgment. Those
buried here will be the first to rise and the first judged.
Moreover, because of their having been buried in this excep-
tionally holy ground the judgment will be favorable.

The death of a Moslem of distinction is the cause of great
mourning, and it is a time when the Orientalism of this people
may be best witnessed. Hired mourners are present at the
last rites and "go about the streets." The grief of the
female members of the family is terrible to witness. Inter-
ment takes place as soon after death as possible. The funeral
procession forms and is headed by two bearers of tall palm
branches. Following these are a number of blind men — pro-
fessional mourners — chanting some weird death-song and
loudly wailing certain portions of the Koran. The body, in

The Moslems 347

a plain coffin, borne on the shoulders of four men comes next.
At every few steps the bearers give way to others from the
crowd. Passers-by join the procession to carry the deceased
for a few steps and then drop out to give others an opportunity
thus to show their respect. The body is buried without coffin
of any kind. If the deceased was a rich man, and generous,
crowds of beggars assemble round the grave, for money is sure
to be distributed. For many succeeding nights a lighted
lantern is placed on or near the grave so that the darkness may
not be too oppressive to the disembodied spirit.

Jerusalem has now been practically in undisputed Moslem
possession for six hundred years. How long it will continue
to be is a question often asked. The weakness of the posses-
sors is very evident. In the dismemberment of the Turkish
Empire — an event which is delayed only by the jealousies of
the European Powers, — will the Holy Land become the prop-
erty of Russia, France, England or Germany? Any one of
these nations would willingly add this land to its possessions,
but cannot do so without the consent of the others. And in
the present delicate condition of European affairs such a con-
sent is not easily secured. Perhaps a compromise will be ef-
fected by the terms of which Palestine will be considered as
neutral territory, where the Jew will be given an opportunity
to work out his national destiny. The Jew has national aspi-
rations and ideas, and a national future. Where, if not here,
will his aspirations be realized and his ideas carried out ?

THE FUTURE OF JERUSALEM

Religious Preeminence — Material Prosperity — Wonderful
Preservation — Jerusalem not Self-supporting — Barren Appear-
ance of Palestine — Bethlehem Hills — Recent Improvements —
Possibilities — Jordan Valley — Jewish Memorial — Colonists —
Objection to Foreign Colonists — Conditions Changing — Jews
the Future Inhabitants — Biblical Proofs — Jewish Expectancy
— Room for City Growth — Undeveloped Resources — Greatest
Difficulty — Lack of Public Spirit — Water in Abundance Prom-
ised— Certainty of Prophecy — An Indication — Jew and Chris-
tian.

35o

XIX

THE FUTURE OF JERUSALEM

IN the preceding pages an endeavor has been made to tell
something of the Sacred City's past and present. The
facts brought forth must have convinced the reader that Jeru-
salem, like the Jews, is — as it ever was — peculiar. Its location
away from any adequate water supply, on rugged, almost bar-
ren hills, is unusual. Its nearly four thousand years of strange,
many times destructive, experiences give it an unique place in
history. Its religious preeminence is undoubted. Its present
material prosperity is a fact in spite of the great and ill-recon-
ciled variety of its people.

What reasons governed the choice of its site is a question
neither so difficult nor so interesting as how it has been pre-
served. Founded it was and it was preserved ; there was a
Divine purpose in the founding and in the preservation ; nor
is it rash to go further and say that there was a special Divine
purpose in both.

Judged by the ordinary standards on which human judg-
ments are framed Jerusalem ought never to have been anything
more than a mountain hamlet where a few hardy villagers
could live, because their wants were few and their courage
great. The land of which it became the capital was much
greater in area than in value. On the east and south was the
desert, on the west the sea, and on the north the rival kingdom
of Syria. The central range, running from north to south, on
which the city stands, does not, and probably never did, pre-
sent a pleasing view to the husbandman. Its hills are rugged,
its valleys deep gorges where cultivation can only be affected
with great labor. That labor has been available, however, and

35 l

352 Jerusalem the Holy

patient industry, when labor cost almost nothing, has suc-
ceeded where to-day it would surely fail.

The land of Palestine does not now alone support the city
of Jerusalem as it is; Jerusalem is not self-supporting. By
this it is not meant that it differs from other cities, for it is
true in one sense that no city is self-supporting; no city is in-
dependent in the sense that it produces all that is necessary for
the sustenance and comfort of its residents. The people of
London and New York would soon starve were they shut off
from outside communications. But London and New York
are self-supporting in that they produce that which they can
exchange for the products of other places. Jerusalem pro-
duces nothing, and therefore has nothing to exchange. The
land of which the city is the capital now produces little more
than its villagers require. The formerly terraced hills are
sadly denuded of soil and stand, naked limestone mountains,
on which but little vegetation can find room to live.

