240 SYRIA.
some rose-colored marble. Their position, directly under the site of the ancient temple, and their beauty, lead me to think that they belonged once to the courts of that splendid edifice.
In front of us, on the opposite side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, were now two remarkable objects, and descending, we crossed a bridge which here spanned the dry channel of Kedron, in order to examine them. They are two square monuments, lying about thirty feet above the bottom of the valley, and seem to be partly imbedded in the side of the Mount of Olives. In fact they are cut out of that mountain, being composed each of the solid undetached rock, but isolated from the hill by a channel ten or twelve feet wide, cut at the back and sides. They are called the monuments of Zachariah and Absalom.
The first of these is ornamented on each face with four semi-columns of the Ionic order, and a pilaster at each angle, crowned by an entablature, making, with the columns, an elevation of about twenty feet; all of this is one solid piece of rock. The whole is surmounted by a flat pyramid of masonry, the sides of which are smooth, and come down to the edges of the cubical mass. We can discover no opening of any kind in this monument, though there is doubtless a cavity beneath the pyramid.
The monument of Absalom stands about one hundred feet north of this, and is nearly of the same dimensions; the columns in this, however, are of the Doric order, and with an entablature to
correspond. These are also cut in the same mass of rock, but are surmounted by a square block of masonry edged with mouldings; this again by a circular mass similarly enriched, and this by a sharp pointed dome, which, finally, is crowned by a stone ornament resembling a flame of fire. In the hinder side of this monument is an opening about ten feet from the ground, giving access to a chamber in it, which is now nearly filled up with pebbles. Both Mahomedans and Christians, as they pass along, throw a pebble at the monument, to show their detestation of the unfilial conduct of him whose name it bears. The authority for calling it after Absalom is in 2 Samuel xviii. 18. “Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's-dale, ‘for,' he said, ‘I have no son to keep my name in remembrance;’ and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called unto this day Absalom's Place."
It has been conjectured that the columns and other exterior ornaments are of more recent date than the rest of the work; but the parts all correspond so well, and harmonize also so well with the shape and proportions of the main body of the rock, that I can see no room for such an opinion.
Between the two monuments is a cave, called the Tomb of Jehoshaphat, on what authority it would be difficult to say; it consists of three chambers, one of which borders on the front of the precipitous rock in which they are situated, and is there adorned
242 SYRIA.
with two Doric columns, placed so as to support the roof. Back of the tomb of Absalom the face of the rock is also ornamented with scrolls and other sculptures, in bas-relief, covering, apparently, the entrance to a tomb cut in the mountain.
Turning here into a footpath that by zigzag lines begins to ascend the Mount of Olives, we found ourselves soon in a scene of pathetic interest. Yearning ever after the holy land of his forefathers, the Jew, as life begins to wear out, often collects together his earnings, and rouses up his sinking strength to carry him hither, that he may die in Jerusalem, and have his bones laid beneath the mountain of the ancient temple. They are not permitted to set foot within the enclosure of Mount Moriah, but in pleasant weather they may be seen just without the outer wall, seated on the ground, and reading in their devotional books; and even for this privilege they have to pay the Turkish governor. Sad and humbled people! They come hither from the ends of the earth, and, excluded from the Holy Mountain, sit down in the dust without its walls to mourn over their desolations, and cry, "Lord, how long, how long?" And the mark that is set upon them follows them, even in death. The Moslems occupy the slope down into the valley of Jehoshaphat for their own burying-place; and the Jews, desirous of having the shadows of Moriah fall upon their graves, have to take the opposite side of the valley along the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The ground
there is whitened with the humble slabs that cover their graves.
“And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other; and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of the foot have rest." The sleep of death! The graves of such a people here by the relics of the ancient city, are a touching spectacle!
The valley of Jehoshaphat, which takes its name from the monument we have just been noticing, is about two miles in length. It is the belief, both of Mahomedans and of the eastern Christians, that the Last Judgment will be held in this place. The authority given by the latter is in Joel iii. 2 and 12.
“ I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat," &c.--"Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about."
I have already, I believe, mentioned that the Mount of Olives is about a mile in length, and about seven hundred feet in height. To a spectator on the west, it has a gently waving outline, and appears to have three summits of nearly equal height. On the top of the centre one is a Christian church, erected over the spot where, they inform us, our Saviour ascended into heaven; and, in confirmation of the fact, point to a stone with the impression of the left foot, made, as they say, as he was about
244 SYRIA.
leaving the earth; that of the right foot has been carried away by the Turks. On Ascension day they come up in great crowds, and have service here. The chapel had been shaken down by the recent earthquake, and the floor was covered by rubbish, so that we did not see the stone, nor did we care about it. In Luke xxiv. 50,* it is very clearly stated that the ascension occurred near Bethany, which is on the eastern side of the mountain, more than a mile from this. The Turks have a similar tradition with regard to Mahomet in connexion with this spot, and close to the Christian chapel have a mosque, also nearly laid in ruins by the earthquake.
From this central height a ridge stretches off towards the east for a distance of three fourths of a mile, when it terminates by a bold descent. We were conducted to the end of it in order to enjoy the view eastward, which is very extensive. The plain of Jordan, the mountain beyond, the Dead Sea, and the dark and singular chain of mountains on the east of it, were in full view, as well as all the country intermediate between them and us. Some of us thought that they could see the waters of the Jordan; but although this was uncertain, we could easily trace the course of the river through the plain
* Compare this passage with Acts i. 12, where the ascension is also spoken of. There are two roads to Bethany; one around the southern end of the Mount of Olives, and one across its summit; the latter being considerably shorter but more difficult. It was probably on this latter road, in the descent to Bethany, that the Saviour was taken up from the Apostles.
by the verdure; and where this failed, by the broken nature of the ground. Beyond it towered the lofty mountains of Moab, rising peak above peak in great majesty, including among them Mount Nebo; and as I stood gazing upon them, I took pleasure in repeating the hymn which I had often sung among friends in my own father-land,
"There is a land of pure delight."
