Turning up the valley of the Kedron, we passed some pretty gardens and lots of ground well set with the fig and other fruit trees. A few hundred yards brought us to the pool of Siloam. It lies in the mouth of that little ravine I mentioned as separating Mount Zion from Mount Moriah, and is now much filled up within the walls, which cross it at some distance from its mouth. It has, no doubt, been much filled without the walls, still it is very manifest on the outside, and near its mouth. There is quite a high bluff on the Moriah side, near the pool. This valley was formerly called the valley of the Cheesemongers. It was over this valley that Solomon is said to have made that splendid ascent to the house of God from Mount Zion, where his palace stood, that struck the Queen of Sheba with so much astonishment. 1 Kings, x. 5. The pool of Siloam is small, not more than twenty or twenty-five feet long, and ten or twelve wide. It may be eight feet deep, with only eighteen or twenty inches of water in it. It is fed by the fountain of Siloam, which rises about three hundred yards farther up the valley, and is taken under ground through the point of the hill which projects into the valley from Mount Moriah, and comes out at this place. The water passes through the pool, and is conveyed by a channel to the edge of the valley of the Kedron, (for the pool is a little up the valley of the Cheesemongers, say twenty-five or thirty yards,) then it passes through a set of troughs, where the people come to obtain water for themselves and their cattle.
A considerable part of Mount Zion, the part which forms the point of the angle between the valley of Hinnom and that of Kedron, is not now included in the city. The wall no doubt formerly ran down the valley of the Gihon to the point keeping close on the edge of the precipice, up the valley of the Kedron, crossing the valley of the Cheesemongers at the mouth, and keeping on the precipice, passed Mount Moriah. The remains of the basement of the wall that crossed the mouth of the valley of the Cheesemongers may yet be seen, south of the pool of Siloam, near the large trough into which the water flows from that pool. The present wall of the city leaves the edge of the bank of the valley a little east of the Jaffa gate, and traversing for a little space the higher part of the hill of Zion, but leaving a large part of it to the right, takes nearly a straight course across the upper part of the valley of the Cheesemongers to Mount Moriah, leaving out most of this valley, and also the angle of Mount Moriah, which is between the valley of the Kedron and the valley of the Cheesemongers. Much of this space is now made the depository of rubbish and filth of all sorts. The whole face of the hill, both on the Gihon and the Kedron side, is evidently much enlarged, and made to project into the valley, from the quantity of rubbish thrown over it. Once it must have been a high and almost, if not altogether, a perpendicular bank, but now the rubbish has almost wholly hidden the face of the rock, being visible only in one or two spots; thus forming a steep but sloping bank of rich, soft earth. Some parts of it are planted with trees, and portions are used for cultivating vegetables of various kinds. The present walls were, if I mistake not, built by Caliph Omar, the successor of the celebrated Saladin, who warred so bravely against the Crusaders, and wrested Jerusalem and most of their possessions in Palestine from them. We saw in the lower part of the wall on Mount Moriah, many rocks of a very large size; but none that equalled those at Baalbec. The style of building in the walls at Jerusalem reminded me of those parts of the walls of Baalbec of a more recent erection, especially that on the east side and adjoining the great temple.
A few hundred yards north of the pool of Siloam, we came to the fountain of Siloam. This is a small spring on the city side of the valley, and nearly opposite the corner of the city wall, where it meets the precipice, and includes the space occupied by the temple. Milton therefore was nearly right when he spoke of
"Siloah's stream, that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God."
This fountain is in a place like a cave, artificial, however, as all the appearances indicate. You descend eight or ten steps which lead down into the side of Mount Moriah—there you find a stream of indifferent water. The quantity of water is not large, and it is said that it has more water in it one part of the day than in the other, more, for example, in the morning than in the afternoon. What is the cause of this is not certainly known. Possibly it may be the syphon form of the passage through which the water flows. There are many cases of syphon springs. It may, however, arise from some connexion which this fountain has with the water, brought by an aqueduct to the mosque of St. Omar, on Mount Moriah. The quantity of water brought is too great to be all used in the service of the mosque, and as none flows from the platform, it has most likely some passage under ground, and may possibly find its way to the fountain of Siloam. The depth of the fountain below the surface of the ground does not allow the water to flow off. A passage is cut on a level with the fountain, large enough to admit a man to walk erect for some distance. It passes into the hill, and under that high point of Mount Moriah which lies between the valley of the Kedron and that of the Cheesemongers, and comes out at the pool of Siloam. When this work was done is not known.