This barren appearance at first sight puts a damper on any
belief in the country's future, and many visitors immediately
jump to the conclusion that it has no future. Centuries of
negligence, and governmental oppression that encourages
negligence, have made a sorry spectacle of a land that once
flourished with every form of vegetation that pleased the eye
and delighted the taste. But I am satisfied that what once was
produced here will, or may be, again produced, and by
similar methods of industry and skill. Fifteen years ago the
hills near Bethlehem were as void of fields, vineyards and
orchards as any in the land ; the soil upon them was thin and
the rocky ledges very prominent. Now all around this little
city are fields of grain, abundant vineyards and grand
orchards of fig and olive trees. Industry has wrought the
transformation. The terraces have been rebuilt, the earth
brought from the valleys into which it had been washed and
the result is all that could be desired. There are similar spots
all over Palestine, as, for example the grounds of the American

The Future of Jerusalem 353

Friends' Mission, in Ramallah, the precincts, the numerous
Jewish colonies, and the lands of the Latin Convents. All
these improvements, accomplished in a few years, indicate
that the land that once supported a population of at least two
millions could again do so. The divine conditions of soil and
climate are the same as ever, only the human conditions of in-
dustry in the individual and encouragement in the government
are sadly lacking.

Supposing the latter two conditions to be met, there is no
doubt that Jerusalem would become the centre of an agricul-
tural district that could compete with other countries in the
great world markets. This may seem a strange statement to
those who have depended upon the accounts of casual
visitors, or professional writers, who presume to know all
about it after a few days' stay, for their information. The
Jordan valley is now desert. It has in it the possibilities of a
Paradise. East of the Jordan, the land of the homeless
Bedouin, is an unknown country to most people. I venture to
state that there is no finer wheat land on earth than this. The
methods of agriculture are of the crudest, but the harvest that
results would abundantly remunerate a more skillful husband-
man. The Jewish committee that presented a memorial to Lord
Salisbury in 1891 did not prophesy the unlikely when they
said : "If at this moment the ground is barren in parts and
refuses to yield its increase, we know that it is the hand of
man that has wrought the evil. The hand of man shall rem-
edy it."

Certain it is that when the country contiguous is properly
cared for, the city will thrive. Temporal prosperity is in
sight. Societies of colonization have been formed in recent
years in Roumania, Southern Russia, Germany, England, and,
quite lately, in America. Agents have been sent to purchase
lands and have succeeded in acquiring possession of desirable
tracts along the maritime plain in the neighborhood of Jaffa
and near the base of Carmel. The majority of the colonists

354 Jerusalem the Holy

thus far have been Jews, and when they have had some pre-
vious knowledge of agricultural life have been reasonably pros-
perous. It has been learned at the same time that the attempt
to make tillers of the soil out of shopkeepers and petty artisans
is a waste of money. The German colonists have been uni-
formly successful, because of their ability and willingness to
work. One cannot help admiring their neat villages and com-
fortable looking homes at Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem ; they
are like little bits of the prettiest of German rural life.

It is impossible to foretell the future of colonization plans,
because of the uncertainty of the political horizon. Naturally
the present rulers do not wish to see these foreigners coming
and settling here, bringing their foreign ideas, habits, and re-
ligions, and retaining their allegiance to their governments in
Europe and America. They are small foreign states in the
land of the Turk, and the Turk is aware that the longer they
remain the more determined and intelligent will be their op-
position to him. Thus it will be readily understood that in-
tending colonists will hesitate to come, not wishing to risk their
all in the face of present opposition and future uncertainty.

Conditions are changing. Even the unprogressive Turk is
submitting gradually to modern improvements. If a prophet
twenty years ago had predicted as many changes for the better
as have been made in Palestine during that time he would have
been treated as a dreamer. There are now some good carriage
roads, where then there were only miserable paths threading
the land. Now there is a railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem,
and another is building from Haifa to Damascus, passing
through the rich valley of Jezreel, by Lake Galilee and across
the fertile Hauran. These improvements, continued as they
surely will be, are the presages of a future for that city which
is destined to be the capital of the land. It needs no prophet
to foretell this now, but the majority may need some one to
recall to them the fact that present conditions and future im-
provements were foretold centuries ago.

