A. M. 2981. A. C. 1023; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4375. A. C. 1036. 2 SAM. xix-1 KINGS viii. festivals lasted for seven days; but Solomon might stay much longer at Gibeon, until, by the daily oblations, a thousand burnt-offerings were consumed; and at the conclusion of this course of devotion, he might offer up his ardent prayer to God, for wisdom, and God, for the confirmation of his faith, might appear to him in a dream by night, and have that converse with him which the Scripture takes notice of. Sleep indeed is like a state of death to the soul, wherein the senses are locked up, and the understanding and will deprived of the free exercise of their functions; and yet this is no impediment to God in communicating himself to mankind: for God speaketh once, yea twice,' says the author of the book of Job, ' in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed, then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction:' for God, no doubt, has power, not only to awaken our intellectual faculties, but to advance them above their ordinary measure of perception, even while the body is asleep. thing we hope for, should be constantly attended with the homage and adoration, with the praises and acknowledgments of his creatures, his own dependant creatures, is a position that will admit of no controversy; and that there should be some places appointed for this purpose, that all the offices of religion may be performed with more decency, and more solemnity, is another position, that seems to arise from the nature of the thing. These buildings we style, the houses of God;' but it is not to defend him, as Arnobius 5 speaks, from heat or cold, from wind or rain, or tempests, that we raise such structures, but to put ourselves in a capacity of paying our duty to him, and of nourishing in our hearts such sentiments of respect and reverence, of love and gratitude, as are due from creatures to their great Creator. In these places, God is said to be more immediately present to hear our supplications, receive our praises, and relieve our wants; and therefore, to make his habitation commodious, David exhorts his subjects to a liberal contribution, and 'because I have a joy,' says he, 'in the house of my God, I have of mine own gold and silver, given three thousand talents of gold, even the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of fine silver.' "He indeed makes mention," as the learned 6 Hooker, with whose words I conclude this argument, has observed, "of the natural conveniency that such kind of bounteous expenses have, since thereby we not only testify our cheerful affection to God, which thinks nothing too dear to be bestowed about the furniture of his service, but give testimony to the world likewise of his almightiness, whom we outwardly honour with the chiefest of outward things, as being, of all things, himself incomparably the greatest. To set forth the majesty of kings, his vicegerents here below, the most gorgeous and rare treasures that the world can afford are procured; and can we suppose, that God will be pleased to accept what the meanest of these would disdain? In a word, though the true worship of God," says he, "be to God 3 A very eminent father of the Greek church, speaking of the different kinds of dreams, has justly observed that the organs of our body, and our brain, are not unlike the strings of a musical instrument. While the strings are screwed up to a proper pitch, they give a harmonious sound, if touched by a skilful hand; but as soon as they are relaxed, they give none at all. In like manner, while we are awake, says he, our senses, touched and directed by our understanding, make an agreeable concert; but when once we are asleep, the instrument has done sounding, unless it be, that the remembrance of what passed when we are awake, comes and presents itself to the mind, and so forms a dream, just as the strings of an instrument will for some time continue their sound, even after the hand of the artist has left them. It is no hard matter to apply this to Solomon's dream. He had prayed the day before with great fervency, and desired of God the gift of wisdom. In the night-time God appeared to him in a dream, and bid him ask what-in itself acceptable, who respects not so much in what ever he would. Solomon, having his mind still full of the desire of wisdom, asked it, and obtained it: so that the prayer or desire which he uttered in his dream, was but the consequence of the option he had made the day before, when he was awake. In a word, though we should allow that the soul of man, when the body is asleep, is in a state of rest and inactivity; yet we cannot but think, that God can approach it in many different ways; can move and actuate it just as he pleases; and when he is minded to make a discovery of any thing, can set such a lively representation of it before the eyes of the man's understanding, as shall make him not doubt of the reality of the vision. place, as with what affection he is served; yet manifest it is, that the very majesty and holiness of the place where God is worshipped, hath, in regard of us, great virtue, force, and efficacy, as it is a sensible help to stir up devotion, and, in that respect, bettereth, no doubt, our holiest and best actions of that kind." CHAP. III. Of the ancient Jerusalem, and its Ir is an opinion vulgarly received, and not without much probability, that Jerusalem is the same city which elsewhere is called Salem, and whereof Melchizedek is said to have been king. Not that Salem, or the city of Melchizedek, was of equal extent with Jerusalem in after times; but Jerusalem was no other than the city of Salem, enlarged and beautified by the kings of all Israel at first-David and Solomon, and after that, by the succeeding kings of Judah, when the monarchy came to be divided into two distinct kingdoms. 