JERUSALEM
Taken from 'Pictoral Palestine' by C. Lang Neil (about 1890)
Jerusalem is a name that is known through all the world; a city whose history can only be written with the history of mankind. Its glories have been dimmed by the tide of time and it now lies humbled in the dust, but still it remains surrounded by its ever-lasting hills, a memorial of the Almighty God. Its origin is hidden away in the mists of ages, yet it can be traced; and though the waves of destruction have ebbed and flowed through twenty-eight sieges; and the cities David, Solomon, Nehemiah, Herod, Omar, Godfrey and Saladin have been buried beneath thirty or forty feet of rubbish, it still stands on the relics of its former grandeur; over the streets down which the Saviour peacefully walked; on hallowed spots associated with the grandest and most sacred events of history - the City of Jerusalem.
It has survived the many kingdoms that have swayed the world and held it in subjection; and is now a little mountain city on the hills of old Judea, 2,500 feet above the Mediterranean Sea, the capital of a Turkish province, governed by a Pasha, and garrisoned by the soldiers of the Sultan. But it is still the load-star of the Jew, and the goals of both Christian and Moslem pilgrims. And in spite of the various vicissitudes through which it has passed it retains the character of an extremely religious city, sacred alike to Moslem, Jew, and Christian. The name by which it is known among the natives, "El Kuds," i.e., 'The Holy', sufficiently indicates the estimation in which it is held.
Although to a certain extent the four hills on which it is built, Zion, Moriah, Acra and Bezetha, may still be distinguished, their actual boundaries cannot be traced. The contour of these hills has been changed by the accumulated debris of past centuries even the Tyropeon Valley, the great depression which formerly separated Crusading-Zion from Moriah, is now only perceptible for a short distance before it leaves the city to join the Kedron.
With the exception of "El Haram esh Sherif," i.e., The Noble Sanctuary, which is now universally acknowledged to be the site of the Temples of Solomon and Herod, the traces of the city as it appeared in our Saviour’s day are completely obliterated. It. is true that the sites of several old buildings can be traced with tolerable accuracy, but they date from a time long after His death and resurrection. And though they are presumed to stand on the scenes of His earthly life, they give no proof of their true identity, but are simply the outcome of traditions based on superstitious error. The work of exploration which has been carried on during recent years, and which to some extent is still continued, has done important service in exposing many erroneous ideas regarding these sites, and the world of biblical archaeology is richer and wiser in the knowledge thus obtained. Inscriptions and various other antiquities have revealed to a great extent the condition of the people in past ages, and the change and decay of the city has been exposed by the explorers in laying bare rock foundations hitherto unknown. Many of the discoveries will be treated in their respective places, but it might perhaps be as well to briefly enumerate a few of them here. The latest, and one at present under investigation, is that of a church erected by the Crusaders, probably the one dedicated to St. Martin, found in the Jewish Quarter by my friend the Rev. J. E. Hanauer, only a few days ago. When Captain Warren. now Sir Charles, was at work here on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, he sunk a shaft at the south-east corner of the city wall, and eighty feet below the surface the foundation courses of the wall of the. Temple of Solomon were discovered. They were built on to the contour of the rock itself with Phoenician mason’s marks on them, showing that, they had been hewn from the quarry and prepared ready for placing one upon another, without there being the least necessity for the use of either hammer or chisel. (1 Kings, vi. 7.) Near the south-west corner of the Haram enclosure, Dr. Robinson, the famous American biblical scholar and explorer, discovered the spring of an arch which now bears his name. The opposite pier was found by Captain Warren, after sinking a shaft, he was then not only able to prove that it formed part of the bridge leading from Herod’s Palace to the Temple as described by Josephus but he actually came upon the very street along the Tyropeon Valley used during our Saviour’s life on earth, and down which He no doubt often walked.
Below the southern wall, in the bill opposite the village of Silwan (Siloam) where the old Jebusite stronghold stood that afterwards became the city of David, the famous Siloam inscription was found cut in Hebraic characters of the time of King Hezekiah on the rocky side of the water channel made by this monarch, when he "turned the upper water course of Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David" The piece of rock bearing this inscription has recently been removed and broken, but was fortunately recovered, and now rests in the Ottoman Museum at Constantinople. Another inscription of almost equal importance was found at the north-west corner of the Haram enclosure, on a tablet that formerly served as a notice forbidding strangers to enter the Temple Courts on pain of death. Built in the wall over the Double Gate on the south side of the Temple Area, is a Latin inscription that originally belonged to a statue of Hadrian. On this, the south side of the city, but further west, below Neby Daud, where excavations are being carried on at the present time, old Jebusite houses have been brought to light. Other work is in contemplation that will probably settle the position of the city of David and open the tombs of the Kings of Judah.
