FOOTNOTES:

[1] They were too sanguine. Soon after our visit the plague broke out at Alexandria, and raged with a violence that has scarcely ever had a parallel. In the town of Atfour on the Nile, which, when we passed it, had 40,000 inhabitants, in the course of a few months only 1500 remained. Some had fled, but far the greater part had been carried off by the disease. It swept quite through the land from the sea-coast to the interior, sparing neither city nor village, and was every where unusually fatal.

[2] That this is not an overdrawn picture of Egyptian superstitions, see the proof in Herodotus, Euterpe.

[3] Of this picture writing, there are several originals preserved; one at Vienna, three or four in the great library at Mexico, two in the Vatican at Rome, and one in the royal library at Paris. I was allowed to see that at Vienna. It is on deer-skin, and is about fifty feet in length by nine inches in width, folding like a Chinese book; the writing occupies both sides. The translation of it, which I have given here, is by Baron Humboldt.

[4] At Benares is a Pyramid like those of Egypt, formed of earth, and covered with bricks. The Brahmins of India, when they heard the Egyptian Pyramids described by Mr. Wilford, declared at once that they were religious structures; and inquired whether they had not a subterraneous communication with the Nile. He described the well in that of Cheops to them, when they affirmed that it was for supplying the priests with water in their ceremonies, and that the sarcophagus in the great chamber was on such occasions filled with water and lotus-flowers. At Medun in Egypt is a Pyramid, with broad off-setts like those of Mexico; and similar ones are stated to exist on the banks of the Indus and Ganges.

[5] A region embracing Cholula. Au.

[6] The reader will notice the coincidence with the number of Noah’s family. Au.

[7] Humboldt’s researches, English translation, v. 1. 95-6.

[8] A peak of the Cordilleras of Mexico.

[9] This picture represents a woman standing on the left; in front of her a serpent is erect, and looking towards her, with projecting tongue; beneath them, towards the right, are two figures struggling; and towards the left, two small objects, that may be vessels, though it is difficult exactly to determine their character.

[10] Query, were not the “High Places,” mentioned in Scripture, also Pyramidal edifices. They were not natural hills, for the Hebrew term for the latter being גבעה while for the high places the word במה is universally employed. See 2 Kings xvi. 4., where the distinction is clearly made. They were in use among the Philistines, when the country was taken by the Hebrews. Numbers xxxiii. 51, 2. 2 Kings xvii. 9-11, and were,

1. Artificial structures. 1 Kings xiv. 23. 2 Kings xxi. 3. Ib. xi. 7.

2. Capable of being removed, but not so easily as the groves, altars, &c.—1 Kings xv. 14. 2 Kings xxiii. 13.

3. Were erected in their cities. 2 Chron. xxviii. 25. 2 Kings xvii. 29.

4. And in the country. 2 Chron. xxi. 11. 1 Kings xiv. 23.

5. Had small chapels on the summit. 2 Kings xvii. 29. 1 Kings xiii. 32.

6. And altars for offering sacrifice. 1 Kings iii. 4. Numbers xxii. 36, to end.

7. Also human victims probably. Jer. xix. 5.

8. Seem to have been connected with the worship of the sun. 2 Kings xxi. 3.

9. And with purification by fire. Jer. xxxii. 5.

10. Perhaps also used as places of burial. 2 Kings xxiii. 16. In Isaiah liii. 9. במה is used to signify a grave.

11. Sometimes used as fortifications. Judges v. 18 and 19.

12. They appear sometimes to have been of earth or stone. 1 Kings xv. 14. 2 Kings xxiii. 8.

13. Sometimes of wood. 2 Kings xxii. 15. xxiii. 8.

[11] For it is doubtful whether the Pyramids were ever completed.