The part of Mount Olivet near and opposite Mount Moriah, is very much covered with Jewish graves. It is the favourite Jewish place of interment. The rock is horizontal, and in many spots next the valley, much of the face of the rock is bare. Parts of the stratum are sufficiently thick to allow tombs to be cut in the face of it, and by hollowing the softer stratum, caves have been formed for the deposite of the dead. There is at one place a little village almost entirely made up of old tombs that have been altered more or less. Near the fountain of Siloam, are several sepulchral monuments of more distinction than the mixed multitude that cover the side of the mountains. The most remarkable are, the tomb or pillar of Absalom, as it is called in 2 Sam. xviii. 18, that of Zechariah, and Jehoshaphat. The tomb of Absalom is in the form of a house about twelve feet square, hewn out of a solid rock, except the top, which has a round cover of stones, neatly put together, and rising like a short cone. It is hollow, and appears originally to have had but one small entrance, high up in front, which was probably stopped with a stone made to fit it. Several large holes have been broken through the sides. The side walls appear to have been from eighteen inches to two feet thick, leaving within quite a neat little room. It was probably designed as a place of interment for himself. He found one, however, in a very different place,—in a pit, and, instead of resting in the neat stone chamber he had prepared with so much care, he had a great pile of stones thrown on him. We saw here a striking sample of the Arab custom of throwing stones at the graves of persons whom they abhor for their crimes. There are large piles of stones in and about this monument, which persons in passing have thrown at it, to express their hatred of Absalom for his unnatural rebellion against his father. The stratum of rock at this place is much more thick and compact than is usually met with in these regions.
The tomb of Zechariah is much like that of Absalom, and stands but a short distance south of it. The style of architecture is not precisely the same—there is no door to it that I could find, and of course could not ascertain whether it was hollow. There is behind it, in the open space that has been cut between it and the rock from which it is separated, a hole, which descends, but so winding that it is soon lost. It was so filled up that we could not descend it. It may have some connexion with the inside of this building, and have been intended for a secure place of interment.
About half way between the pillar of Absalom and the tomb of Zechariah, is the tomb of Jehoshaphat. The same compact rock is made use of, but it is of a different order of building. In this case, several large rooms are hewn out of rock connected with each other. A large front door or opening separated by pillars, and enriched with carved work, is cut in the face of the rock, eight or ten feet from the ground. The way of access is through a small, low hole, at the outside, near the tomb of Zechariah. After entering a few feet the space becomes larger, soon you can walk erect. The passage ascends a little, and opens into a fine large room, in the front of which is the large door that I have described. This room is of course well lighted, and would make no uncomfortable habitation. From this front room, doors and passages lead to others that lie farther in the hill, and of course are dark, except the little light they may receive from the antechamber. I wonder that this place is not occupied as a residence, as it must, I think, be much better than any of the tombs a little to the south, that are thus occupied.
Three or four hundred yards north of Absalom's pillar we came to the place pointed out as the "Garden of Gethsemane." It lies on the Mount Olivet side of the valley, not far from the bottom. There are four or five acres at this place, partly in the valley and partly on the foot of Mount Olivet, that have been laid out in gardens, and some of them are still cultivated. There are a number of olive-trees, some of them old and large. They point to one of the enclosures, as the Garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord was in agony, and where Judas led the band who took him. As is customary, the priest will tell you the precise spot where the disciples slept—where our Lord withdrew—and where Judas betrayed him. That somewhere here was the place where those transactions took place, is not unlikely, but it is all idle folly to pretend to be able to designate the precise spots.
A little north of this is a chapel under ground, said to be the tomb of the Virgin Mary. It is near the valley, a little on the Mount Olivet side. A small part of the top of the building is above ground, but the great body is below. We descended a wide, noble flight of steps for ten or fifteen feet, and then we had a great display of lamps and other rich ornaments, with a large altar in front. At our right was a recess or little room, shown as the tomb of Mary; and about half way up the steps were recesses on both sides, said to be tombs of—I forget whom—Anna, perhaps, and other females mentioned in the Gospels. When this place was made, or by whom, I am not able to say. It is, however, one of the best pieces of under-ground building that I have seen, and is in good keeping. But how all these good people were found, after centuries had passed away, is not for me to tell.