Near the south-west angle is a very remarkable fragment of an arch and its pier, built into the Haram wall. Nearly all the learned writers who have noticed it, with the exception of the Rev. G. Williams, have considered these remains to belong to the age either of Solomon or Herod; I however venture to differ from them, and attribute it to Justinian; who, when building the neighbouring basilica, may have contemplated throwing a bridge over the valley between Moriah and Sion to facilitate the communication between the two sanctuaries on these hills. The work may have been left unfinished, because the plan was either changed or found impracticable. The blocks shew none of the characteristics of the work of Solomon or Herod, nor have they the same marked appearance of antiquity; nor does the masonry in any respect resemble the Jewish; the stones being laid with mortar. I cannot but think that if either of these kings had executed a work of such importance, the Bible and Josephus would not have passed it over in silence. We can scarcely imagine that so vast an arch, 375 feet in span, could have been built in those times; and if we suppose that the bridge crossed the valley with a series of arches, then traces of the piers, or at least of the stones that composed them, ought to be found among the rubbish below; also there should be some remains of it on the eastern slope of Sion; where nothing of the kind occurs. On this point I can speak with confidence, because when the Pasha requested me to inspect the city sewer, which runs down the valley to the Pool of Siloam, I availed myself of this fortunate opportunity to widen and deepen the excavation, and did not find the slightest indication of a bridge. Josephus[313] states that when Pompeius approached the city with his forces, the partisans of Aristobulus, on retreating to the Temple, cut off the bridge. He alludes to it again on other occasions[314], and to the tower near it, built by Simon to defend himself against John. What then has become of the ruins of this bridge and of the tower? Though now, as on Ophel and part of Sion, there may be open fields on the site of some parts of ancient Jerusalem, numbers of stones, as I have already described[315], are scattered about; why then does not the same thing happen in the Tyropœon valley, where the great accumulation of rubbish would have buried the fallen blocks and preserved them from the action of fire? Besides, the rock exposed in the eastern slope of Sion is rough and rugged, and untouched by the chisel; there is no part of it that we can suppose to have supported a building. I have also excavated along by the side of it in the valley below and found nothing. I have examined the lower parts of the Arab houses, which some have imagined to be built upon its foundation, but all my investigations have confirmed me in my opinion that the bridge never stood upon this spot. Had it done so, why, as we see the pier on the east, do we not see some corresponding remains on the west; or if not these, the place where the spring-stones of the arch rested upon the rock? I believe the bridge mentioned by Josephus was near the present Mekhemeh (the Mohammedan Court of Justice), which is on the west of the Haram, at the bottom of Temple Street, because at this point the valley is still crossed from west to east by arches, sustaining the conduit which brings the water from Etham into the Temple, and the ground south of this, on the opposite side, formerly occupied by the Xystus, has been levelled. The height of this bridge or dyke above the street is 38 feet on the south, and 20 on the north; which, it must be remembered, is not the true elevation of the work itself; because the ground has been raised on each side by the accumulation of rubbish in the bottom of the Tyrop[oe]on. This, in my opinion, joined the Upper city to the Temple-hill in former times, as it now does. It is surely very improbable that the principal approach to the Temple from the west should have been placed at one corner, instead of in the centre of the enclosure; as would have been the case had the great arch formed part of a bridge while that building was standing: and when this was broken down, the communication with the Temple would not have been cut off, as the dyke would still have been a more direct and convenient road from the city.
Before arriving at the Jews' wailing place, we come to the Gate el-Mogarba, leading to the mosque of the Mogarabins; a few yards to the north of which is a little rectangular plot of ground, surrounded by a low wall: after passing this I entered a dark chamber, in which was a doorway almost buried. M. Isambert[316] has attempted to identify this with one of the four western gates mentioned by Josephus[317]; but not having tested his theory on the spot, he is unaware that the difference of level between the outside and inside of the Haram renders this impossible; moreover, the gate has evidently been made at a date long after the building of the wall.