The Future of Jerusalem 355

My own belief is that the time is not far distant when Pales-
tine will be in the hands of a people who will restore it to its
former condition of productiveness. The land is waiting, the
people are ready to come and will come as soon as protection
to life and property is assured. I am ready to go further and
say that the coming inhabitants will be Jews. This must be
accepted or the numerous prophecies that assert it so positively
must be thrown out as worthless. The subject of Israel's res-
toration I freely admit is not a popular one now ; but the un-
popular of to-day is the universally accepted of to-morrow.

It certainly will not be considered out of place to introduce
in this connection a few of the many prophetic passages that as-
sert this return of the dispersed of Israel : " He that scattered
Israel will gather him " (Jer. xxxi. 10). " He shall assemble
the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of
Judah " (Isaiah xi. 12). " Like as I have watched over them
to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to afflict,
so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the
Lord " (Jer. xxxi. 28). " For I will take you from among the
heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you
into your own land " (Ezekiel xxxvi. 24). Now this gathering
has not yet taken place; it must be made or prophecy counts
for nothing. The present movements among Jews in many
parts of the world indicate their belief in the prophetic asser-
tions. Their eyes are turning toward the land that once was
theirs, and their hearts are longing for the day when they as a
people can dwell securely in it. With every improvement of
the country the city must improve. It will always be the centre
of Palestine. Should an independent nation arise and occupy
the land as it once did we should see history being repeated
and Jerusalem a city of prominence. There are physical ob-
stacles that would have to be overcome, but they are not so
great as has been often assumed and asserted. There is room
for a large city. The Plain of Rephaim as far south as the
Convent of Saint Elias — half way to Bethlehem — is admirably

356 Jerusalem the Holy

adapted to city construction. The broad plateau on the north,
now being rapidly built over, is all that could be desired for
residence sites. There is ample room for a large city.

There is something more needed than room, however ;
there must be means of support for the people. These means
are at hand, but, as already mentioned, they are undeveloped.
Rich mineral deposits have been discovered, but work upon
them has been abandoned because of the paralyzing policy of
the government. Copper and tin have been found ; coal ex-
ists in paying quantities in the Lebanon and near Sidon ; at
the former mines the coal is of good quality and 12,000 tons
were at one time mined, then the works were abandoned.
With the introduction of railways these fields would all be
worked and made to pay. There are large mineral deposits
in Gilead and Moab and along the shores of the Dead Sea.
Petroleum is said by experts to exist in abundance in the
southern part of the Jordan valley. There are salt deposits
in and near the Dead Sea sufficient to supply the world's
demands. All this wealth of minerals is of no value now, but
once capital is assured of safe investment the present death
will give place to activity. In such an event Jerusalem would
be the natural manufacturing centre and could not only supply
her own demands, but be able to compete with other manu-
facturing cities in the markets of the world.

The greatest difficulty in the way is the lack of water. No
doubt this was always a difficulty, but one which in the former
days of prosperity was met by great skill and great labor,
which were applied in devising and building the great aque-
ducts that led from distant fountains into the city. Many of
the early kings made the providing of water for their capital
their chief concern. Large pools — as Upper and Lower
Gihon, Hezekiah, Bethesda, Siloam — collected and preserved
for public use large quantities. Cisterns were then much
more numerous than now. And it is more than probable
that the Virgin's Fountain was a much more copious stream.

The Future of Jerusalem 357

Whether added to these was another natural source springing
up in the midst of the city or in the temple area is a question
on which the authorities differ. The inhabitants of the mod-
ern city do not enjoy the blessing of an abundance of water,
but they have omitted the efforts to obtain it and preserve it
put forth by their predecessors. It really is not so much a
question of lack of water as lack of energy and public spirit ;
an honest capable city government would soon have it. The
money necessary for the work was once offered by an English
company, but as the capitalists stipulated that an English
superintendent was to oversee expenditures, the local authori-
ties declined the offer.

But in the city that the prophets beheld in moments of in-
spired vision this great lack was to be supplied by natural
means. There will be an abundant supply in the very midst
of the city. Perennial streams shall issue. Zechariah (xiv. 8)
tells us, "And it shall be in that day that living waters shall
go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea
and half of them toward the hinder sea ; in summer and in
winter shall it be." That this great change is to occur in the
millennial age is generally conceded. To speculate any further
about it, to attempt any description of the changes physical
and spiritual that must attend it would be going too far for
this work. At the same time it may be said, and repeatedly,
that the city of prophetic assertion must be realized or prophecy
be relegated to a position on a par with fictitious literature.