5 Contra Gent., b. 6. 6 Eccles. Polity, b. 5. 7 Gen. xiv. 18. A. M. 2981. A. C. 1023; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4375. A. C. 1036. 2 SAM. xix-1 KINGS viii. 2 1 The word Salem, in the Hebrew language, signifies peace and as the city of Melchizedek, called Salem, is probably thought to be the same with Jerusalem; so it is certain, that Jerusalem was otherwise called Jebus, and therefore, as it preserves the name of Salem in the latter, so it is thought to preserve the name of Jebus in the former part of it, and to be nothing else but a compound of Jebus and Salem, which, for the better sound's sake, by the change of one letter, and the omission of another, is softened into Jerusalem. 3 4 stood his royal palace likewise, and the temple of the Lord; for the temple was built upon Mount Moriah, which was one of the hills belonging to Mount Zion, d Between these two mountains lay the valley of Millo, which formerly separated ancient Jebus from the city of David, but was afterwards filled up by David and Solomon, to make a communication between the two cities. But, besides this valley of Millo, we read in Scripture art or nature, out of a natural rock. This trench was defended Whether this city stood in the centre of the world or no, we shall not pretend to determine, though some a very zealously contend for it; since it is a matter of more material disquisition, in what tribe it may be supposed to have been situated. In the conquest of the land of Canaan, and at the famous battle of Gibeon, Joshua put to death the king of Jerusalem, and, very probably, took the city, though, by some means or other not mentioned in Scripture, the Jebusites afterwards got possession, and continued their possession even till the days of David. In the division of the land, it was apparently one of those cities which were given to the tribe of Benjamin; and yet when we read, that at one time the children of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites,' and, at another, that the children of Judah took and burnt Jerusalem,' one would be tempted to think, that it lay within the limits of that tribe. But then this difference may be easily reconciled, if we will but consider, that as this city was built on the fron-mighty' was a palace erected by David, in honour of his worthies, or chieftains in war, in which they had apartments, actiers of both tribes, it is sometimes made a part of the cording to their reputation and merit in arms, were always ready one, and sometimes of the other; that, by Joshua's divi- at hand, for counsel or aid, as the king's affairs required, and at sion of the country, Benjamin had most right to it, but, leisure hours, by superintending and instructing the youth in by the right of conquest, Judah; however, when it came academy for the science of war.-The History of the Life of their military exercises, answered all the purposes of a royal to be made the metropolis of the whole nation, it was King David, vol. 2. thought to belong to the Israelites in common, and therefore was claimed by neither. The city of Jerusalem was built upon two hills, and encompassed all round with mountains. It was situated in a barren and stony soil; but the places adjacent were well watered, having the fountains of Gihon and Siloam, and the brook Kidron at the foot of its walls. Jebus, or the ancient city which David took, was seated on a hill towards the south; and, on the opposite quarter, towards the north, was Mount Zion, where David built a new city, and called it after his own name, and where d Dr Clarke and Mr Buckingham, who have investigated more closely than other travellers the topography of Jerusalem, suppose a hill on the south of that generally considered as Mount Zion, and from which it is separated by the valley taken for that of Himnom, to be the true Zion. This hill is the one usually described as the mountain of Corruption, or of Offence, so called from Solomon's idolatry; and the valley which separates it from Josephus describes but one valley after the filling up of that bethe supposed Zion, as that of Hinnom, or Gehinnom. But as tween Acra and Moriah by the Asmoneans, namely, that of the Cheesemongers, or Tyropœon, which united at the fountain of Siloam with the valley of Jehoshaphat; and as this supposed valley of Gehinnom is the only one which answers to that description; and further, as this hill alone has the distinct outline, and superior elevation, which we are universally given to under 1 Heb. vii. 2. 2 Compare Josh. xv. 8. with 1 Chron. xi. 4. stand the citadel of Zion possessed; it has certainly very strong * Josh. x. 23-40, and xii. 10. 5 Josh. xv. 63. Josh. xviii. 28. 6 Judg. i. 8. a To this purpose they observe, that the sacred writers are very well acquainted with this, as appears by that passage of Ezekiel, c. v. 5. Thus saith the Lord God, this is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries round about her.' For what purpose he did this, the Psalmist has not been wanting to inform us: Out of Zion,' says he, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined,' (Ps. 1. 