Remains of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built by Constantine have been found and carefully preserved in the Russian hospice adjoining the present structure. And opposite these relics of past ages are extensive ruins known as the Muristan which have yielded much that is interesting of the work of the Knights Hospitallers.
There is a portion of the triumphal arch of Hadrian in the school of the Sisters of Sion in the Via Dolorosa, some inscriptions in Latin, and the old pavement of the city with the marks of chariot wheels.
In the grounds of the Nicopherieh, a wooded knoll across the valley of Hinnom opposite the Jaffa Gate, a tomb has recently been opened containing two beautiful white marble sarcophagi, one of which is supposed to have held the bones of Mariamne the wife of Herod the Great. Many other tombs have given up inscriptions, and lamps with inscriptions, all of great interest.
There is still a vast amount of work that remains to be done, before the various controversies can be decided; but more than enough has been accomplished to prove-that the descriptions of Jerusalem in the Bible are perfectly true, and that its position is still practically the same, with this difference, that it has grown considerably on the north-west and left the south-eastern portion in the hands of the farmer and market gardener. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field."—Jer. xxvi. 18.
Looking at the city from the slope of the Mount of Olives, the hills outside the south wall and east of the collection of houses known as Neby Daad appear to be covered with fields and gardens, yet the little excavations that have been made tend to show that they once formed the strongholds of the Jebusites and afterwards the city of David.
The. most prominent part of this picture of Jerusalem from the southeast is the south-eastern part of the city - the Haram Enclosure - the old Temple Area. It is the largest open space there is to be found, and not only the most interesting but the most beautiful portion of the city; beyond it, the houses seem crowded together as if there were no streets at all.
Just below the large church with its prominent spire towards the horizon, are the two domes of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and to the left of them are two massive square-topped towers, the larger of which is known as the Tower of David. This is close to the Jaffa Gate, the principal entrance to the city.
David Street, the most important in the city, commences at this gate and runs, after passing the moat of the above-mentioned tower, down some steps until it is lost in the dark vaulted bazaars that intersect each other in all directions.
Zion Street, leading to the Zion Gate and "Neby Daud "through the Armenian Quarter, leaves David Street at the tower of that name, and passes the Protestant Church (Christ Church) and School of the London Jews’ Society on the left, and the principal barracks of the city on the right, before it reaches the Armenian Cathedral of St. James, where tall dark pines bend over the street supposed to be all that are left of the trees of the garden of Herod the King. Further on the narrow street ends in an open space before the Zion Gate, which was formerly the abode of the lepers; but is now the cattle market of the city. Christian Street runs at right angles to David Street before the dark bazaars are reached, and joins the Via Dolorosa or "Street of Pain" at the top of the steps that lead to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The last-named street is supposed to be the route by which Christ carried the cross, and is consequently most frequented by pilgrims. The fourteen stations of the cross are shown,, as it turns and twists on its way towards the St. Stephen’s Gate in the eastern wall of the city. The street leading from the Damascus Gate contains the most characteristic native shops which look like big cupboards with all the wares exposed for sale to the passer by. It ends in the maze of bazaars occupying the centre of the city. All the streets are narrow and many very dirty. Most of them end in blind alleys that are interesting only for their endless variety of smells. The houses are built close together, and often consist of only one room with a vaulted roof. Several of these-cluster round one little courtyard,. that sometimes contains a cistern or well of water (the only water supply of the city), which is filled by the winter rains that are collected on the flat and dome shaped roofs. The walls are very thick, and serve to keep out the heat in summer and the cold in winter. There are no chimneys, as only the rich use stoves in which wood is burnt for fuel; the poor have to be content with a brazier where a little charcoal is burnt to warm the room and serve for cooking purposes. Plants kept in pots and tins relieve the dreadful stony monotony of the courtyards, as there are no gardens. The roofs, even when there is a little dome in the centre, are made for walking on and enable the people to get a waft.of evening air when the summer sun has dropped behind the western hills.. Small, round earthenware pipes are built horizontally in the Walls round many of the roofs to enable the women of the harem to venture on without being seen, while they gaze on the scene around.
There is no place of amusement in the Holy City; and what little business there is closes with the shops at sunset, except during the short and busy tourist and pilgrim season from December to May. Even then a petroleum lamp with its flickering light is the only assistance lent to the tardy purchaser, unless he obeys the laws of the city and carries a light of his own.