Any one desiring to know the millennial future of Jerusalem
can find it described on many pages of the Inspired Word.
The only legitimate method for the interpretation of the vari-
ous allusions to that future city is the natural one, /'. e., to take
just what is there said as it is said and attempt neither to add
to nor detract from the statements.

Forgetfulness, or rather, disregard, of this has led to many
fanciful and some foolish conclusions. The result has been
that serious-minded people have come to believe that there is

358 Jerusalem the Holy

no interpretation of these passages that can lead to any cer-
tainty. There may be some grounds for the belief, they are
due however to fault, not in the prophetic narrative, but in
our methods of treating that narrative. Better take the narra-
tive as it stands and believe that what is there said of the fu-
ture of Jerusalem will come to pass, or believe, as many do,
that the city can have no future that will make it sufficiently
important to command the attention of the modern world.
For my part I see no reason to question the Bible statements
about the future of Jerusalem and believe there are many signs
in the present pointing to the fulfillment of what the Scriptures
say about it.

It is very certain that Mohammedanism will have nothing to
do with the city's future. Its six hundred years of possession
and its present deplorable condition warrant the assertion.
Jerusalem has been ground under the heel of Moslem oppres-
sors, in spite of the fact that as a holy city it is with them
second only to Mecca. It would still be in the same deplor-
able condition were the Christian nations and their many
Jewish subjects not becoming so much interested in it.
Quietly the Jew and Christian have been getting possession of
desirable building sites and erecting substantial structures.
Less than half of the city within the walls is owned by Mos-
lems, while hardly any of the new city outside the walls is
now in their hands. This desire to acquire Jerusalem real es-
tate, a desire that animates Christians and Jews, gives a strong
indication of what the city of the future is to be. Its destiny
is bound up with religion. For similar reasons Christian and
Jew love it ; to each it is holy for what it has been ; it will
become holier and greater still.

It has already been said in this chapter that the coming in-
habitants of Palestine will be Jews. The fact that Christians
now hold a goodly portion of the city and land counts for
nothing against this. The time has come when Jew and
Christian can live together without persecution on either side.

The Future of Jerusalem 359

The "wall of partition" still stands. It is higher and
stronger in Jerusalem than any place else on earth. But even
here it is crumbling. There is at least tolerance for the nar-
rowest Christianity in this capital of the severest Judaism ; and
this tolerance must grow into something more friendly.
Christianity and Judaism are radically the same religion. We
believe that Christianity has the real life — the life of the Spirit
— a stage of development to which Judaism has not attained,
but Judaism will advance ; that when it has reached the spirit-
ual stage, the "wall of partition" will be broken down and
a union will be effected in a religion nearer the divine ideal
than this world has yet witnessed, whose adherents shall be
" Israelites indeed."

AL KUDS (Tlie Holy)

JERUSALEM

These maps are from " The
Holy Land in Geography and in
History," " and are used by the
kind permission of the author, Mr.
Townsend Mac Conn, M.A.

•Illustrated with 154 full-page maps 1
"•lots -■ vols., ii. in.., tU-vible clotli, $2.0
Published I'. Fleming II. Revell Company.

TOPOGRAPHY OF JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM OF TO-DAY

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JERUSALEM

ACCORDING TO TRADITION ANO ITS

PRESENT GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.

PLAN OF

THE TEMPLE

ANO TEMPLE AREA
II V II K It 0 II

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D.D. Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, $1.25.

Adoniram Judson.

By Julia H. Johnston. Missionary Annals Series. i2mo,
paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c.

Once Hindu, now Christian.

The Early Life of Baba Padmanji. An Autobiography,
translated. Edited by J. Murray Mitchell, M. A. i6mo,
cloth, 75c.

William Carey.

The Shoemaker who became "the Father and Founder of
Foreign Missions." By Rev. John B. Myers. Missionary
Biography Series. Illustrated. Twenty -second thousand.
i2mo, cloth, 75c.

William Carey.

By Mary E. Farwell. Missionary Annals Series. 121110,
paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c.

Alexander Duff.

By Elizabeth B. Vermilye. Missionary Annals Series.
i2mo, paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c.

Reginald Heber,

Bishop of Calcutta, Scholar and Evangelist. By Arthur
Montefiore. Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated.
i2mo, cloth, 75c.

Heavenly Pearls Set in a Life.