2.) Here the Almighty kept his court, and from hence he sent out his ambassadors, the prophets, to publish his decrees to the whole world around him, with more ease, and speedier conveyance, than could possibly be done from any other region of the habitable world. From hence, as from a central point, the light of the law at first, and the gospel afterwards shone out to the surrounding nations; and therefore we find Jerusalem emphatically called the city of our God, the mountain of his holiness, beautiful for situation, and the joy of the whole earth,' (Ps. xlviii. 1, 2.)-The History of the Life of King David, vol. 2. This city was of a circular form, situated on a much higher hill, and surrounded with a broad deep trench, hewn whether by claims to be considered as such. Every representation of Zion in Scripture implies a hill distinct from, and loftier than the ground on which the lower city stood. It was the hill or citadel of Jebus, the "castle" or "stronghold of Zion," which, from its insulated and impregnable nature, the Israelites were unable to take for 400 years after they had gained possession of the lower city (2 Sam. v. 1 Chron. xi.) it was the crowning eminence of the ridge on which the city stood; and from which the whole was denominated after its name. (Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14.) But no marked division or superiority of height which can explain such a pre-eminence of character, and such an uncommon power of defence, as are here represented, distinguishes the hil commonly received as that of Zion. It is further to be remarked, that Josephus describes the city as seated on two principal hiils only, with one principal intervening valley, namely, that of the Cheesemongers, or Tyropoon, joining the valley of Jehoshaphat at the fountain of Siloam, as already stated. He also expressly mentions the upper city as situated on the one, and the lower city on the other, relative terms certainly, but of little meaning when applied to the slight inclination of the uncleft ground on which the modern city, with its allotted part of Zion, stands.-ED. A. M. 2981. A. C. 1023; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4375. A. C. 1036. 2 SAM. xix-1 KINGS viii. of the house of Millo, which is said to be 2 in the city | &c., seems to denote the contrary. However this be, of David, and therefore was built either upon Mount Zion, or some adjacent place. Let us then inquire a little what this house of Millo might possibly be. Millo, considered in its etymology, is thought to be deduced from a root which signifies to be full, and is therefore, in the sacred history, supposed to denote a large capacious place, designed for public meetings, or, in short, a senate-house. That this was some public edifice, I think may be inferred from the notice that is taken of it among some other of Solomon's public buildings, where the reason of the tax, which he levied upon his subjects, is said to be this, "That he might build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the walls of Jerusalem,' &c., for, since we find it joined with the house of the Lord, and the walls of Jerusalem,' we cannot but suppose, that it was a building of the same public nature; and we since find farther, that the servants of king Joash arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew him in the house of Millo, very probably when he was come thither to debate, and consult with his princes, and other chief men, the thing seems to be incontestable, that this house of Millo was erected for a public senatehouse, though there is some reason to imagine that it was employed likewise for other purposes. 46 In the reign of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib came against Jerusalem with a purpose to besiege it, the king took counsel with his princes, and among other things, that were thought proper for his defence, it is said, that he built up all the wall that was fallen, and repaired Millo, and made darts and shields in abundance.' From whence we may infer, that this Millo was a place of great consequence to the strength of Jerusalem, and was very probably made to serve two purposes, that is, to be both a parliament-house and an arsenal. St Jerome himself affirms, that the waters of this fountain made the valley through which they ran, as watering the gardens and plantations that were there, very pleasant and delightful. The fountain of Gihon, which springs very probably from an adjacent hill of the same name, was on the west side of Jerusalem; and as king Hezekiah' ordered the upper channel of this fountain to be conveyed into Jerusalem, that when the city was besieged, the enemy. might not have the benefit of its waters; so we need not doubt, but 10 that the other spring of Siloam was, in like manner, conveyed into the city, and that, for the convenience of its inhabitants, they were both, in several places, distributed" into pools; though some make that of Siloam to be without the walls. The brook Kidron runs in the valley of Jehoshaphat on the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. It has usually no great quantity of water in it, and is frequently quite dry; but, upon any sudden rains, it swells exceedingly, and runs with great impetuosity. It was indeed of singular service to the ancient city, as it received its common sewers, and, upon every such violent flood, emptied them into the Dead Sea. The mount of Olives, which doubtless had its name from the great quantity of olive trees that grew there, was situated to the east of Jerusalem, and parted from the city only by the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the brook Kidron; for which reason it is said to be a Sabbath-day's journey, that is, about a mile from it. It was on this mountain that Solomon built temples to the gods of the Ammonites and of the Moabites, in complaisance to his wives, who were natives of these nations; and for this reason it is likewise called in Scripture, 12 the mount of corruption,' because such as follow vain idols are frequently said in Scripture to corrupt themselves. 