The Jews' wailing place is a small open plot; where a piece of Herod's wall is still seen between the outer wall of the Mekhemeh and that of a private house (belonging to Abu-Saud): it is called in Arabic Haï el-Mogharibeh (the wall of the Mogarabins). M. de Saulcy says of it: "Up to a height of more than 12 metres (about 39 feet) the original building has remained entire; regular courses of fine stones, perfectly squared, but with an even border standing out as a kind of framework, enclosing the joints, rise over each other to within two or three yards from the top of the wall. A moment's inspection is enough to ascertain, without any doubt, that the Jewish tradition is positively correct; a wall like this has never been constructed either by Greeks or Romans. We have evidently here a sample of original Hebraic architecture[318]. In the inferior courses the stones are on the average twice as wide as they are high; now and then, however, some square blocks happen to be laid between the long ones. The four inferior courses nearest the ground are formed of square blocks, with the exception of the last but one, which is composed of blocks three times as long as they are high. As the courses successively rise above the ground, the dimensions of the blocks decrease, and, lastly, every course recedes about one fifth of an English inch behind the surface of the one immediately below it. Beyond these walls (bounding the space on each side) the ancient construction extends about 38 feet to the right, and 36 to the left, or in the direction of the Mekhemeh. Again, the primitive wall is crowned towards the summit by several courses of hewn stones regularly disposed, but of small dimensions. These upper courses are of comparatively recent date, and their age cannot be referred to a period anterior to the Mohammedan conquest. On the face of the ancient wall appear large notches, which have been made at some undeterminable period, for the purpose of fixing a pediment over this part of the enclosure; these notches, hollowed out in the shape of a niche, that is to say, round at the top with a rectangular basis, are of different dimensions, perhaps they may have been made at the period of the rebuilding of the Temple by Herod[319]." From its delicacy of execution I consider this wall Herodian work; besides, I think it very unlikely that the Chaldeans, more barbarous than the Romans, would have left anything standing at Jerusalem: they would have pulled down all that the flames had spared. I consider the smaller masonry of the upper part to be of the time of the Crusades or Saracenic. Friday is the day on which the Jews chiefly assemble here in great numbers, to pray, to recite the Psalms of David, and bedew with their tears these remains of their former greatness. This privilege is granted to them on payment of a sum of money to the Effendi in charge of the Haram. This custom dates from a very early period; it is mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela in the twelfth century[320].
The stones in the lower parts of the walls of the Mekhemeh are remarkable for their rough rustic work in high relief. They are not so large as those we attribute to the age of Solomon or Herod, but still appear ancient. I think they may belong to the Asmonean epoch, and have formed the basement of a tower, defending the Xystus bridge on the side of the Temple. The masonry in the upper hall of the time of the Crusaders, where the vaulting is supported by pointed arches springing from pillars, is evidently much more modern. According to Mohammedan tradition this is the Judgement Hall of Solomon, converted into an armoury by the Crusaders: it is certainly not improbable that it may have been a dependency of the Knights Templar. The large chamber below, which has undoubtedly been used as a cistern, as is shewn by the very strong cement in the walls, is now filled with rubbish. In the middle of the upper hall is a fountain, now and then supplied with the water of Etham; and on the left of the principal entrance (part of a restoration by Saladin or Solyman) an ancient sarcophagus, found in the Tombs of the Kings outside the Damascus Gate: it is a facsimile of that carried to Paris by M. de Saulcy, and now placed in the Gallery of the Louvre; it at present serves to hold water[321].
Close to the Mekhemeh is the principal entrance into the Haram, which has two doorways, and is ornamented with groups of spiral columns supporting elegant capitals carved in leaf patterns, the work of Saladin. Before its west front is a fountain, an elegant specimen of ornate Saracenic work: its small basin, no longer filled with water, is an ancient sarcophagus of red Palestine breccia. From this spot up to the north-west corner the ancient foundations of the Haram wall are concealed by Arab houses, and can only be seen here and there above the level of the ground; enough, however, is visible to shew that the old wall followed the line of the present enclosure from south to north.
