CHAPTER XVII.
Valley of Hinnom. Potter’s field. Singular properties attributed to its earth. Will not act on the citizens of Rome. Gloomy character of the valley. Job’s well. Pool of Siloam. Fountain of Siloam. Periodical in its flow. Stones and columns belonging probably to the court of the ancient temple. Monuments of Zachariah and Absalom. Tomb of Jehoshaphat. Burial-place of the Jews. Valley of Jehoshaphat. View from the Mount of Olives. Plain of Jordan, and the Dead Sea. Garden of Gethsemane. Tomb of the Virgin. Tradition about her death and ascension.
Another interesting excursion was along the valley of Hinnom or Gehenna, thence up the valley of Kedron, or, as I shall hereafter call it, of Jehoshaphat, (its present name,) to the summit of the Mount of Olives, and to the reputed Garden of Gethsemane.
We left the city by the Jaffa gate, and began immediately to descend into the first of these valleys, which here widens considerably and then terminates. At the distance of about 500 feet from the extremity we came to a causeway, stretching quite across, and supposed to be an ancient embankment for confining waters that were discharged from an aqueduct still to be seen in the rocks above. This aqueduct may be traced for some distance on the western side of the valley where the rocks have in some places been cut with great labor to make way for it; it passes on towards Bethlehem, and I was informed, has its commencement at the Reservoirs of Solomon, about two miles beyond that city. This causeway and aqueduct probably belong to the very few remnants of the ancient Jerusalem now to be seen.
Our road laid near the bottom of the valley, upon the debris of the ancient Jerusalem, consisting of loose earth mingled with pottery; immediately over us, on the left, rose the frowning battlement of the city; on the right at the distance of about 200 feet were the perpendicular cliffs which on that side bounded the valley; they are composed of parallel strata of limestone, and are pierced with numerous sepulchral caves belonging to the times of the Jewish ascendancy. Near the bend of the valley, in a recess among the cliffs, was pointed out the spot supposed to be the Aceldama or field of blood. It belongs now to the Armenians, and if we are to believe numerous strong affirmations, the soil has the property, miraculously bestowed, of destroying the flesh of any body deposited in it in the short space of twenty-four hours. Earth from this place has been transported both to the famous Campo Santo at Pisa in Italy, and to Rome; and in both is said to retain its miraculous properties, with the single exception, that in the latter city, though it acts on the corpses of strangers, instead of eating, it indignantly thrusts out from it the bodies of the citizens themselves. For this distinction the Romans have to thank themselves. The earth was sent to them in 270 ships by Helena (or St. Helena according to the Roman calendar), who expected that it would be joyfully received. On its arrival, the strangers then in the city joyfully proffered their services in assisting to unload it, but the citizens took the liberty of declining, saying that they had already sacred earth enough, since the whole of their soil had been consecrated by the blood of the numerous martyrs who had suffered there. “For which act of contempt it is permitted of heaven, that if the body of any Roman is interred in the Campo Santo of Rome, the earth thrusts it out, fœted and deformed, but operates on that of a stranger as has just been related. There are many books which treat on this subject; and when I was myself in Rome, I inquired with great diligence into it, so as to inform myself about the matter; and all affirmed it to be the fact.”[58]
This valley, which had presented a somewhat cheerful aspect at its upper extremity, became more sombre as we advanced; and our path, winding at last among large fragments of stones, was tiresome enough. We had lost sight of the city walls; the hill on our left was solitary and deserted, and around us were the ruins of habitations that had once covered it; the vegetation that had carpeted the bottom of the valley higher up had now ceased, and on our right were the rude large cliffs of the opposite precipice. The scene was adapted to recall to our minds the ancient times when parents here caused their children to pass through the fire to Molech; it was a place well suited to such abominations. The valley is about a mile and a quarter in length; and, wearied with its rudeness and dreary solitude, we were glad when we emerged at last into the more open valley of Jehoshaphat, and found ourselves in a wide space, and by a well of cool delicious water. It is called Job’s well, from a tradition that Job, when recovering from his diseases, came and facilitated his cure by washing here.
The valleys both of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat were quite dry at the time of our visit, but the numerous rounded pebbles in the bottom, particularly of the latter, gave evidence of rapid torrents in the rainy season.
Following up the latter valley on the western side, we came, at the distance of about 1200 feet from Job’s well, to the outlet of the valley of Siloam, and our road was here crossed by the first stream of water that we had seen any where in or about Jerusalem; it is a mere streamlet however, a few drops oozing among the clods, and these soon lost in the thirsty soil. They come from the Pool of Siloam, which was a hundred yards on our left, and presents a chamber once apparently arched, and walled on either side, but open at the lower end, while from the upper part of the other extremity, a small stream drops in a light cascade, and forms a pool below, still much resorted to for water and for washing. Whether it presents the same appearance as in ancient times it is impossible to say; but there can be no doubt that the site is exactly that[59] of the pool to which the man blind from his birth was sent to wash, and whence he returned with his sight restored. There is great satisfaction in being able to identify a spot so highly interesting, and connected with such tender associations as this.
About 150 yards further on, as we were passing along the steep descent to the valley of Jehoshaphat, an opening in the rock suddenly presented itself on our left, and we found here the Fountain of Siloam—the spot from which the Pool is said to draw, by a subterranean channel, its supply of water. It is called the Virgin’s Fountain, from a tradition that she used to resort to it frequently, and its waters are still used for diseases of the eye. It may, perhaps, have some medicinal qualities; for it is brackish, and not very pleasant to the taste. The fountain is subterranean, and is reached by a descent of thirty steps cut in the solid rock. At my first visit the water was gushing out at the bottom of this in a full stream as clear as crystal, and in this land of drought was really an attractive object. At my second visit, I could scarcely recognize it to be the same. The flow had ceased, and it was a stagnant pool; which a lad, filling some jars on a donkey alone, had defiled with sediment so as to give it a yellow muddy color. Its flow is periodical, and my visits must have been at times when the phenomenon is most striking in its operation. The waters of the Pool of Siloam have always been represented as sweet and pleasant, and those of this fountain are brackish. Can the former be supplied from this? It appeared to me also that the latter is lower than the Pool of Siloam; but my time did not allow me to settle the question. The water is conducted off from it by a subterranean channel deeply sunk in the hill.