IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM.
We will continue the account of the sights of Jerusalem, as given by Frank and Fred in their journal:
"One of the first places we asked for after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was Mount Zion, which we reached by a short walk. On our way we passed through the Street of the Christians, where there are several bazaars; they are much inferior to the bazaars of Cairo, and the display of goods does not amount to much. The guide took us to several shops where carvings of olive-wood are sold. There is a great variety of these articles, and some of them are of great beauty and high price. To judge by the number and extent of the shops, we should think that the principal occupation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is the manufacture and sale of wood-carvings.
ANCIENT ARCH IN JERUSALEM.
"We visited the Muristan, or site of the Hospital of the Knights of St. John, who were also known as the Order of the Hospitallers. There is not a great deal to see here, as the buildings are mostly in a state of decay, and some of the ground is covered with rubbish accumulated from the ruins. It is said that a monastery was formed here by the Emperor Charlemagne; afterward some rich merchants established a church and monastery on the spot, and later on the Hospitallers erected a convent where pilgrims were received and cared for. Perhaps you would like to know something about the Knights of St. John. We'll tell you what we've read and heard about them:
"The order was founded in the eleventh century, and established on the spot we have just visited. There were two hospitals or convents, one for men and one for women; but in the course of time the convent for women was removed to another part of the city, and the ground became the exclusive possession of the 'Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem.' That was their official name, and under it they built hospitals or convents for pilgrims to the Holy Land in most of the seaport cities of Europe and along the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
"They not only took care of the pilgrims, but they joined in wars against the infidels, and fought on many battle-fields. A great number of noblemen from all parts of Europe joined the order, and they had a regular constitution and a long list of laws, which all were bound to obey. They had a military organization, and did a great deal of fighting, but were finally conquered and expelled from Jerusalem; then they went to the Island of Rhodes, where they lived about two hundred years, and were known as the Knights of Rhodes. They were besieged twice by the Turks, and were finally compelled to leave that island and go to Malta, where they built a strong fortress, and were known as the Knights of Malta. The organization practically came to an end in 1798, when Napoleon captured Malta and sent away the Grand-master. Since that time there have been several attempts to revive the order, but none have amounted to anything.
ARMS OF JERUSALEM.
"The costume of the knights was a black dress, with a white cross on the left breast, and you often see the insignia in jewellery and other ornaments under the name of the 'Cross of Malta.' Since their time the cross has been applied to the Crusaders' 'Arms of Jerusalem,' in which there is the Maltese cross with the crowns of the three wise men and the star of Bethlehem below, while there are two branches of the palm-tree and the word 'Jerusalem' above. These crosses are for sale here, and not unfrequently the pilgrims have the 'Arms of Jerusalem' tattooed on their wrists, to prove that they have been in the Holy Land.
KNIGHTS OF ST. CATHERINE.
"Every order of knighthood in the Holy Land had its peculiar costume and device, and all of them had a patron saint. The Knights of St. Catherine, for example, wore on their shields as well as on their breasts a picture of a section of a wheel pierced by a dagger or sword. The legend is that St. Catherine was ordered to be put to death by torture on a wheel, but as soon as she was placed on it the wheel was miraculously broken, and the executioner beheaded her. Immediately the body and head were seized by angels and carried to Mount Sinai; its locality was revealed to a monk in a dream, and the next day he and his brethren carried it to a convent that had been established in the wilderness near the mountain, and piously buried it. The building has ever since been known as the Convent of St. Catherine, and is of great assistance to pilgrims and others who go to Mount Sinai.
THE VIA DOLOROSA.
"We passed along the Via Dolorosa, and were shown the spot where Christ rested his cross on his way to the crucifixion on Mount Calvary. Then we traversed the street of the Gate of the Column, and followed the guide till he brought us to the Damascus Gate. We ought to explain right here that there are seven gates in the walls of Jerusalem. The most in use are the Damascus and Jaffa gates, for the reason that nearly all visitors to the Holy City enter and depart by one or the other. As their names imply, the Damascus Gate is on the road to the city of that name, while the Jaffa Gate is the nearest to the Mediterranean. The latter is also called the Hebron Gate, for the reason that travellers to Hebron depart through it.
"There are two gates wholly or partly walled up; they are the Golden Gate, on Mount Moriah, and the so-called Gate of Herod. The other gates of most consequence are St. Stephen's, which is supposed to be near the spot where Stephen was stoned to death, and the Zion Gate, which leads from Mount Zion in the direction of David's tomb.