The chief and perhaps the only industry is the manufacture of olive wood and other articles as souveniers for travellers.
Of late years a rising suburb has sprung up to the North West of the city and, very recentlt, a railway has opened from Jaffa but the station is more than half a mile away from the city and quite out of site, but the towers and walls are visible from the terminus.
St Stephens Gate
This gate is part of the fortress like wall that surrounded the old city of Jerusalem and is 20 ft high. St Stephen was supposed to have been stoned to death in its vicinity. The locals often refer it to as 'Bab Sitti Myriam' - the gate of the lady Mary since the house of St Anne and St Joachim the parents of the virgin is said to have stood nearby.
The Kidron
The Kidron is the only stream of water in Jerusalem the people of Jerusalem ever see without setting out on a day’s journey. It appears at rare intervals of one or two years, and then only after a plentiful supply of rain. As soon as the water begins to flow the news spreads over the City and men women and children flock to see it, In their anxiety to see most of the wonder they picnic there all day long and hold a general holiday.
It now runs only from ‘Bir Eyub’ (Job’s Well) when this overflows; but in the days of old, when Hezekiah was King, and compelled to keep constant watch over his Assyrian enemy, Sennacherib, it ran all down the valley from Ain Umm ed Deraj (Spring of the Mother of Steps), the Virgin’s Fountain, and was known as ‘the brook that overflowed in the midst of the land’. (2 Chron 32v4).
Its course was, however, perverted by the primitive Jewish Engineers in order to provide for the wants of the City, and cut off the water supply of the besieging army. (see 2 Chron 32v30).
"The same Hezekiah also stopped up the upper watercourse of Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the City of David".
The channels that were made for this purpose have since been found and one contained the famous Siloam inscription, one of the most valuable and interesting ever discovered. It has lately been removed and broken but a photograph of a squeeze with a translation is sold by the Palestine Exploration Fund. This practically settles the site of the ‘City of David’. ‘the stronghold of Zion’, the hill above the spring through which these channels were cut from the Virgin’s Fountain, (the upper watercourse of Gihon).in the Kedron Valley.on the East to the ‘King’s Pool.’ ‘The Pool of Hezekiah’ now the ‘Pool of Siloam’ in the Tyropean Valley on the ‘west side’.
The upper watercourse of Gihon that played such an important part in the reign of Hezekiahis an intermittent spring in the Kedron Valley below the southern wall of the City. It is now known to Europeans as the ‘Virgin’s Fountain. And to the natives as ‘Ain Umm ed Deraj’. The peasants call it also the ‘Dragon’s Well’ because they believe a dragon lives in the bottom who swallows up the water, which can only escape when he is asleap. This spring has been a subject of many a conroversy, and is still, but has fairly proven to be the ‘Upper Watercourse of Gihon’, and is claimed by some to be ‘En Rogel’. mentioned in Joshua 15v7.and again in 18v16 as well.
"And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom to the side of Jebusi on the South and descended to En Rogel
The identification of the large stone near the ‘Virgin’s Fountain’ on the rocky side of the village of Silwan (Siloam) by M. Clermont-Gannneau now called in Arabic ‘Zehwele’ with the ‘stone of Zoheleth’ naturally assisted in identifying this as the mark of the tribal border of Judah and Benjamin.
But, unfortunately, its position does not answer the requirements of the text quoted above, "to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom to the side of Jebusi on the south." "The end of the mountain" is lower down the valley, below the Pool of Siloam, where the Tyropeon joins the Kedron, and near to this is "Bir Eyub" (Job’s Well), "before the valley of the son of Hinnom."
Before the water of the "upper watercourse of Gihon" was turned by the Jewish king to the Pool of Siloam (the lower pool of Gihon’), it flowed straight down the valley to Job’s Well (En Rogel), and watered the King’s gardens that lay between, where now the best vegetables are grown for the Jerusalem market.