13 Some indeed have imagined, that this mount of corruption was a distinct place, but the matter of fact is, that Mount Olivet had three summits, or was made up of three several mountains, The palace which David built for himself, to which was adjoined that which his son built for the king of Egypt's daughter, must needs have been a very magnificent structure, since he had both his workmen and materials sent him a from Tyre, which, at that time, sur-ranged one after another, from north to south. The midpassed all other nations in the art of building: but of this we can give no other account, than that it stood westward from the temple, and consisted of a large square court, defended by flankers, from one of which was the descent by stairs into the gardens, which, in all probability, were watered by the fountain of Siloam. This fountain of Siloam, rises just under the walls of Jerusalem, on the east side thereof, between the city and the brook Kidron; and in all probability, was the same with the fountain Enrogel, or the Fuller's fountain, whereof we find mention in Joshua, and in the books of Samuel and the Kings. Some travellers will have it that the water of this fountain is brackish, and has not a good taste; but the prophet Isaiah, when he utters the complaint of God against the Jews, forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, which go softly,' 2 Kings xii. 20. 2 Chron. xxxii. 5. 1 Kings ix. 15. 2 Kings xii. 20. 52 Chron. xxxii. 5. 1 Chron. xiv. 1. 7 Josh. xv. 7; 2 Sam. xvii; and 1 Kings i. 9. Is. viii. 6. a This must be understood of the Old Tyre, which was situate upon the continent, and where the temple of Hercules stood, of whose antiquity Herodotus talks so much; and not of the New Tyre, which stood upon a neighbouring island, but was not built until the days of Solomon.-Calmet's Dictionary under the word. dle summit was that from which our Lord ascended; toward the south was that whereon Solomon 14 set up his abominations; and towards the north was the highest of all, 15 which was commonly called Galilee. Mount Calvary, which, in all appearance, had its name from the similitude it bore to the figure of a skull, or a man's head, was to the west of the ancient Jerusa 92 Chron. xxxii. 30. 10 Lamy's Introduction, b. 1. c. 3. 11 John ix. 7. 122 Kings xxiii. 13. 13 Wells' Geography of the Old Testament. 142 Kings xxiii. 13. 15 See Reland's Palæst. Some formerly have been of opinion, that this mount was called Calvary, because the head of the first man in the world was buried there, and that our Saviour was crucified in the same place; and that his blood running down upon the body of this person, might restore him to life, and procure him the favour of a resurrection. To support this tradition, they tell us that Noah, having preserved Adam's body in the ark, distributed the several parts of it to his children, and, as a particular favour, gave the skull or head to Shem, who was to be the parent of that holy stock, from whom the Messias was to come; and that Shem, with a spirit of foresight, buried the skull in Calvary, where he knew the Messias would be crucified. But neither the ancient fathers nor any modern authors that mention this tradition, were ever persuaded of its truth; and, without any disrespect to them, we may look upon all this as mere fiction.-Calmet's Dictionary under the word Calvary. A. M. 2981. A. C. 1023; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4375. A. C. 1036. 2 SAM. xix-1 KINGS vil. lem, just without the gates: and, as our Saviour suffered | extravagant, that when he returns again he will judge the there, we may presume it was the common place where criminals of all kinds were generally executed, a The valley of Hinnom, or the sons of Hinnom, lay to the south of the city, and was remarkable for the cruel and barbarous worship of Moloch, where parents made their children pass through the fire, or be burned in the fire, by way of sacrifice to that idol; and where it was usual to have musical instruments, from whence it obtained likewise the name of Tophet, the Hebrew word Toph, signifying the same as Tympanum in Latin, and Timbrel in English, to drown the lamentable shrieks of the children thus sacrificed. In this place there were afterwards kept a perpetual fire, to consume the dead carcasses and excrements, which were brought from Jerusalem; and therefore our Saviour alluding to this, calls hell by the name of Ge-henna, or the valley of Hinnom. The valley of Jehoshaphat, which is likewise called the valley of Kidron, because of the above mentioned brook which runs through it, lies on the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the