A Record of Experiences and Labors in America, India,
and Australia. By Mrs. Lucy D, Osborn. Illustrated.
3 i2mo, cloth, $1.50.

(MISSIONS, PERSIA AND INDIA.

Persian Life and Customs.

With Incidents of Residence and Travel in the Land of the
Lion and the Sun. By Rev. S. G. Wilson, M.A., for 15
years a missionary in Persia. With Map, and other Illus-
trations, and Index. Second edition, reduced in price.
8vo, cloth, $1.25.

Justin Perkins,

Pioneer Missionary to Persia. By his son, Rev. H. M.
Perkins. Missionary Annals Series. 121110, paper, net,
15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c.

Women and the Gospel in Persia.

By Rev. Thomas Laurie, D.D. Missionary Annals Series.
i2mo, paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c.

Henry Martyn, Saint and Scholar.

FirstModem Missionaryto the Mohammedans. 1 781-1812.

By George Smith, author of "Life of William Carey,"

"The Conversion of India," etc. With Portrait, Map,

and Illustrations. Large 8vo, cloth, gilt top, $3.00.

"This excellent biography, so accurately written, so full of

interest and contagious enthusiasm, so well arranged, illustrated,

and indexed, is worthy of the subject." — The Critic.

Henry Martyn.

His Life and Labors: Cambridge — India — Persia. By Jesse
Page. Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated. Eleventh
thousand. i2mo, cloth, 75c.

Henry Martyn.

Missionary to India and Persia. 1 781-1812. Abridged
from the Memoir by Mrs. Sarah J. Rhea. Missionary
Annals Series. i2mo, paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth,
net, 30c.

The Conversion of India.

From Pantasnus to the Present Time, a. d. 193-1893. By
George Smith, C.I.E., author of " Henry Martyn." Illus-
trated. i2mo, cloth, $1.50.

The Cross in the Land of the Trident.

By Rev. Harlan P. Beach, Educational Secretary of the
Student Volunteer Movement. 5th thousand. i2mo,
paper, net, 25c. ; cloth, 50c.

MISSIONS, JAPAN.
Rambles in Japan,

The Land of the Rising Sun. By Rev. Canon H. B.

Tristram, D.D., F.R.S. With forty-six illustrations by

Edward Whymper, a Map, and an index. 8vo3 cloth,

$2.00.
"A delightful book by a competent author, who, as a natural-
ist, writes well of the country, while as a Christian and a humanita-
rian he writes with sympathy of the new institutions of new Japan."
— The Independent.

The Gist of Japan :

The Islands, their People, and Missions. By Rev. R. B.
Peery, A.M., Ph.D., of the Lutheran Mission, Saga. Il-
lustrated. i2mo, cloth decorated, $1.25.
This book does not pretend to be an exhaustive treatise of an
exhaustless topic ; it does pretend to cover the subject ; and
whosoever is eager to know the " gist " of those matters Japanese
in which Westerners are most interested— the land, the people,
the coming of Christianity, the difficulties and prospects of her
missions, the condition of the native Church — will find it set down
in Dr. Peery's book in a very interesting, reliable, instructive,
and condensed form.

The Ainu of Japan.

The Religion, Superstitions, and General History of the
Hairy Aborigines of Japan. By Rev. John Batchelor.
With 80 Illustrations. i2mo, cloth, $1,150.
"Mr. Batchelor's book, besides its eighty trustworthy illustra-
tions, its careful editing, and its excellent index, is replete with
information of all sorts about the Ainu men, women, and children.
Almost every phase of their physical and metaphysical life has been
studied, and carefully noted." — The Nation.

The Diary of a Japanese Convert.

By Kanzo Uchimura. 12010, cloth, $1.00.

" This book is far more than the name indicates. It is the only
book of its kind published in the English language, if not in any
language. It is something new under the sun, and is as original as
it is new. It has the earmarks of a strong and striking individual-
ity, is clear in diction, forceful in style, and fearless in criticism." —
The Interior.

A Maker of the New Japan.

Joseph Hardy Neesima, the Founder of Doshisha University.
By Rev. J. D. Davis, D.D., Professor in Doshisha. Il-
lustrated. Second edition. i2mo, cloth, $1.00.

"The life is admirably and spiritedly written, and its hero
stands forth as one of the most romantic and inspiring figures of
modern times, a benefactor to his own country and an object of
tender regard on our part ; for it was to the United States that
Mr. Neesima turned for light and help in his educational plans."
-~The Examiner,

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