[12] The Caliph Melec-Alaziz-Othman-ben-Yusouf (quite worthy of his name) sent a large number of workmen here with orders to destroy the Pyramids. They spent eight months, with pickaxes, ropes, &c., and put him to an enormous expense; but after all were able only to disfigure one front of one, that of Mycerinus, the smallest one. Even Saladin bade his workmen consider Memphis and the Pyramids as quarries, from which to procure materials for building the walls and the citadel of Cairo. Recent accounts from Egypt state that Mohammed Ali is taking from the Pyramid of Mycerinus materials for his great work at the Barage.

[13] A very large number of the seeds were sent home by us that autumn, and were planted by our friends last summer. They produced vines in abundance, and fruit; but I have heard of but one melon that came to maturity; this one was spoken of as very delicious. The failure of the others was perhaps owing to the shortness and coldness of the season.

[14] See also Josephus, Bell. Jud., Lib. II. chap. xix. § 2 and 8.

[15] I have been surprised as well as pleased to see the large number of copies of Josephus that are sold in this city [New-York.] I have attended the book auctions here quite frequently; and have observed that there is no book of its size that meets with such a ready sale, or brings so good a price. The work merits all this—Josephus has not received the praise from literary men that he deserves.

[16] PLAN OF THE ANCIENT AND MODERN CITY OF JERUSALEM.

The castellated lines represent the walls as they existed at the time of the crucifixion.

The zigzag lines mark the supposed course of Agrippa’s wall, erected a few years after that event.

The dotted lines, represent the walls of the present city of Jerusalem.

The square figure represents the court of the ancient temple, with the temple in the centre.

REFERENCES.

ANCIENT CITY.

1. Castle of Hippicus.
2. Gate Gennath, or Gate of the Gardens.
3. Tomb of the High Priest John.
4. Bridge connecting the Temple with the upper city.
5. Supposed site of the Xistus.
6. Castle of Antonia.

MODERN CITY.

a. Jaffa Gate.
b. Zion Gate.
c. St. Stephen’s Gate.
d. Damascus Gate.
e. Reputed Pool of Bethesda.
f. Pool of Siloam.
g. Fountain of the Virgin.
h. Garden of Gethsemane.
i. Monuments of Absalom and Zachariah.
k. Village of Siloa.
l. Supposed Mount of Corruption.
m. Road to Jaffa.
n. Road to Bethlehem.

[17] “El Devoto Peregrino, viage de tierra Santa, compuesto por el P. F. Antonio de Castillo, Predicador Apostolico Padre dela Provincia de S. Juan Baptiste y Comisario General de Jerusalem en los Reynos de Espana Guardian de Belem.”

[18] Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. 4. §5. Also, Antiq. lib. xiv. cap. 4. §1.

[19] Josephus, passim.

[20] Jos. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 5.

[21] Do. § 3.

[22] These dimensions seem incredible; but this is a subject that will be noticed by and by.

[23] Jos. Antiq. lib. viii. cap. 3. § 9. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 3.

[24] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. § 8.

[25] Antiq. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 4.

[26] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Tacitus Hist. Lib. v. cap. xi.

[29] Ib.

[30] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1.

[31] Josephus informs us, that the Jews under Simon, “all set themselves to work and levelled this mountain; and in that work spent both day and night, without any intermission, which cost them three whole years before it was removed and brought to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city; after which the temple was the highest of all the buildings. Now the citadel, as well as the mountain on which it stood, was demolished.” Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. vi. § 7.

By the words, “to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city,” he cannot mean to a level with the plain of Zion; for in another place (de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1.) he says that the upper city, or Zion, was much higher than this; we must understand him to say, that the peak was reduced to the general level of the rest of Acra.

[32] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1.

[33] Ibid. lib. vi. cap. vi. § 2, and cap. viii. § 2.

[34] “For the city lay over against the Temple in the manner of a theatre, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter.” Antiq. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 5.

[35] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2.

[36] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2.

[37] Ibid. Also cap. vi. § 1.

[38] Ibid. lib. vi. cap. viii. § 1.