mount of Olives. Our Saviour, indeed, ascended from this mount; but the notion is very world in this valley, merely because the prophet Joel hath said, 'I will gather all nations, and will bring them into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them for my people;' for what is there called the valley of Jehoshaphat, is not a proper, but an appellative name, and denotes no more than the judgment of God. mined. There were several gates, belonging to the ancient Jerusalem, that are mentioned in Scripture; but it is 1 Joel iii. 2. Gen. xiv. 17, 18. There is another valley that the Scripture makes early mention of, and that is the valley of Shaveh,' which is likewise called the king's dale, where Melchizedek met Abraham in his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer. According to Josephus, it was, in his time, but about two furlongs distant from Jerusalem, and for this reason, perhaps, it has been thought by some, to be no other than the valley of Jehoshaphat; though others make it different, yet so, as to come up near to the said valley, and to lie on the south-east part of the city, not far from the king's gardens. Why it obtained the name of the king's dale, whether it was from its near situation to the king's palace and gardens, or from its being the place where the kings were wont to exercise themselves, or at least to entertain themselves, with seeing others perform their exercises of running, riding, and the a Mr Buckingham, who is satisfied of the identity of the pre-like, is not agreed, and very likely will never be detersent hill shown as Calvary, imagines that it was at the time of the crucifixion, as it is now, within the city. Of the arguments by which this opinion is supported, the following is an abstract:The objections commonly urged against the position of Calvary within the walls are-that the term Golgotha, which is interpreted the place of a skull,' implies a place of public interment; that it was contrary to the custom of the east to bury in cities; and that it would be considered as defiling by the Jews to have a place of execution in the heart of the town. To the first of these objections it is answered, on the part of Mr Buckingham, that the word Golgotha thus translated a place of skulls, implies merely a skull; and is so used by St Luke, who, without mentioning Golgotha, writes, And when they were come to a place called skull,' &c.; that the name applies rather to a tradition that the skull of Adam was found in this spot; or, which is more probable, that it was derived from the figure of the eminence itself, which was amound of small elevation, consisting of a round nodule of rock, which, from a resemblance which it bore to the shape of a skull, obtained that name for it. To the second objection it is replied, that whatever the general custom of the east may be, it was the common practice of the Jews to bury in their own gardens, whether within or without the town. The third objection is endeavoured to be removed, by showing, that Calvary was not, as is generally supposed, a place of public execution; but was merely seized on by the enraged and impatient multitude, as a convenient spot for carrying their mad purpose into speedy effect. This opinion is considered to be corroborated, by the singular fact, that it is nowhere said that Christ was led out of the city to be crucified; and by the no less extraordinary circumstance of Joseph of Arimathea having, on this same spot, a garden and a tomb, which he would not be likely to have had in a place defiled by public executions. Wherever Calvary was, it does not seem probable that it was a place of common execution for male factors. It is quite inconceivable that a wealthy Jew like Joseph of Arimathea, should make choice of a place of public execution, where these horrid exhibitions must have been frequent, as the scene of his recreation while alive, and of his interment after death. The choice of this spot may rather be considered as accidental as the first convenient one which offered itself to the impatient Jews, on which to immolate their victim, and to which he was hurried lest he should again escape them. This spot or mount is rock, the summit of which is ascended to by a steep flight of eighteen or twenty steps from the common level of the church, which is equal with that of the street without; and besides this, there is a descent of thirty steps from the level of the church to the chapel of Helena; and eleven more to the place where it is said the cross was found; making in all sixty-one steps, or, if the last eleven be considered as subterraneous, fifty; equal to at least thirty-five feet of perpendicular height-sufficient to give this little eminence the character of a mound or mount.-ED. Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, vol. 3. The present style of building in Jerusalem will, perhaps, in the unchanging character of eastern customs, best enable us to understand its ancient structure. The streets of almost every eastern city are narrow, for the purpose of excluding the sun and wind between the deep and almost blank walls of the houses, having small and but few windows towards the street; their fronts, properly speaking, being towards the central quadrangle. The entrance into the principal houses is by a porch, having benches on each side, where visits are received and business is despatched; few guests being permitted to penetrate further into the mansion. This porch communicates with the court in the centre: which, with persons of rank or wealth, is paved with marble, and laid out with fruit-trees and fountains. This court is surrounded with a cloister; over which is a gallery, having a balustrade or latticed work on the side towards the court, and on the opposite one the entrances to the chambers. Whoever has travelled in Spain or Portugal, where, by their Moorish possessors, many eastern customs were introduced, may have seen houses of this construction: the convents almost universally answer to it exactly. The open space in the quadrangie is the place where company is received on festive occasions; and is the same as the ro usoov, the "midst" or the middle of the house into which the paralytic was let down, when our Savicur was preaching to a numerous assembly. (Luke v. 18, 19.) The stairs are placed either in the porch itself, or at the entrance into the court; from whence they are continued up one corner of the gallery to the top of the house, which is made flat to walk on, and surrounded by a parapet or balustrade. Thus a person may ascend from the porch to the top of the house without having any communication with its interior: and to this arrangement our Lord alludes, in his directions to his disciples respecting the troubles which were approaching, and their flight from Jerusalem. 'Let him who is on the house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house.' (Matt. xxiv. 17.) Of the present state and appearance of Jerusalem, M. Chateaubriand gives the following account: "When seen from the mount of Olives, on the other side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, Jerusalem presents an inclined plane descending from west to east. An embattled wall, fortified with towers and a Gothic castle, encompasses the city all round; excluding, however, part of mount Zion, which it formerly enclosed. In the western quarter, and in the centre of the city towards Calvary, the houses stand very close; but in the A. M. 2981. A. C. 1023; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4375. A. C. 1036. 2 SAM. xix-1 KINGS viii. no easy matter to discover where their particular situation was. There is reason to believe likewise, that their names have been varied, or that one and the same gate has gone under different appellations; and as there were several circuits of walls in the city, which had their respective gates, it is more than probable, that some of eastern part, along the brook Cedron, you perceive vacant spaces; among the rest, that which surrounds the mosque erected on the ruins of the temple, and the nearly deserted spot where once stood the castle of Antonia and the second palace of Herod. The houses of Jerusalem are heavy square masses, very low, without chimneys or windows: they have flat terraces or domes on the top; and look like prisons or sepulchres. The whole would appear to the eye one uninterrupted level, did not the steeples of the churches, the minarets of the mosques, the summits of a few cypresses, and the clumps of nopals, break the uniformity of the plane. On beholding these stone buildings encompassed by a stony country, you are ready to inquire if they are not the confused monuments of a cemetery in the midst of a desert. Enter the city, but nothing will you there find to make amends for the dulness of its exterior. You lose yourself among narrow, unpaved streets, here going up hill, there down, from the inequality of the ground; and you walk among clouds of dust or loose stones. Canvass stretched from house to house, increases the gloom of the labyrinth; bazaars roofed over, and fraught with infection, completely exclude the light from the desolate city. A few paltry shops expose nothing but wretchedness to view; and even these are frequently shut, from apprehension of the passage of a cadi. Not a creature is to be seen in the streets, not a creature at the gates, except now and then a peasant gliding through the gloom, concealing under his garments the fruits of his labour, lest he should be robbed of his hard earnings by the rapacious soldier. Aside, in a corner, the Arab butcher is slaughtering some animal, suspended by the legs from a wall in ruins: from his haggard and ferocious look, and his bloody hands, you would rather suppose that he had been cutting the throat of a fellow creature than killing a lamb. The only noise heard from time to time, in this deicide city, is the galloping of the steed of the desert: it is the Janissary who brings the head of the Bedouin, or returns from plundering the unhappy Fellah." The following is Mr Buckingham's description of Jerusalem, as seen from the Mount of Olives:-"Reposing beneath the shade of an olive-tree, upon the brow of this hill, we enjoyed from hence a fine prospect of Jerusalem on the opposite one. This city occupies an irregular square of about two miles and a half in circumference. Its shortest apparent side is that which faces the east; and in this is the supposed gate of the ancient temple, now closed up, and the small projecting stone on which Mohammed is to sit when the world is to be assembled to judgment in the vale below. The southern side is exceedingly irregular, taking quite a zigzag direction; the south-west extreme being terminated by a mosque, built over the supposed sepulchre of David, on the summit of Mount Zion. The form and exact direction