It had a been part of our design to visit the Jordan and the Dead Sea; but the country was then filled with bands of people driven from their homes by the incursion of Ibrahim Pasha, and in a high state of excitement, as well from disaffection to the government as from their sufferings in consequence of the war; and when we proposed this journey, the men who owned our horses refused absolutely to let them go. The Governor of Jerusalem said that a guard of 300 men would be necessary, and offered to furnish us with such an escort, if the Commodore desired it; but this polite offer was of course declined. So we made the most of our mountain view, which was a very extensive one. The atmosphere in these lands of scanty exhalations is so clear that the Dead Sea and the Jordan appeared to be close to us, and we wondered that the journey to them should be esteemed so toilsome. But glancing at the country between us and them, we saw hill succeeding hill, till the detail swelled out into a distance of at least thirty miles. The country below us was a scene of
246 SYRIA.
complete and utter desolation; the hills were bare and red, and cut into deep ravines, and in the whole stretch between us and the Dead Sea, scarcely a spot of verdure could be seen. The mountains east of that lake of death have a very unique aspect, rising to a great height, and presenting an outline as smooth and even as if they were an artificial wall.
It was a relief to turn from this dreary prospect to the fertile and verdant mountain on which we were then standing. And as we returned, and, gaining the summit towards Jerusalem, looked down over its graceful slopes, and at the city, all displayed before us, no one could wonder that the Saviour often sought the Mount of Olives for meditation; and that the view around, then so varied, so rich, so beautiful, and soon to be changed by a fearful war into utter desolation, should incite to prayer.
The sun was now beginning to approach the western horizon. We descended by a steep zigzag path leading directly down towards the gate of St. Stephen; and near the foot of the mountain, now immersed in the broad shades of the city, came to a spot, that, as soon as it was named, excited a universal and powerful interest. It was the Garden of Gethsemane. It lies near the foot of the mountain, at a angle formed by the branching of the lower road to Bethany and that to Jericho, by which we had just been descending; and is marked by eight olive trees, that look as if they may have stood almost as many centuries. The Latins, to whom they belong,
say, indeed, that' they were here in the time of our Saviour, and would punish with excommunication any person of their order who should venture to break a limb or otherwise injure them. They allow pilgrims to peel off any loose pieces of bark that they may find on the huge trunks; which accordingly are kept white and raw looking by the frequency of such visits. They are very large; and as the olive tree is of very slow growth, there may be some truth in the declaration, that the Turks, on regaining the city from the Crusaders, having imposed a yearly tax of ten cents on every olive tree then standing, and half as much on any that should be planted, the records of the monastery show that the former sum was then paid for these trees; but as to the statement that would carry their age to the early times of Christianity, we cannot believe it; for if the olive tree itself were ascertained to last so long, we know that Titus had all the trees within several leagues cut down for the construction of banks and instruments of assault.
As to the query whether this is the Garden of Gethsemane, I do not see that we have any reason for deciding in one way or the other, the notice of its location in the Scriptures (and I believe we have no others) being so very slight. The ground here slopes off more gently than in most other places, and is favorable for a garden; but it is quite near the foot of the mountain, and I think the expression
* Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 1. § 1.
248 SYRIA.
(Luke xiv. 26.) “they went out into the Mount of Olives," would have led me to look for it higher up; and it seems probable, also, that a spot more retired than one so immediately adjoining the thronged city would have been selected on such an occasion. But these objections are not entitled to much weight, and I feel loth to disturb the belief in a spot of such tender interest. I broke off a few of the branches, and gathered up some of the earth, which I have brought home with me.
Although few of these places can be identified, and all have changed, it was still a high gratification to know that we were among scenes often blessed by the presence of our Saviour and Lord; that here, in this region, he had healed the sick, making joy spring up in bosoms where it had been long a stranger; here had given sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and had taught his pure and benevolent doctrines; and that from the scenery around us, and now in our sight, had drawn elucidations and found the subjects for his parables.
About twenty paces northward from this, is a cave twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter, to which we descend by eleven steps; and here they say our Lord retired for prayer on this occasion; and they show also the spot where the three disciples reclined and slept.
Proceeding again to the northward, we come, at the distance of thirty yards, to a large subterranean chamber called the Tomb of the Virgin. It was
lighted up for us; and having descended by a noble flight of steps, fifty in number, and twenty feet wide, cut in the solid rock, we found ourselves in a lofty apartment, branching off into small chambers on the right and left. The latter chamber is used as a chapel by the Copts, while in the other is the reputed Tomb of the Virgin, together with an altar. On either side of the flight of steps, about half way down, is also a recess, containing the reputed tombs of her parents, Joachim and Anna, and of Joseph the husband of Mary. This region is fruitful in traditions connected with the virgin and the apostles; but I pass them by, with the exception of one that is so full of poetry that I trust I shall be pardoned for noticing it.
The Virgin being sick, and now at the point of death, prayed her Son that the apostles might all be permitted to be present at her departure; and they were accordingly transported in a moment from all parts of the world, whither they had travelled preaching the gospel; and found themselves together by her bedside at Jerusalem; all except Thomas, who by a particular judgment was left behind.