Job’s Well (Bir Eyub), or, as it is often termed, Joab’s Well, on account of its identification as En Rogel, has never been properly examined. It was opened by the Crusaders in 1184 A.D., and during the 15th and 16th centuries was known as the well of Nehemiah. There can be no doubt that it is in some way connected with an intermittent spring, as the flow from it after heavy rains is more than enough to empty the well itself. The hillside on the east of this well has the same rocky character as that above the Virgin’s Fountain When Adonijah was making his feast (1 Kings 1v9), on being proclaimed King, the noise of the revellers was heard in the city. So Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, went to the aged King David, and told him what was taking place, reminding him at the same time of his promise of the kingdom for her son. After seeing the prophet Nathan, he said: "Cause Solomon, my son, to ride upon mine own mule and bring him down to Gihon." He was there anointed King, and the sound of rejoicing that went through the city was heard also by Adonijah and his adherents, but a bend in the valley hid the scene from view. Soon, however, the news was carried to him that Solomon had been anointed king in Gihon. This could very easily have been the lower Gihon if the En Rogel is the "Upper Gihon," as one is on the eastern side of the hill, and the other on the "west side."
(See 1 Kings 1.)
The most reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that Bir Eyub is En Rogel, and the spring further up the valley, Virgin’s Fountain, is the upper watercourse of Gihon, The pool on the "west side" of the hill, that separates the Kedron Valley from the Tyropeon, is the lower pool of Gihon, the pool of Hezekiah,’ "King’s Pool" (of Nehemiah), and the pooi of Siloam, in the time of our Saviour.
See (Joshua 15. 7 and 17v16, 2 Chron. 17v4-30, I. Kings 1)
The Brook Kedron (2 Sam. 15v23, 1. Kings 15v13, 2 Kings 23v6, 2. Chron. 29v16, Jer. 31v40, John 18v1) is now a dry torrent bed, except what is seen in the picture, and that, as before mentioned, appears only once or twice in as many years. It runs along the eastern side of Jerusalem, commencing some distance to the north-east, broad and shallow at first, deepening only as it separates the city from the slope of the Mount of Olives. Between the south-east corner and the village of Silwan (Siloam) it becomes a deep ravine, widening out again towards the Virgin’s Fountain (Mn Umm ed Deraj) into the King’s gardens, where it is joined, after passing the Pool of Siloam on the west, by the Valley of Hinnom, close to Bir Eyub, and afterwards pursues its course towards the wilderness of the Dead Sea, as Wady en Nar, i.e., the Valley of Fire.
It is known also as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and according to both Jews and Moslems, it will be the scene of the final Judgment. And in order to prepare for that "Great Day" they bury their dead on both of its sides, the Moslems preferring the western and the Jews the eastern slope.
Four very remarkable monuments are found in the bottom of this valley. The first, usually termed Absalom’s Pillar, though known among the Arabs as "Tantur Faron," i.e., Pharaoh’s Tall Head-dress, or High Cap, is the most striking in appearance. It consists of a cube, six and a-half yards square and twenty feet high, cut out of the solid rock, ornamented with columns and pilasters of the Ionic order, supporting a Done frieze surmounted by a concave pyramid, making it altogether fifty-four feet high. There is no mention made of this structure until 1163 A.D., when Benjamin of Tudela visited the Holy City and wrote an account of his journey. He called it Absalom’s Pillar, the name which has been handed down to the present day, from its supposed identity with 2 Samuel 18v18. "Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s dale." The Jews throw stones at it to show their abhorrence of the memory of David’s disobedient son.
Near to this is the supposed tomb of Jehosaphat, where a Hebrew manuscript was found in 1842, and since that time the Jews have looked upon it as the tomb of some great rabbi.
The next important tomb is known by the name of St. James, and is situated opposite to that part of the city wall traditionally known as the pinnacle, from which he was hurled to the valley below. It is said he hid himself in this cave after the crucifixion, and on that account it was very much venerated by the early Christians.
The Tomb of Zecharias, next in order, is looked upon by Christians to be that of the Zecharias mentioned in St. Matthew 18v35, while the Jews consider it to be built in memory of the Zechariah of 2 Chronicles 24v20. It is similar to that bearing the name of Absalom and very probably dates from the same period, the Herodian.
In this valley was the Garden of Gethsemane, and a plot of ground on the eastern slope, containing some very old olive trees, is pointed out as the site.
Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives
The Garden of Gethsemane, now pointed out in the Valley of Jehosaphat, or Kedron Valley, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and surrounded by a wall, is said to have been discovered when the places of crucifixion and resurrection were identified during the visit of the Empress Helena in 326 AD.
Jerome some sixty years after, said that a church had been built over it. This fact was mentioned by Antoninus Martyr at the end of the sixth, and Theophanes at the close of the seventh, century. The writers during the Crusades speak of the Garden in this place. Adjoining the present site are other enclosures containing olive trees equally old, therefore, whether this is the identical spot of our Lord’s agony is an open question. But there is no doubt that it is either here or in the immediate neighbourhood, as it is quite close to both of the roads that left the city from the east—John 18v1.