"To make the circuit of the walls of Jerusalem would require a walk of about two and a half miles, but owing to the nature of the ground a pedestrian could not keep at all times close to the line he wished to follow. The present walls were made by Sultan Suleiman in 1542, but many parts of them were standing before his time, and some of the foundations are the same as they were two thousand years ago. Jerusalem has not materially changed in its general characteristics since the time of Christ, and consequently it has not been difficult to identify many of the places mentioned in the Bible.
THE DAMASCUS GATE.
"We thought the Damascus Gate was very picturesque when we looked at it from the outside, and Doctor Bronson said it was considered the finest of all the gates of Jerusalem. Its Arab name is Bab-el-Amud, or Gate of the Column, and it is constructed so that it can be easily defended against an enemy. It was built about three hundred years ago, and is supposed to stand on the foundations of one of the ancient gates, and there is a story that a stream of water may sometimes be heard flowing beneath it.
"There was quite a group of people outside of the Damascus Gate, some on foot, some on horses, and others on camels. A peddler of cakes and other edible things had set up his shop at the side of the road, and was engaged in weighing out his merchandise to those who wanted it. Instead of Fairbanks's scales he used the old-fashioned balances; he was not at all in a hurry, and as soon as his customers were gone he sat down in the shadow of a little shelter he had erected, and was evidently resting from his labors. A dog that had been sitting a little distance away embraced the opportunity, and made off with one of the cakes before the owner could interfere to stop him. The dogs of Jerusalem are quite as bad as those of Cairo, and ready to steal whenever there is the least chance of doing so.
"We will take a leap through the air from the Damascus Gate to Mount Zion, which we started out to see. We went to the Armenian monastery, which is also called the House of Caiaphas, and saw the stone which was said to have been rolled away from the door of the Holy Sepulchre, the spot where Peter stood when he denied his Master, and the yard where the cock crew at the time of the denial. The monks also showed us the prison of Christ, and other points of interest. Doctor Bronson says the most of these things are on very poor authority, but, of course, we gave no indication of any doubt concerning them while we were inside the monastery.
"Continuing our walk on Mount Zion, we came to a building inhabited by a lot of insolent Arabs, who demanded backsheesh before they would permit us to enter. They showed us an upper room which is said to have been the scene of the Last Supper, and the traditions concerning it are on better authority than those of the Armenian monastery. The tomb of David is under this building, but is not shown to visitors; the coffin is supposed to be in a deep vault under the foundations, but no one is permitted to go there.
"There is a story that a wealthy Jew came here once and wanted to say his prayers at the tomb of David. The monks, who then had possession of the place, refused permission for him to do so, and as he went away he vowed he would be revenged on them. The next year he came back with an order from the Sultan expelling the monks and giving the place to the Moslems, and they have had it ever since. The Jew said his prayers at the tomb, and then the vault was closed to everybody.
"We saw several other points of interest here, and then returned to the hotel. Our next excursion was along the Street of David to Mount Moriah, to see the site of Solomon's Temple and what remains of it. Down to quite recently no Christians were allowed to visit the Haram, or Sacred Enclosure on Mount Moriah, where the temple once stood, and which is now occupied by the Mosques of Omar and El-Aksa. Even now it is generally necessary to be accompanied by a policeman, or a janizary from the Consulate of your country, to protect you from insult. We had a janizary from the American Consulate, and experienced no difficulty in seeing what we wished to, though we were obliged to give quite an amount of backsheesh to get along.
VIEW OF THE MOSQUE OF OMAR AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
"The Haram includes nearly a fourth of the space enclosed in the walls of Jerusalem, and the Mosque of Omar rises so high in the air that it is the principal object in any outside view of the city. It is supposed to have been built by Sultan Omar. There is some doubt on the subject, but there can be no doubt that it is a very beautiful building, and the architect knew what he was about when he planned it. The mosque is on the highest part of the hill, and on the thrashing-floor that King David bought for fifty shekels of silver; on the inside the rock is preserved in its original state and enclosed in a railing. From its position, and also from having the original rock preserved as we have described, the building is called the Kubbet-es-Sukrah, or Dome of the Rock. It is an octagonal structure, and each of the eight sides is sixty-seven feet long.