She died, and was buried by the apostles in this spacious tomb, which they left not for three days and nights; during all which time sweet music from unseen angelic harps was floating amid the vaults and through the air above. At the end of this time, Thomas was placed among them, and was disconsolate when he found he had been denied the privilege
250 SYRIA.
of witnessing her death. He begged, however, that as he had not been allowed to see her while yet alive, he might be permitted to look at the corpse; they complied, and the tomb was opened for him; but the body was gone, nothing remaining but the grave clothes and winding sheet. At the same time the music of the angels ceased, by which they knew that the body was ascending to heaven. Thomas, with tears, gazed upward, and caught a glimpse of the ascending form; and to comfort him she dropped for him a girdle of marvellous beauty, which fell upon a rock adjoining the tomb; “which rock," says the book, "is held in the greatest veneration by all persons, and has granted for it indulgences, like those of the other sacred places of Jerusalem."*
Maundrell says of this stone, that there is “a winding channel upon it, which they will have to be the impression of the girdle when it fell, and to be left for the conviction of all such as shall suspect the truth of their story.”
* El Devoto Peregrino; p. 105.
251
CHAPTER XVIII.
Visit to the Mount of Olives to procure olive root. Cabinet work from it. Attempt, by a Fancy spell, to raise up again the ancient city of Jerusalem. Its appearance. Fortifications. Towers.
Royal palace. Stupendous wall supporting the Courts of the Temple. Outer Cloister. Solomon's Porch. Court of the Gentiles. Inner Cloister. Gate called "Beautiful." Court of the Jews. Court of the Priests. Altar. The TEMPLE. Its dazzling facade. Noble entrance. Skill of the Architect. Vestibule. Grape-vine of Gold. The Sanctuary. Its furniture. Holy of Holies. Effect of this place on Pompey. Walls of the edifice. Stones of amazing size. Framework of the city. Villages and gardens around. Effect of the contrast. between the Temple and Mount of Olives. The millions coming up to the Passover. Their Hymns. The Roman army. Titus takes a view of the
city. Events foretelling its doom. The horror-stricken prophet.
THE olive root makes beautiful cabinet work; and, desirous of procuring some from the Mount of Olives to be worked up for my friends, I took one day an intrepreter and a couple of natives, and ascended the mountain to see if I could purchase some. Southward of Absalom's monument is the village of Siloa, standing in what appears to have been a quarry; and consisting partly of houses erected on the rocky platforms, and in part of caves cut in the side of the declivity. This was quite deserted; but near the summit of the mountain I was fortunate enough to find a house with occupants,
252 SYRIA.
from whom I purchased the privilege of cutting some roots.* It may afford an idea of the state of the arts at Jerusalem, when I mention that the best axe which we could find in the city was a species of blunt grubbing-hoe; and that we actually grubbed through the thick roots; and this, they informed me, is the usual way of cutting wood in that country. Mr. Nicholayson had owned an English axe, but his Arab guards had carried it off at the conclusion of the siege.
Soon after commencing operations on the trees, we found ourselves surrounded by a dozen wild looking men, who seemed to have started up from beneath the ground, where probably they had been concealed in the caves and artificial pits with which the country abounds. They were induced, by the offer of a trifling compensation, to assist us; and while they were tugging away at the wood, I sat down a few yards off to make some plans and sketches of the city. In half an hour the interpreter came to say that they had all fled; and on returning I found that not an individual of them was to be seen.
* I trust that I shall be pardoned if I add that the Commodore and myself had some of it worked at Mahon into tables representing, in Mosaic work, the hills and valleys of Jerusalem, a plan of the city, and a view of the Mount of Olives, its buildings and roads. The workmanship was well executed, and they make handsome pictures. The ingenious workman, Juan Rivdavetz y Prieto, just before we left that city, contrived a method of staining on plain apple wood, pictures of fruit, &c., with a very rich back-ground, forming beautiful cabinet work. The Commodore offered him a passage in the Delaware to America; but the love of his native island prevailed, and he remained.
The soldiers at the city gate below had spied them out with their glasses, and a detachment had been sent tip to seize them; but they were too cunning, and escaped; and as we stood by the tree, we heard them, in their flight, calling to the soldiers, and using epithets that were any thing but complimentary. I have introduced this simple circumstance, however, not so much for its own sake, as to give me an opportunity of carrying the reader once more to the top of the Mount of Olives. And here I wish him to sit down at the spot which I have just been occupying on the central eminence, and gaze down on this place of wonderful history, and of tender and thrilling association. But my object is not to speak of the present city of Jerusalem; I wish to blot out all that picture, defaced in so many places by wretchedness and unsightly ruins, and to place before his imagination the ancient city of Jerusalem, when she sat upon these hills in her jewelled ornaments,--when “glorious things were spoken of thee, O city of God"
Often as that city is upon our lips, I believe there are few persons who have an idea of its extraordinary splendor in the olden times; for it was a place not only unique, and of strange religious interest, but also of wonderful magnificence. The period of Solomon's reign might perhaps be selected as that when its effect was most imposing; but I prefer for our picture the time of the Agrippas, because, while the splendor of Jerusalem was scarcely less than in
254 SYRIA.
the reign of Solomon, we have, by the aid of Josephus, more ample materials for forming a judgment of its appearance; and this, too, with a slight exception, was the city whose streets our Saviour trod, and over which, while observing it from a spot just below us here on the Mount of Olives, he wept in the sad anticipation of its downfall.