[39] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1. et passim.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Κυκλουμενον is the word used by Josephus; Whiston has translated it “encompassed;” L’Estrange, I think, translates it “passes along;” it means simply making a curve, either inward or outward, and so I have used it.

[42] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2.

[43] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. vi. § 2.

[44] In Antiq. lib. xix. cap. vii. § 2. is a short passage that seems to be opposed to this. It is probable that his predecessors contemplated such a wall, and made a commencement in one or two places; both Pompey (B. C. 63) and Herod (B. C. 37), when they came to attack Jerusalem, found this place quite naked, and made their assaults at once on the temple and the second wall at Acra. Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xii. has a passage bearing on this subject. “Moreover the covetous temper that prevailed under Claudius gave the Jews an opportunity of purchasing for money, leave to fortify Jerusalem; so they built walls in time of peace as if they were going to war, they being augmented in number by those rude multitudes of people that retired thither on the ruin of the other cities.” Claudius reigned from A. D. 41 to 54.

[45] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2.

[46] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 6. § 2.

[47] See Luke xxiii. 49.

[48] Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3.

[49] גנת Esther i. 5, &c.

[50] Jos. de Bel. lib. 5. cap. 7. § 3.

[51] All these dimensions, I wish the reader to understand, are not by actual measurement, but as nearly as I could judge by the eye; I think they are sufficiently accurate to serve as a guide in the present case, but I do not affirm them to be strictly accurate.

[52] Such a custom still prevails in the east. In Turkish burying grounds, we frequently see bits of rags suspended about the tombs of the dead whom they regard with reverence. The monumental enclosures in Pere la Chaise, near Paris, are often rendered offensive by the heaps of decaying garlands within them, the offerings of friends.

[53] Many parts of Jerusalem bore testimony to our itchings for such relics; fresh fractures were to be seen in a great many places on the walls and along the streets.

[54] I paced the circuit of the city, taking notes and plans of the whole, and marking the towers; but the paper has been unfortunately lost.

The following are the dimensions in detail, as furnished by Messrs. Fisk and King:

paces.
From N. W. cor. to the Jaffa gate,300768 on the western side,
“thence to the S. W. corner,468
““to Zion gate,1951149 on the southern side,
““to bend in S. W. wall,295
““to S. E. corner,659
““to St. Stephen’s gate,583943 on the eastern side,
““to N. E. corner,360
““to Damascus gate,7591419 on the northern side,
““to N. W. corner,660

which, at their computation of five paces to a rod, makes the whole circuit two miles and seven tenths, or nearly two thirds of a mile; Sandys made it nearly the same, namely, two miles and a half.

[55] In addition to the passage of Josephus just referred to, see also de Bel. lib. vi. cap. ix. § 1.

[56] El Devoto Peregrino.

[57] El Devoto Peregrino.

[58] El Devoto Peregrino, p. 68.

[59] See Josephus de Bel. lib. v. cap. 4. § 1. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 5.

[60] Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11. § 3.

[61] Compare this passage with Acts i. 12, where the ascension is also spoken of. There are two roads to Bethany; one around the southern end of the Mount of Olives, and one across its summit; the latter being considerably shorter but more difficult. It was probably on this latter road, in the descent to Bethany, that the Saviour was taken up from the Apostles.

[62] Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 1. § 1.

[63] El Devoto Peregrino, p. 105.

[64] I trust that I shall be pardoned if I add that the Commodore and myself had some of it worked at Mahon into tables representing, in Mosaic work, the hills and valleys of Jerusalem, a plan of the city, and a view of the Mount of Olives, its buildings and roads. The workmanship was well executed, and they make handsome pictures. The ingenious workman, Juan Rivdavetz y Prieto, just before we left that city, contrived a method of staining on plain apple wood, pictures of fruit, &c., with a very rich back-ground, forming beautiful cabinet work. The Commodore offered him a passage in the Delaware to America; but the love of his native island prevailed, and he remained.