"Doctor Bronson says this is probably the most interesting spot in the world, as it is revered by the adherents of three religions who have regarded it as a holy place through many centuries. The Jews revered it, as we learn from the Old Testament, and from many events in modern as well as ancient history; the New Testament tells us its intimate connection with the story of Christ's coming on earth; and the Moslems consider it the holiest place next to the Kaaba at Mecca. They believe Mohammed came here in person, and at one time commanded his followers to turn their faces toward Jerusalem when saying their prayers. It is for this reason that they refused to allow Jews and Christians to visit the temple grounds, just as they will not allow them to go to Mecca at the present time.
"The Haram, or temple enclosure, is about one thousand six hundred feet long by one thousand wide: it is not a regular quadrangle, and consequently this measurement is not exact. There are several buildings there in addition to the two mosques, but none are of much consequence, and we did not visit them. We were allowed to walk through the Mosque of Omar, and went from there to the Mosque El-Aksa. We were greatly interested in the architecture of the buildings, and quite as much in the story of the guide who accompanied us.
"At the Kubbet-es-Sukrah he pointed out the place where Abraham was about to slay Isaac as a sacrifice, and the spot where the ark of the covenant was deposited, besides other places interesting to readers of the Bible. Then he showed us the footprint of Mohammed, where his foot last touched the earth before he ascended to heaven, and the marks of the hands of the angel who held the rock down to prevent its ascent with the Moslem prophet. In a cavern under the rock he showed the places, which are marked by small altars, where Abraham, David, Solomon, and Elijah offered up their prayers, and he pointed to an impression in the ceiling which is said to have been made by Mohammed's head.
"The Moslems have a great many traditions concerning the rock, and it is very evident that they have allowed their imagination free-play in describing it. They say the rock was brought here from heaven, and that a river from Paradise flows beneath it and waters the palm on which it rests. They also declare that the trumpet of the last judgment will sound from this rock; and one of their stories is that the rock is suspended over a deep abyss without any support. Our guide was a native Christian, but it seemed to us that he had told these stories so often that he half believed them, in spite of their opposition to his own religious faith.
WALL AT SOUTH-EAST CORNER OF THE TEMPLE AREA.
"From the buildings above-ground we went to the excavations and subterranean passages beneath. There was formerly some dispute as to the exact position of Solomon's Temple, owing to the difficulty of making explorations; but within the last twenty years many discoveries have been made, and the work of laying out the exact position of the Temple is still going on. The American and English societies engaged in it are entirely harmonious, and every year they are throwing new light on subjects of great importance to students of the Bible. They have spent large amounts of money in excavations among the substructions of the Temple, and settled many points of dispute. Anybody who wishes the details of what has been accomplished is referred to the book of Captain Warren on 'The Recovery of Jerusalem,' and to the reports of the Palestine Exploration Society.
"Provided with candles and torches, we went among the substructions that were made to level the ground and prepare it for the building of the Temple. The arches and pillars would be no discredit to a modern architect, and in some places we saw large blocks that must have required powerful machinery for their transportation. These underground vaults have not all been opened, and their full extent is not yet known. During the time of the Crusaders these vaults were used as stables, and the holes where the halters of the horses were fastened may be seen to-day. In some places there are roots of trees that have run a long distance underground in search of water. The trees are evidently of great age, but we could hardly accept the statement of the guide that they were as old as the Temple itself.
"We returned to the open air after half an hour beneath the Temple, and found that our eyes were dazzled by the sudden flood of light. We looked over the walls into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and stood almost holding our breath as we saw the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Tomb of Absalom, and other objects whose names were familiar to us all. Below us was the bed of the brook Kedron, but dry and dusty as though no brook had ever flowed there. In winter, and after heavy rains, it is full of water; but ordinarily there is only a slender thread, and it disappears altogether in time of drought.
WAILING-PLACE OF THE JEWS.
"When we were through with our visit to the site of the Temple we went to the Wailing-place of the Jews, which is supposed to be part of the wall of the original Temple. It is a very solid wall of large stones, and has been a sacred spot with the Jews for many hundreds of years. They come here from all parts of the earth to weep over the downfall of their race, and the destruction of the Holy Temple. On Fridays they are seen in greatest number; but at almost any time there are several of them standing there with their faces against the wall, reading or reciting their prayers in a low, wailing tone.
"We had hoped to see many of them there but were disappointed, as our visit was not on a Friday. There were six or eight in all, and they did not look up when we entered the narrow court on which the wall fronts. They were all, to judge from their dress, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and not, as often happens, pilgrims from distant lands. One of the gentlemen connected with the Palestine Exploration Fund told us that he had seen two or three hundred Jews at the Wailing-place on a single occasion, and that they came from all the countries of Europe. In some places the stones have been worn smooth by the kisses of devout lips, and there is no doubt that the majority of those who come here to mourn are earnest in the expression of their grief.
