The remains at the Damascus Gate of an ancient gateway with towers, the masonry of which is of equal antiquity with that in the northeast corner of the Temple area, are no doubt the ruins of the northern gate of the second wall; and the traces of an ancient wall between the old gateway and the Latin convent clearly indicate that the second wall inclosedMount Akra on the west, and therefore included the Calvary and Holy Sepulchre of the monks.
Though the legendary claims of this renowned church are rejected, and its pretended rights to the affections of mankind denied, yet the antiquity of its origin and the romance of its history can not fail to awaken a momentary veneration in the most indifferent spectator. Dedicated to Jesus in the year 335 A.D., it remained standing in all its primal grandeur for two hundred and seventy-nine years, when, in 614 A.D., it was ruthlessly destroyed by the Persian, Chosroes II., who, after the capture of the city, massacred thousands of the citizens, including many monks and nuns, and, as the crowning act of his vengeance, carried the Patriarch of Jerusalem, together with the “true cross,” into captivity. Sixteen years later the church was rebuilt, under the superintendence of Modestus, superior of the convent of Theodosius, and the exiled patriarch returned, entering the city in triumph with the “cross” on his shoulder. Destined to the most remarkable vicissitudes, it was again destroyed in 969 A.D. by the Fatimites, who, in the madness of their retaliation, committed the aged patriarch to the flames of the burning building. Remaining a heap of ruins for more than forty years, the revengeful Khalif el-Hâkim, the spiritual and fanatical Prince of the Druses, caused it to be entirely demolished, plowing up its very foundations, and attempting the utter destruction of the tomb itself. With an energy as untiring as their gifts were munificent, the Christians rebuilt their favorite sanctuary within thirty-eight years after their cruel persecution by El-Hâkim, and it remained standing till 1099 A.D., when the Crusaders captured Jerusalem; the church was enlarged and beautified by them; and during the lapse of more than seven centuries it continued unimpaired till the year 1808 A.D., when, on the night of the 12th of October, a fire, originating in the Armenian chapel, consumed the noble pile. So intense was the heat that the massive walls suffered immensely; the cupola was rent in two; the roof of the nave and of the triforium gallery, together with all the altars, images, and pictures, were consumed; the marble piers in the rotunda were calcined, and the lofty dome above fell in with a tremendous crash upon the Holy Sepulchre. Inheriting the zeal and benevolence of an earlier age, the Christians of our own century determined to reconstructtheir holiest of shrines, and selecting Commones, a Greek of the island of Mitylene, for the architect, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt in the year 1810 A.D.,and remains standing to this day, the pride of the East and the most imposing of Christian monuments.[240]
CHAPTER VI.
Forty Days and forty Nights in the Holy City.—Inside View of Jerusalem.—Streets.—Buildings.—Commerce.—A Cosmopolitan City.—Government Officials.—Taxation.—Population.—Turks.—Dervishes.—Fast of Ramadan.—Feast of Beiram.—Moslem Sects.—Their Creeds.—Quarter of the Jews.—Their wretched Condition.—Their Nationalities.—Pensioners.—Jewish Passover.—Ceremonies witnessed.—Jewish Sabbath in Jerusalem.—Synagogue.—Education.—Mr. Touro and Sir Moses Montefiore.—Religious and Industrial Institutions.—Christian Sects in the Holy City.—Armenians.—Their Wealth.—Greeks.—Their Influence.—Latins.—Their Edifices.—Monastic Quarrels.—Curious Scene.—Rivalry between France and Russia.—Russian Gold.—Protestant Christianity in Jerusalem.—English Church.—House of Charity.—The two Slave Girls.
Forty days and forty nights in the Holy City gave me ample time to thread its streets, examine its architecture, study its politics, consider its religion, and form an opinion of the social customs of its citizens. The attritions of time and the physical changes incident to war have marred the beauty of this once imperial city, and the Jerusalem of to-day holds no comparison in wealth and elegance with the Jerusalem of Solomon or of Herod the Great. Less than twelve feet wide, the streets are paved with small flag-stones, and, being without side-walks, are the thoroughfares for man and beast. Excepting the mosques and churches, the buildings are constructed in accordance with cheapness and convenience rather than in harmony with a costly and elegant architecture. They range in size from a one-story bazar-shop to a three-story dwelling. Wood being scarce and expensive, they are built of the common gray limestone of Palestine; the windows are small and barred with iron; in the centre of the edifice is an open court; and the flat roof of each is adorned with a small dome, adding not a little to the general appearance of the structure and to the comfort of the inmates. The arrangement of the interior depends upon the nationality, taste, and wealth of the occupant. Usually the furniture is of the simplest kind, consisting of low stools for tables, on which the food is placed, and aseries of divans encircling the room, which are used for seats in the daytime and for beds at night. The floor, walls, and ceiling are of stone, and are whitewashed as a substitute for carpets, paint, and paper. The bazars are in the most frequented streets, and are in either a small building or on the ground floor of a dwelling. The articles for sale are displayed on a shelf in front of the shop, or around the casement of the door. In addition to the more common necessaries of life, the principal commodities of traffic are the several kinds of Persian and Turkish tobacco, the fruits of the country, some rude silk and cotton fabrics manufactured in the city, together with beads, trinkets, and jewelry, of which the ladies are very fond. The commerce of the modern town is not equal to that of the ancient capital, when the merchants were princes, and when the caravans of the East brought to her gates the fine linen of Egypt, the steeds of Arabia, the carpets of Persia, the shawls of Cashmere, and the marvels of Bagdad.
VIEW OF MODERN JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
Jerusalem is a cosmopolitan city, where the representatives from all nations congregate and live. Amounting to 20,000 souls, the present population is divided into classes according to their religious opinions, and each sect occupies a separate portion of the town called “Quarters.” The Turk is now in power, swaying his iron sceptre, which he has held for more than six hundred years. The city having been elevated to the dignity of a distinct pashalic, the Pasha is appointed by the Sultan, and comes from Constantinople. The municipal government is civil and military. The civil governor is assisted by a delegated council of Moslems, of which one Jew and one Christian are members by sufferance, to represent the interests of their respective churches. Criminal and civil justice is administered by a city judge, called the “Cadi,” who is judge and jury, and whose decisions are law, whether the dictates of an impartial judgment or the sentence of a bribed magistrate. The military department is under Bim-Pasha, the most dreaded of all the government officials. His troops perform the double duty of garrison and police, guarding the gates during the day and patroling the streets at night. Destitute of courtesy and the finer feelings of our humanity, they are the most brutal class of men on the globe, who are respected because they are dreaded, and feared because they are vindictive. The palaces of the civil and military governors of thecity are in the northwest corner of the Haram; the common council holds its sessions in what was once the hall of the Jewish Sanhedrim, and the soldiers have their barracks in the Hippic Tower and in the Tower of Antonia, where is still the city prison.
The government is supported by taxation, which is as heavy as the military collectors are exacting. Every expedient is resorted to to avoid the payment of a tax which is imposed with rapacity and gathered with rigor. Under the pretense of poverty, rich Jews live in filth and go through the streets in rags; and to escape the system of espionage which the grasping Turk has established, both Arabs and Christians secrete their treasures in fields and cellars.