Jesus "went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron where was a garden, into which he entered, and his disciples"—and answers in position to the text just quoted.
The present garden is under the care of Franciscan monks. It is entered by a very low doorway in a high wall, and on the latter are frescoes representing scenes in the life of Christ. The Chapel of Agony is pointed out in a cave; and near it the place where the disciples slept, and Judas gave the kiss of betrayal. (See Matthew 26v38-46.)
The Tomb of the Virgin
Close by the garden, a little to the north, is a church that is reached by a descent of forty-seven steps, built, as some suppose, by the Empress Helena, over the tomb of the Virgin Mary. The place now belongs to the Greeks, who allow, but not without much bickering and squabbling, the other Christian sects to share. Although the interior is very small, there is sufficient space for a number of altars, set apart for Armenians and Abyssinians, as well as the nominal owners, and even a praying place for Moslems, who join with the Christians. in venerating the tomb of the Mother of Christ, Sitti Maryam, i.e., the Lady Mary.
The tombs of Joachim and Anna, her. father and mother, and Joseph her husband, are pointed out in the same church. The Feast of Sitti Maryam is one of the most. important festivals of the Church when thousands of the people of Jerusalem camp in the Kedron Valley and the slope of the Mount of Olives, for days of rejoicing.
The Mount of Olives.
Three stony paths lead from the Garden above mentioned to the summit of Olivet, the mountain overlooking Jerusalem from the east
(Zechariah 14v4, "the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east"),
about which, happily, there is no dispute. The native name —Jebel et Tur—sirnply means the mountain peak, and there is no mistaking this ancient hill.
Unlike the buildings of the Holy City, it has suffered little or nothing from the change and decay of past ages. Its contour is still about the same, and in fancy we can see our Saviour lingering there with His disciples as He fixed His sorrowful eyes on the city He loved so well.
During recent years a building mania has disturbed the repose of its past history, and its sides and summit have been desecrated by erections that lend an unfavourable aspect to a picture of holy interest. On the slope towards Jerusalem there is a large Jewish cemetery just below some old sepulchres, known by the name of the "Tombs of the Prophets." The reason why the Jews are so anxious to be buried here is very curious, They believe that it is the place of resurrection, and they dread the subterranean journey which the body must perform on the Day of Judgment. It is said that the Jews in Poland even place a small wooden fork and spoon in the graves with the dead, to assist them in digging their way. This custom seems in all probability to be connected with the old Egyptian belief in the journey of the soul after death, as set forth in the "Book of the Dead." On the top of the hill there is a small modern village with a minaret and mosque built on the old traditional site of the Saviour’s Ascension.
The Armenians, Greeks, and Latins, have all some buildings sacred to the memory of the events of the Lord’s life, and all point to different spots as representing the true sites. But the most curious building of all is that which has been erected on the traditional place where our Lord taught His disciples to pray, by a French Princess (Princess Latour d’Auvergne). Besides a small church, and a tomb for herself, there is a court where the Lord’s Prayer is written in thirty-two different languages, and the nuns in charge of the church pray in their turn, night and day, a prayer unceasing.
Ever since the earliest ages of Christianity this hill has been held in sacred remembrance, and when the Armenians, before the time of the Crusades, were a wealthy nation with a king of their own, they possessed most of the land, and erected convents and churches with pavements of beautiful mosaics. Where the Russians have built the tower and church two of these floors have been found, the more recent, one a few weeks ago. Inlaid in the mosaic is an inscription, of which the following is a translation
"This funeral monument is erected at the desire of his Eminence Jacob."
The view from the summit is unique when clothed in the vision of bygone years. On the east is the Dead Sea with its brilliant blue, surrounded by bare purplish grey hills; the rounded tops of the mountains of old Judea; and lying beyond the plain, down which the Jordan rolls its waters in their tortuous bed, like a great wall stand the mountains of Moab and Gilead.
The country seems barren and monotonous, with no visible life beyond a few goats or sheep, and the only break in the deserted appearance of this wilderness is the azure sea with the gloomy name.
To the west is seen the "City of the Great King," where the all-seeing eye of God still watches o’er the portion once occupied by His Holy Temple, where He shed forth the glory of His Majesty, and from whence His only Son went forth to die. It is a scene of surpassing interest, on which thousands have gazed in wonderment and ecstasy year after year for ages. There is no view in the wide world with which it may be compared, for no other city has witnessed events of such importance to the human race.