'Oh, weep for those who wept by Babel's stream,
Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream!
Weep for the harp of Judah's broken spell—
Mourn—where their God hath dwelt the godless dwell?'
"The Pool of Bethesda is at one end of the Haram enclosure, and, of course, we paid it a visit. Isn't it curious that there has been a city here all these many centuries in a place where there are no wells? Jerusalem depends altogether upon cisterns and pools for its water, and it is said that in the sieges of the city the inhabitants have never suffered for want of water, while the attacking armies have sometimes been compelled to bring their supplies of it from long distances. Some of the cisterns are very large, and hewn in the solid rock, while others are built of masonry and lined with cement. They are filled with water from the roofs during the rainy season, and great care is exercised to prevent its being wasted.
THE POOL OF BETHESDA.
"The Pool of Bethesda is oblong in shape, and on one side there are steps leading down to the water, of which there was very little at the time of our visit. The monks say it is the Bethesda of the New Testament, and they also call it the Sheep Pool. We looked in vain for the five porches, or arches, and were told that there is a doubt as to this being the real Pool of Bethesda, which some authorities locate at a deep shaft, or cistern, with an intermittent spring at the bottom, outside the walls of the Haram.
"Having seen this historic place we naturally asked for the Pool of Siloam. The guide said it was outside the walls, and we would see it when we made the circuit of Jerusalem, which we did.
"We descended to the brook Kedron, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which we have already mentioned. The valley is a good deal choked with rubbish, which has been accumulating there during many centuries, and the tomb of Absalom is surrounded by a heap of small stones, which have been thrown there by the Jews. Every Jew who goes by the place thinks he should throw a stone at the tomb, and you can readily understand what the result has been. Doctor Bronson says this is a reversal of the old proverb that a continual dropping will wear away stone. The continual dropping of pebbles around the tomb of Absalom has heaped up a great mass of stone instead of wearing it away.
THE POOL OF SILOAM.
"The Pool of Siloam is in the Valley of Kedron, at the south-eastern termination of Mount Zion, where a little brook joins it, but is not a part of the main stream of Kedron. There is no Biblical place around Jerusalem more clearly identified than this. Doctor Thomson says it is beyond question the pool where the man born blind was sent by Christ to wash, in order that he might receive sight. It is mentioned many times in history, and its waters are known to flow irregularly. The fact has been verified by several travellers, and was positively stated by the guide who took us there.
"The sides are broken down in several places, and a good deal of rock has fallen in. There is a recess at one corner where steps go down to the bottom, and we found several women descending these steps to bring water from the pool. As we looked from one end of the pool the walls of Jerusalem formed the background of the picture, and we carried our thoughts back to the time when the blind man came from the city to wash in the water of Siloam, that he might bear witness to the miracle performed by the Saviour of mankind.
"There is a small village near the pool. Its inhabitants are said to be Moslems, and they derive quite a revenue from the backsheesh they extort from visitors. We did not remain long at the place, as there were many interesting things to be seen in our walk, and our time was precious.
QUARRIES UNDER JERUSALEM.
"We visited several tombs hewn in the solid rock, but they did not seem of much consequence when compared with the tombs we had seen in Egypt. Of more interest were the quarries, which extend a considerable way beneath the city, and are supposed to have furnished the stone from which the Temple of King Solomon was built.
"We entered them near the Damascus Gate, descending into a hole that sloped rapidly downward, and soon found ourselves in what might have been a chamber of a natural cavern. The marks of the chisels and other tools of the workmen were plainly to be seen, and there were pillars of rock left standing to support the roof. We must have gone seven or eight hundred feet from the entrance before reaching the end, and in many places the way was so rough that we climbed rather than walked along. At the point farthest from the entrance there is a stone that was evidently abandoned when a few hours' additional labor would have detached it. The indications are that the process of quarrying stone was the same in Jerusalem as in Egypt. Wedges of wood were driven into channels and grooves and then swelled, by being wet with water, till their expansive force became too great for the stone to resist.
"Parts of these quarries are directly beneath the city, and they are so extensive that some writers have declared that the whole of Jerusalem might be buried in them. There is a tradition that a passage once led from the Temple to the quarries, but there is good reason to doubt its existence. We wandered about for some time in the quarries, and were glad when the guide brought us once more to the light of day."