And now look northward, and westward, and southward, and notice how, from these distant heights, the land slopes gently downward; bending hitherward as if in reverence, and to add dignity to the consecrated spot. Now look downward. Behold now I spread over the place the spell of a sober and chastened Fancy. I call up again the buried objects of other days. City of the olden time--arise!
See, this is the ancient Jerusalem!
Truly it is a magnificent place; a picture of rare and exquisite beauty set in a frame of brilliants. Recovered from our surprise, and the eye having grown more familiar with the unique spectacle, we turn now to examine it in detail. And, first, observe the walls by which it is begirt; what a proud and formidable array of strength is here. The massive battlements seem to set all earthly power at defiance, while the stones of immense size excite our wonder, not only by their prodigious size, but by their peculiar and careful finish. That wall on the north is eighteen feet in thickness, and with its battlements and turrets is forty-five feet in height; it runs zigzag, so that each part may be raked from the towers, of which
there are ninety in this wall. The towers, thirty-six feet square, are of solid masonry, and are crowned each with two stories or suites of rooms, in which architectural beauty is consulted as well as strength, and which are of great magnificence. The angles in the wall are acute, receding considerably from the towers; and the whole structure, as it sweeps around the city, looks like a mountain of solid and immoveable rock. At its north-western angle, high above all the rest, rises the tower of Psephinus, massive below, but in its upper part marked by graceful, though still heavy architecture; it is octangular, and attains an elevation of one hundred and twenty-seven. feet.
Within this, separating Acra from Bezetha, is another wall, a solid mountain of masonry, presenting high angular walls, battlements, and towers of exceeding strength; and here, south of Acra, on the edge of Z.ion, is a third line of similar defences, making, with the steepness of the ascent, a bulwark by no means less formidable than the rest; and on the southern and western sides of this mountain, grow up from the edge of the high rocky precipice, by which it is there begirt, lines of broad and high stone-work, presenting an utterly hopeless barrier to an assailant. "Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof; mark ye well her bulwarks; beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion. The kings were assembled, they passed by together;
256 SYRIA.
they saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away."
The chief glory of these defences of Zion, however, is a nest of towers there at the north-west angle, "which, for largeness, beauty, and strength, are beyond all that are in the habitable earth." They were built by Herod, and called after his friend, his brother, and his wife. They stand at a point where the elevation of Mount Zion, contracting into narrow limits, becomes more remarkable, and thus presents their altitude and elaborate architectural beauties in a more striking point of view. One of them is placed in the sharp angle, and is called the tower of Hippicus. It is 46 feet square; and to an elevation of 55 feet is composed of firm and solid masonry, the stones with which it is built being 36 feet in length, by eighteen in width, and nine in height; above this enduring mass is a reservoir 36 feet in elevation; next above this is a double range of magnificent chambers of ornamental yet massive architecture, making an additional height of 46 feet; and above these rise battlements and turrets, the whole height of the tower being 146 feet.
A short distance from it we behold the tower Phasaelus, 72 feet square and 164 in height. Seventy-two feet of this elevation consists of stones like those in the tower just described; and the rest is composed of heavy stone work faced with colonnades; of richly ornamented chambers, and of battlements and turrets.
The third tower of Mariamne, named by Herod after his wife, is smaller than these, but of exquisite beauty, and richly adorned with ornaments; it attains an elevation of 91 feet.
All these look immediately down upon the royal palace, also on Mount Zion; and here the eye is wearied with tracing the labyrinth of courts, the succession of porticos adorned with rich and curious pillars, the ranges of lofty windows, giving light to halls where statuary and carved work have added their embellishments, and where the vessels are of silver and gold. And in the courts below and in the gardens are rare trees, and fountains, and brazen statues, and winding streams. No cost or skill has been spared in this palace by a prince whose resources were of the most ample kind. These palaces and courts and towers are the Kremlin of Jerusalem.
Observe now that long bridge, with its lofty arches, a striking feature in this scene, and adding greatly to its picturesque effect. It rises high above the dwellings of Acra, and, stretching quite across that portion of the city, connects the precincts of this palace with the Temple. But let us hasten to turn our attention to the Temple. The city has yet many striking objects that solicit our attention; the lofty and frowning castle of Antonia, palaces in great numbers, private edifices of remarkable architecture, brought out into strong relief by the uneven nature of the ground, invite our notice; but the wonderful Temple, grand, mysterious, awful, is here before us,
258 SYRIA.
and the eye glances impatiently at other objects. Let us turn then, and suffer our eyes to dwell and feast on this.
And it is indeed a glorious sight. It stands here all before us, the walls that support its courts rising from the very depths of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and towering aloft to an astonishing, a giddy height. It was a bold and daring conception--that of carrying up this mountain of stone-work to such a stupendous elevation. This wall here fronting us is
729 feet in height!* On the northern and western
* Jos. Ant. lib. viii. cap. 3. § 9. Ib. lib. xv. cap. 11. § 15. Ib. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. § 1. The height of these walls must strike the reader as almost beyond belief; and I confess that I hesitated about repeating them from the Jewish historian, till I came to reflect on the size of similar structures in other eastern cities. The walls of Nineveh are reported on good authority to have been 100 feet in height, and to have been strengthened by 1500 towers 200 feet in elevation. The height of the temple of Belus, at Babylon, formed altogether of bricks, is computed by Major Rennel at 500 feet, and by Prideaux at 600; its ruins still form a mound 200 feet in height. The royal palace in the same city was nearly as large as the temple; and the ruins of a castle are still seen 140 feet in height, and half a mile in circuit. The walls of this city were 34 miles in circuit--according to some writers 60; and were broad enough for six chariots to drive abreast upon them; and appear to have been originally 300, or 350 feet in height; having been reduced from this to 75 feet by Darius Hystaspes in order to check the rebellious spirit of the inhabitants.