[65] Jos. Ant. lib. viii. cap. 3. § 9. Ib. lib. xv. cap. 11. § 15. Ib. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. § 1. The height of these walls must strike the reader as almost beyond belief; and I confess that I hesitated about repeating them from the Jewish historian, till I came to reflect on the size of similar structures in other eastern cities. The walls of Nineveh are reported on good authority to have been 100 feet in height, and to have been strengthened by 1500 towers 200 feet in elevation. The height of the temple of Belus, at Babylon, formed altogether of bricks, is computed by Major Rennel at 500 feet, and by Prideaux at 600; its ruins still form a mound 200 feet in height. The royal palace in the same city was nearly as large as the temple; and the ruins of a castle are still seen 140 feet in height, and half a mile in circuit. The walls of this city were 34 miles in circuit—according to some writers 60; and were broad enough for six chariots to drive abreast upon them; and appear to have been originally 300, or 350 feet in height; having been reduced from this to 75 feet by Darius Hystaspes in order to check the rebellious spirit of the inhabitants.

The Egyptian pyramids still afford us a proof of the colossal nature of such undertakings in ancient times. The largest two of these, as has been already stated in this work, being 470 and 456 feet high, by 704 and 654 on each side.

When we reflect on the sacred character of Jerusalem in the eyes of all the Jews; how deeply the temple worship was wrought into all their systems, both civil and religious; how earnest their zeal, how entire their devotedness as regards this structure—we are prepared for something extraordinary.

Josephus computes the number of “pure” persons who came up yearly to the feast of the Passover at about 3,000,000. (De Bel. lib. 11. cap. 14. § 3. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3.) The vanity of the historian may have led him to some exaggeration, but still the number was prodigiously great. Many of these brought rich presents to the temple, and all were ready to contribute their labor as well as means whenever called upon. Agrippa, at one time, had 18,000 men employed in repairing the Temple. (Jos. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. ix. § 7.) Solomon employed 80,000 men to cut stone; 70,000 to transport the materials, and 10,000 men constantly on Mount Lebanon to cut wood for the Temple, and was seven years in completing it.

The space comprehended by these lofty walls was not entirely filled with earth, a large portion being occupied with vaults and subterranean passages. Their extent and the subsequent violence will account for the complete abrasion of this mountain. See Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iii. § 1. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. ii. § 7.

[66] Thrice referred to in the New Testament, John x. 23. Acts iii. 11. and v. 12.

[67] Acts iii. 2.

[68] I have been unwilling to break the thread of description by references; but my authorities are in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11. lib. viii. cap. 3. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5.

If the reader should think this account of the richness of the Temple incredible, he is requested to consult ancient authors about similar structures in other countries. The Parthenon at Athens cost sixty millions of dollars; the Propylaea, or entrance to the Acropolis, on which it stands, cost half as much; the statue of Minerva in the former was of ivory and gold; the gold alone cost more than half a million of dollars. The statue, decorations, and utensils in the Temple of Belus, according to Diodorus Siculus, were equal in value to more than 200 millions of our dollars. When Titus had taken Jerusalem, gold was so abundant among his soldiers, that in Syria a pound of it sold for half its former value. See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 6. § 1.

[69] Stones are still to be seen at the Great Temple of Baalbec sixty-four feet in length.

[70] See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. v. § 3. Ibid. cap. ix. § 3; and for the prodigies, see also Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xiii.

[71] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. xiii. § 2. and Ib. cap. iv. 2.

[72] Dr. Dalton, from England.

[73] 1 Kings, chap. xviii.

[74] [The Earl of Chatham.—Author.]

[75] A Turkish weapon, like a broad dagger, but usually about a foot in length.

[76] Mohammed Ali got possession of Damascus without resistance, in June, 1832.

[77] Or was intended to have, for it is doubtful whether this temple was ever finished.

[78] “City of the Sun”—the Greek name of Balbec. Balbec is Syriac, and means the Vale of Baal. Balbeit signifies the House of Baal.

[79] Vide “The Ruins of Balbec,” by Robert Wood.