Returning to the Temple Street and going westward along the dyke, which, with the Rev. G. Williams[322], I consider to be the ancient bridge between Sion and Moriah, we see, after a few yards, on the right hand a small façade of Saracenic architecture, adorned with arabesques of excellent design; whose accurate execution deserves notice. It is a fragment of an ancient school, established by Saladin, the revenues of which are now exhausted, so that nothing else remains besides this building. A little further on we leave this street (called by the Crusaders the Bridge of S. Giles), by taking the first turning to the north, and find, after passing the corner, a stone embedded in the lower part of the wall of the first Arab house on the right hand, bearing an inscription, which however is of no importance. This street runs along the top of a vault which I have examined. It was constructed to form an easy communication with the Tyropœon, and proves that in former times there was high ground on this spot. Going on northward we arrive at a Saracenic fountain, now without water; near it on the south is a passage leading into the central sewer, which here deviates a little to the east to regain the middle of the valley, and consequently passes under the bridge near the above-named school of Saladin. On the north of the fountain is an ancient Mohammedan bath rapidly falling to ruin, and near it the great gate of the Bazaar of the Haram, at the end of which is the Bâb el-Katannin (Gate of the Cotton Merchants). The entrance to the Bazaar is a frontispiece of rude rustic work, which I attribute to the age of the Crusades. The interior is Saracenic, as is shewn by the architraves of the cells on each side, which were built for merchants' shops, but now are receptacles for filth. After passing the middle of the Bazaar, there is a bath on the south side called the Hammam es-Shefa, supplied by a spring rising at a great depth: its waters have an unpleasant taste; but we will speak more particularly of it presently. On the north, nearly opposite to the entrance of the bath, a little street leads to the Bâb el-Kadid (Iron Gate) and the Convent of Blind Dervishes, (a philanthropic establishment of Solyman,) where singers in the mosque, suffering from this calamity, are still received.
The first lane on the north of the Bazaar leads directly up to the Bâb el-Kadid; along each side are establishments in aid of the poor, but, as the revenues have been swallowed up, they are going to ruin, like the schools of Saladin, which are in the next street on the north, leading up to the Bâb el-Nadhir (Inspector's Gate). Here, according to Mohammedan tradition, the Prophet alighted from his steed Borak[323], on his visit to the Holy Stone of Jacob. Near this gate, on the south, is a magnificent building, which from the various kinds of stone employed, the delicacy of its ornamentation, the regularity of its columns, and the harmony of all its parts, is an excellent example of Saracenic taste. It was erected by Solyman, and is said by the Mohammedans to have been the residence of his Sultana Rossellane. It is now gradually falling to decay, although a very small sum spent in repairs would make it last for centuries.
Before leaving this side I need only remark that the arches, crossing the street down the Tyropœon, shew that the houses on the west side of the valley are also in the precincts of the Haram and consequently inalienable. Up to the time of Saladin and his successors, these belonged exclusively to the Jews; who, since then, have been gradually deprived of them by the law of might; and, in order to conceal the iniquitous usurpation, they have been thus joined to the enclosure of the Haram.
Having thus described the outside of the Mohammedan sanctuary, I shall now conduct my reader within, and introduce him to places all as yet unknown to him, except one or two, which, from their connection with the exterior, I have been obliged to mention. In doing this, I shall not spend time over the minor details, which are explained by the Plan and its description[324]; but attend solely to the matters of greater interest, not forgetting the Mohammedan traditions.
I have already, in describing the exterior, noticed all the important points on the north side, and therefore only call attention to the extent of levelled rock, continuous with that which forms a large part of the south wall of the barrack, and was, in my opinion, the north of the tower Antonia[325]. A short distance from the barrack is an octagonal oratory, surmounted by a dome, containing (according to the Mohammedans), a piece of the sacred rock, which was cut off by the Christians during the time of the Latin kingdom. I have been inside the building, and seen a stone; but it is too shapeless to enable me to form any opinion of the truth of the tradition. I think that the place has a vault beneath, and that probably the passage already mentioned, which was constructed by Herod as a communication between the tower Antonia and the east gate, passes by it.