The Egyptian pyramids still afford us a proof of the colossal nature of such undertakings in ancient times. The largest two of these, as has been already stated in this work, being 470 and 456 feet high, by 704 and 654 on each side.
When we reflect on the sacred character of Jerusalem in the eyes of all the Jews; how deeply the temple worship was wrought into all their systems, both civil and religious; how earnest their zeal, how entire their devotedness as regards this structure--we are prepared for something extraordinary.
sides, owing to the inequality of the ground, the elevation is somewhat less.
You perceive that in order to obtain greater strength, the walls are not perpendicular, but somewhat slanting, so that with the ascending nature of the ground in the courts above, the whole structure has somewhat of a pyramidal form. The stones of which it is composed are of prodigious size, yet are fitted together with the greatest care, and in addition to the security afforded by their magnitude, are strengthened internally by means of iron clamps. This wall is above 730 feet in length on each side; it forms an exact square, and the whole interior space being filled up, we have thus a vast mountain raised by human labor, a stupendous structure that must excite the astonishment of all succeeding ages. But this is only the ground work, the substructure for the great Temple and its sacred courts. Look up-
* Josephus computes the number of “pure" persons who came up yearly to the
feast of the Passover at about 3,000,000. (De Bel. lib. 11. cap. 14.
§ 3. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3.) The vanity of the historian may have led him to some
exaggeration, but still the number was prodigiously great. Many of these brought
rich presents to the temple, and all were ready to contribute their labor as
well as means whenever called upon. Agrippa, at one time, had 18,000 men
employed in repairing the Temple. (Jos. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. ix. § 7.) Solomon
employed 80,000 men to cut stone; 70,000 to transport the materials, and 10,000
men constantly on Mount Lebanon to cut wood for the Temple, and was seven years
in completing it.
The space comprehended by these lofty walls was not entirely filled with earth, a large portion being occupied with vaults and subterranean passages. Their extent and the subsequent violence will acount for the complete abrasion of this mountain. See Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iii. § 1. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. ii. § 7.
260 SYRIA.
ward now; you see along the edge of this wall, far up at its giddy elevation, where the brain reels as it attempts to measure the depths below, you see a cloister or ornamented colonnade, on the outside ornamented with architectural embellishment, and yet more remarkable still for massiveness and strength, as if to guard from the assaults even of the wildest fancy the sacred precincts of the Temple. This cloister is 55 feet wide, and consists on the outside of a range of chambers, and within or towards the Temple, of a double row of marble columns 46 feet in height, each column consisting of a single block of white marble; the entablature gives to the whole cloister or colonnade an elevation of more than 60 feet. At the southern end, instead of two, are four rows of columns, each column six feet in diameter and 27 in height; the heaviness of the shaft being relieved by fanciful flutings at the base, and by rich leaf-shaped capitals, like those which we consider as belonging to the Corinthian order. This end is called Solomon's Porch;* it consists of a nave, if I may use the term, 45 feet wide, and in height 100 feet, with side aisles, each 30 feet wide, and 50 in height. It is an enchanting spot, and fanned at that high elevation with a perpetual breeze, and is a favorite resort; but, indeed, where, in this whole colonnade, forming a complete circuit of 2900 feet, is a spot that is not marked by exceeding beauty and magnificence?
* Thrice referred to in the New Testament, John x. 23. Acts iii. 11. and v. 12.
At each angle you perceive towers of elaborate architecture, crowned with turrets or pinnacles, where, gazing downward, the senses recoil with horror from the frightful depth.
But this is only the commencement of the grandeur of this wonderful Temple. Within this cloister is an open court, running also quite around; it is paved with marble, and its level is broken by a few steps of ascent, also passing along the whole circuit of the court. This is the court of the Gentiles; and inscriptions on columns are seen at intervals, forbidding this class of people to advance nearer to the Temple. Along the inner edge of this court runs another cloister, consisting also of a row of chambers, with a single colonnade in the interior, or looking toward the Temple. In the space allotted here to the chambers, the ground has taken an ascent of seventeen feet from the court of the Gentiles, but the colonnade itself is on level ground, the pillars being, as in the outer colonnade, forty-six feet in height, and making, with the entablature, likewise a full elevation of more than sixty feet; but from the rise of the ground this colonnade is twenty feet higher than the other.
In this cloister, fronting us on the east, is the “Beautiful Gate;"* and truly, no one need be directed to mark its surpassing magnificence. It is ninety-one feet in height by seventy-three in width; the doors are of massive Corinthian brass, covered on both sides,
* Acts iii. 2.
262 SYRIA.
as are also the jambs and lintels, with plates of gold and silver, sometimes plain, sometimes in fretted work, or raised into figures in low or in high relief. On either side of the doorway is a tower, seventy-three feet high, adorned with columns twenty-one feet in circumference. On the northern and southern sides of this cloister are eight other gates, of less magnitude, but covered in a similar manner, as are also their jambs and lintels, with plates of gold and silver; and strengthened also like the former, with towers and massive columns.
Passing through this, we are once more in an open court, paved with marble, and rising by steps towards the central point. The eastern side of this court is allotted to the worship of the Jewish women, while that on the north and south is divided off for the men. At the inner edge of this court is again another wall; it is of marble, only a few feet in height, and is richly ornamented with sculpture; it separates the court of the Jewish worshippers from the inmost court of all, the court of the Priests.