of the western and northern walls are not distinctly seen from hence; but every part of this appears to be a modern work, and executed at the same The walls are flanked at irregular distances by square time. towers, and have battlements running all around on their summits, with loop-holes for arrows or musquetry close to the top. The walls appear to be about 50 feet in height, but are not surrounded by a ditch. The northern wall runs over slightly declining ground; the eastern wall runs straight along the brow of Mount Moriah, with the deep valley of Jehoshaphat below; the southern wall crosses over the summit of the hill assumed as Mount Zion, with the vale of Hinnom at its feet; and the western wall runs along on more level ground, near the summit of the high and stony mountains over which we had at first approached the town. As the city is thus seated on the brow of one large hill, divided by name into several smaller hills, and the whole of these slope gently down towards the east, this view from the Mount of Olives, a position of greater height than that on which the highest part of the city stands, commands nearly the whole of it at once. On the north, it is bounded by a level and apparently fertile space, now covered with olive-trees, particularly near the north-east angle. On the south, the steep side of Mount Zion, and the valley of Hinnom, both show patches of cultivation and little garden enclosures. On the west, the sterile summits of the hills there barely lift their outlines above the dwellings, these gates did not lead out of the city into the country. The gate of the valley, which doubtless had its name from leading into some valley, and a as travellers will have it, to the valley of Jehoshaphat, was situate on the east side of the city. The dung gate, which seems to have taken its name And on the east, the deep valley of Jehoshaphat, now at our feet has some partial spots relieved by trees, though as forbidding in its general aspect, as the vale of death could ever be desired to be, by those who have chosen it for the place of their interment. Within the walls of the city are seen, to the north, crowded dwellings, remarkable in no respect, except being terraced by flat roofs, and generally built of stone. On the south, are some gardens and vineyards, with the long red mosque of Al Sakhara, having two tiers of windows, a sloping roof, and a dark dome at one end, and the mosque of Zion, on the sepulchre of David, in the same quarter. On the west, is seen the high square castle and palace of the same monarch, near the Bethlehem-gate. In the centre, rise the two cupolas of unequal form and size, the one blue and the other white, covering the church of the holy sepulchre. Around, in different directions, are seen the minarets of eight or ten mosques, and an assemblage of about 2000 dwellings. And on the east, is seated the great mosque of Al Harem, or, as called by Christians, the mosque of Solomon, from being supposed, with that of Al Sakhara near it, to occupy the site of the ancient temple, of that splendid and luxurious king.” The same author describes Jerusalem, as seated on unequal ground, on a range of high hills, which he computes at 1500 feet above the sea; some of the eminences being higher than those on which the city itself stands. The whole country around is represented as a rocky and barren space, which almost defies the efforts of human labour to fertilize by any common process. The fixed inhabitants he estimates at about 8000; but the continual arrival and departure of strangers make the total number of those present in the city from 10 to 15,000 generally, according to the season of the year. These are made up of a mixed multitude of Turkish and Arabian Mohammedans, who are the most numerous, Greeks, Latins, Armenians, Copts, Abyssinians, Syrians, Nestorians, Maronites, Chaldæans, and Jews; amongst whom, the poor Jews, in this their own city, are the most degraded, and "are more remarkable from the striking peculiarities of their features and dress, than from their numbers as contrasted with the other bodies." Mr Jolifle, however, who visited Jerusalem in 1817, states, that the highest estimate makes the total number of inhabitants amount to 25,000; of which there are supposed to be Which, probably, judging from other estimates, increases the number of the Jews in the same proportion as it diminishes that of the Mohammedans. There is very little trade in Jerusalem, and few manufactures; the only one that at all flourishes, is that of crucifixes, chaplets, and relics; of which, incredible as it may seem, whole cargoes are shipped off from Jaffa for Italy, Portugal, and Spain.-ED. a Our countryman, Mr Sandys, is of opinion, that the gate of the valley was formerly the same with what is now called St Stephen's gate, not far from the golden gate, or great gate, which leads into that which was formerly the court of the temple. He likewise supposes, that this gate of St Stephen's was formerly called the sheep gate; but into this opinion perhaps he might be led by the nearness of St Stephen's gate to the pool of Bethesda, there the sacrifices were washed before they were brought to the priest to be offered; and therefore, since the valley gate, and the sheep gate, are distinctly mentioned by Nehemiah, we cannot but think, that they must have been different gates.— Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, vol. 3. |