And there, at the eastern side of this inmost court, in the open air, at the apex of this stupendous Pyramidal structure, canopied only by the heavens, stands the Altar of Burnt Sacrifice. It is a colossal structure, being twenty-seven feet in height and ninety-one feet on each of its sides. The ascent is by an inclined plane on the south.
And just beyond it, is the TEMPLE. This looks also to the eastward, and as we attempt to gaze upon
it in this bright morning sun, now darting its rays across the Mount of Olives, our dazzled eyes turn away, pained by the glorious sight. It presents a front one hundred and eighty-two feet long and of an equal height, all of which is covered with thick plates of gold. What a magnificent spectacle! What a grand termination to this stupendous structure, towering upwards from the deep valley towards the clouds. Cast your eye downwards, and let it range over the immense masses of chiselled rocks, wrought into regular shape, enriched with architectural device, and piled on each other till the senses are pained in endeavoring to take in the colossal fabric of more than seven hundred feet in height; glance at the huge mouldings into which the wall swells at its termination; murk the high colonnades of pure showy marble, that are ranged along the edge of this mighty structure; see within this the marble tesselated pavement, ascending by flights of steps, and encircling the mountain; and then again another range of light marble porticos sweeping quite around; mark the pavement, again ascending by unbroken flights of marble steps; and here, at length, crowning the whole magnificent work, is the gorgeous Temple, its front one hundred and eighty-two feet high, decked with elaborate architectural embellishments, and covered with massive gold.
And "the Lord is in his Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him."
Yes, in this gorgeous edifice, raised to such a
264 SYRIA.
stupendous height, wrapped in a splendor that the eye can scarcely look upon; deep within the edifice in a spot of mysterious darkness and solitude, is shadowed forth the presence of Jehovah; and this Temple belongs not to Jerusalem, but to the whole world. And He, the Deity, whose very name is awful, and should be used with reverence, hath blessed this spot with his peculiar presence; and it is meet that man should look upon it with deep and solemn feeling. "How amiable," said the Psalmist, when far distant, "how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."
In this eastern front of the Temple is an open and ornamented door-way, 46 feet wide and 128 feet in height. The architect of this edifice was a man of skill. He knew well the powerful effect produced by the prevalence of high ascending lines in a building, and in the Temple he has taken advantage of this effect, and with the best results. How fine is the appearance of this grand and lofty door-way, open also so as to give a view of the rich vestibule just within! Our thoughts and our feelings, whatever they may be, are not checked at the very thresh-hold, but are allowed to penetrate to a short distance; they are not excluded from the edifice; they enter
sufficiently to make us a part of it; and yet it is not made common by being all exposed; sufficient of it remains shut up to excite our wonder, to cherish feelings of respect, to inspire that awe which arises from mystery.
He who may enter this lofty door-way, will find himself in a vestibule at right angles with his path; it is 36 feet wide, 92 in length, and 164 feet in height. The wall in front of him is all covered with plates of gold, which, like that on the exterior front, is in various forms, smooth and highly burnished, or in patterns of embossed work, or in figures of various kinds. From the lofty ceiling, which the eye is pained in attempting to reach, hangs down a golden vine, with leaves and fruit of the same metal, and so colossal are its dimensions, that the clusters of grapes are six feet in length.* Our foot may not be placed within this vestibule; but through the large open door-way we can discover much of the splendor by
* I have been unwilling to break the thread of description by references; but my authorities are in Josephus, Antiq lib. xv. cap. 11. lib. viii. cap. 3. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5.
If the reader should think this account of the richness of the Temple incredible, he is requested to consult ancient authors about similar structures in other countries. The Parthenon at Athens cost sixty millions of dollars; the Propylaea, or entrance to the Acropolis, on which it stands, cost half as much; the statue of Minerva in the former was of ivory and gold; the gold alone cost more than half a million of dollars. The statue, decorations, and utensils in the Temple of Belus, according to Diodorus Siculus, were equal in value to more than 200 millions of our dollars. When Titus had taken Jerusalem, gold was so abundant among his soldiers, that in Syria a pound of it sold for half its former value. See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 6. § 1.
266 SYRIA.
which it is distinguished. In the golden wall that bounds our vision at its further side, is a door-way twenty-nine feet wide by 100 in height, covered by a Babylonian curtain, of blue and scarlet and purple, richly embroidered, and of wonderful workmanship. Its ample folds conceal a door, which, like the wall, is covered with plates of gold, plain or in various patterns, and of exceeding richness.
He who enters this door will find himself in The Sanctuary. This is a chamber thirty-six feet wide and seventy-two in length, and 109 in height; its height, however, cannot be reached by the eye; for this chamber is in darkness, except the obscure light shed upon it by several lamps. Daylight cannot penetrate it, unless occasionally a feeble glimmering through the door-way; a mysterious obscurity is left to pervade it, and the vision, turning upward, combats for a while the deepening shadows, and is then repelled by utter darkness. The furniture of this room is simple, for it contains only the Table of Shew-bread, and the Golden Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense. While the incense ascends silently, and keeps the chamber filled with perpetual odours, the softened light of the Seven Golden Lamps of the Candlestick falls upon a table with twelve loaves of bread, one for each tribe; as if, by this simple emblem, the staff of his life kept herein memorial, man would gratefully acknowledge by whom his existence is prolonged, and whence are derived its blessings. There is something in this quiet and simple
scene, a subdued and humble, yet grateful character in its speech, that is very impressive.
At the further end of this chamber is again a doorway covered by a thick veil of many folds. It opens into a square chamber thirty-six feet on each side, and 109 in height. In this chamber there is nothing at all. It is quite dark; and its deep obscurity and its vacancy are fit emblems of HIM who is invisible to mortal eye, and whom mortal thought can never reach. This is the Holy of Holies. It is entered only by the High Priest, and by him but once a year. Unadorned, and deeply shut up within the Temple, it is left to darkness, and silence, and impressive solitude.
When Pompey, after a toilsome siege, at length took this mountain by assault, he hastened to the Temple, incited both by curiosity, and by a desire to feed his eye on the wealth that had at length become his own; but when, having examined the Sanctuary in its dim mysterious light, and then, raising this veil, he stood in the Holy of Holies, and found no object, nought but an obscurity that his eye, as he gazed upward, sought in vain to pierce, a feeling of awe and dread seems to have come upon him; he left the Temple, having touched neither its furniture nor its treasure, and, calling off his troops, he gave orders to repair the injuries that had been occasioned by his assault.
The walls of this building are fourteen and a half feet in thickness, and are composed of stones forty-
268 SYRIA.
six feet long by twenty-one in width, and fourteen in thickness, interspersed with some that have the astonishing length of eighty-two feet.* The main body of the edifice, containing the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, is so narrow in proportion to its elevation, that it would be in danger from earthquakes if that were not guarded against by an outer wall nine feet from this, with which it is connected so as to form between them three tiers of cells, thirty in each tier; the upper part of the building is used as store-rooms for the furniture and utensils of the Temple. The vestibule, being at right angles with the body of the edifice, projects thirty-six feet on either side. The stone employed here appears to be a pure white marble, for those portions of the building which are not covered with plates of gold are of dazzling whiteness, so as to appear at a distance like a mountain covered with snow.
The whole mass, the foundation walls, the porticoes, the Temple, are indeed a wonderful structure; and with the sacred and solemn associations connected with them, form an object of surpassing interest and grandeur.
And now look down again upon the city and upon the fair region stretching all around. The ground on which Jerusalem is built, assists greatly, as you perceive, in giving it architectural effect. Babylon, Nineveh, Thebes, Memphis, those cities of ancient
* Stones are still to be seen at the Great Temple of Baalbec sixty four feet in length.
renown, were built on level plains, and with all their riches and greatness were in most parts tame and monotonous; but here the picturesque is added to greatness and splendor; the walls and towers overhang deep precipices; the lofty palaces are brought into stronger relief by their situations; each portion of the city, by harmony or by contrast, adds a charm to every other; and the Temple, like another sun chained to the dizzy heights of Moriah, sheds an effulgence over all.
Gaze now around. What a frame-work is there for the city of Jerusalem! See the villages, embosomed in gardens of deep verdure, sprinkled thickly over all the plains, which, ascending as they retire from the city, expose every object to our view. Here the houses stand in thick clusters, there they straggle along amid the overhanging trees; and the whole immense extent of country seems only a continuation of the city in a more cheerful form. And this Mount of Olives, what a beautiful object it must be when viewed from the city. Its graceful slopes, its gardens, its deep shade, its white cottages, its villas, where the wealthy love to retire, half exposed, half concealed, by the dense verdure; its groves and public walks; what an admirable picture they form; and alongside of the stupendous and glittering pyramid of Mount Moriah, each by contrast gives new beauties and new charms to the other. Where in all the world shall we find a scene equal to this?
And now glance your eye along these roads that
270 SYRIA.
come winding over the hills by which Jerusalem is encircled. See! The whole country seems awakened into an intensity of life and animation. It is the Passover. Far off as the eye can reach, the great highways and the narrow paths are covered with masses of living beings, thousands upon thousands pouring onwards, and still succeeded by other thousands, till it seems as if the whole habitable globe was sending its inhabitants and its tribute to this sacred city. And it does. Here are “Parthians and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and in the parts of Lybia about Greece, and strangers of Rome, and Cretes, and Arabians," in their various costumes, and speaking their various tongues. The number that assembles here on this occasion is about three millions. They come, some purely from religious feeling, some also for commerce; for the occasion is seized by dwellers in far distant countries for the interchange of commodities. As they approach the city, however, a common feeling takes possession of all of them, delight, reverence, awe, wonder, admiration. As they gain the summits of the distant hills, and catch a view of the Temple, they burst into shouts of joy, they prostrate themselves upon the ground, they break out into hymns of praise. The air seems burdened by the noises that unceasingly ascend; one while they are like the roar of the ocean; at another, they rise, and sink, and swell upward
again into lofty strains of wonder and thanksgiving; the earth trembles under the moving to and fro of these countless multitudes. See--still they come, thousands and yet still countless thousands pressing onward towards the city. The eye is wearied with beholding them; the senses are pained and overwhelmed.
And now the sounds abate and sink into a deep but continuous murmur. They are preparing for the Paschal sacrifice. The multitudes are divided into companies of from ten to twenty, and each company, by a deputy appointed for that purpose, is to offer in the courts of the temple a lamb without blemish or spot; the blood is to be sprinkled at the foot of the great altar, and the fat is to be cast upon it for a burnt offering. There will be 250,000 of these sacrifices.
See! the courts of the Temple, the flat roofs of the colonnades, are covered by the dense throngs; the walls and towers of the city, the terraces of the lofty dwellings of Jerusalem, are crowded by the multitudes; and the ascending plains around, and the slopes of the Mount of Olives, are all animated; it is an ocean of living beings.
And now they are silent all. Soon you will perceive a great cloud of smoke roll up from the altar and envelope the Temple, and then you will hear their hymns. There it is! and astounding! the millions of voices that ascend seem to burst the very heavens; the mountain shakes under the strange concussion.
--Their Hymn.—
272 SYRIA.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
O praise God in his holiness,
Praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts,
Praise him for his excellent greatness.
Instrumental music accompanying.
Praise him in the sound of the trumpet,
Praise him upon the lute and harp.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.
Children of the Levites, from the Temple.
Thine ordinances, O God, how glorious they are.
But tell us, fathers of Israel, what mean ye by this service?
Solemn recitative, from the Elders.
It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over
the houses of the children of Israel, in Egypt, when he smote
the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.
Hymn from Mount Moriah.
Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.
He has brought us in and planted us in the mountain of his inheritance;
In the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in,
In the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thine own hands have established.
Full thorns of all the multitudes.
The Lord is our strength, and he is become our salvation. He is our God, and we will honor his habitation.
Our father's God, and we will exalt him.
Hallelujah. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah.
Full company of instrumental music, on Mount Moriah.
Now listen, this is the hymn of solemn invocation.
From the Priests in the inner Court.
The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble.
The name of the God of Jacob defend thee,
Send thee help out of the Sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.
Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifices.
Grant thee according to thy heart's desire, and fulfil all thy mind.
Be merciful unto us, O God, be merciful unto us; for our soul trusteth in thee.
Response from the deputies in the surrounding courts.
Hear our cry, O God; give ear unto our supplications.
From the ends of the earth will we call upon thee when our heart is in heaviness.
Our souls wait only upon God; for our expectation is from him.
He is our salvation and our glory; he is the rock of our strength and our refuge.
Response from the full multitude.
Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy; our souls wait only upon thee.
Thou art our salvation and our glory; thou art the rock of our strength and our refuge.
HYMN THIRD.
Voices of the full multitude.
O sing unto the Lord a new song; far he bath done marvellous things.
With his own right hand, and with his holy arm, hath he gotten himself the victory.
The Lord hath declared his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen.
He hath remembered his mercy and truth towards the house of Israel;
And all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.
Show yourselves joyful before the Lord, all ye lands; sing, rejoice, and give thanks.
Praise the Lord upon the harp; sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.
With trumpets also, and shawms, O show yourselves joyful before the Lord, the king.
Full outburst of instrumental music on Mount Moriah.
274 SYRIA.
HYMN FOURTH.
Voices of the strangers.
How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts.
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet stand joyfully within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Voices of the citizens.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the peace of Jerusalem;
they shall prosper that love thee.
Full chorus of all, both strangers and citizens.
Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will wish thee prosperity.
Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.
Hallelujah! The Lord shall reign for ever and ever! Hallelujah!
* * * * * * * * *
City of Jerusalem! art thou then to be a heap of ruins? Land of glory! art thou then to be a desolation? Temple of the living God, to which exceeding beauty and wonderful associations draw our hearts, art thou then to be laid in the dust, till not one stone shall be left upon another? It is even so.
The voices of the worshippers are suddenly hushed, for upon yon distant hills, to the northward, is the glitter of armor; and see, the heights are now all covered with a dense array of the legions of Rome. Their leader comes here to reconnoitre, and from this mountain looks down upon the glorious city.
" It must be--
And yet it moves me, Romans! it confounds
The counsels of my firm philosophy,
That Ruin's merciless ploughshare must pass o'er,
And barren salt be sown on yon proud city.
As on our olive-crowned hill we stand,
Where Kedron at our feet its scanty waters
Distils from stone to stone with gentle motion,
As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace.
How boldly doth it front us! how majestically!
Like a luxurious vineyard, the hill-side
Is hung with marble fabrics, line on line,
Terrace-o'er terrace; nearer still, and nearer
To the blue heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces,
With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;
Here towers of war, that frown in massy strength,
While over all hangs the rich purple eve.
And as our clouds of battle, dust, and smoke,
Are melted into air, behold the Temple,
In undisturbed and lone serenity,
Finding itself a solemn sanctuary
In the profound o£ heaven! It stands before us
A mount of snow, fretted with golden pinnacles!
The very sun, as though he worshipped there,
Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs!
And down the long and branching porticoes,
On every flowery sculptured capital
Glitters the homage of his parting beams.
By Hercules! the sight might almost win
The offended majesty of Rome to mercy."
MILMAN.
It is a wonderful city, wonderful in its origin, in its history, in its present character; strange events, too, have been foretelling its doom, and terrible is to be its downfall.
A flaming sword was seen night after night, for the space of a year, suspended over the city; the inhabitants crowded to the Temple, they offered sacrifices, but still that bloody sword was over them; the timid buried themselves in their chambers and wept; the
276 SYRIA.
gay tried to forget it in debauch, but still it hung above the city, and the hearts of the stoutest at length quailed before it. It has lately disappeared, but they do not know whether to consider this as an omen for good or for evil.
Also the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, which requires twenty men to move it, one night, though secured by heavy bolts, opened of its own accord, as if to show that the spirits which had been keeping guard in the Temple were leaving it.
Also one night at Pentecost, as the priests were going to their duties in the inner court of the Temple, they felt a quaking of the earth, and then, as they stood to recover from their dread, they heard a whispering noise as of a multitude of people, saying, “Let us go hence."
Even now, as we have been sitting here, a lonely and mournful, but loud voice, has been repeating in the lanes and in the high streets of the city, "Wo, wo to Jerusalem!" And for four years, by day and in the deep stillness of night, that melancholy cry has been unceasingly heard denouncing wo to the affrighted and cowering inhabitants. A plain countryman came up to the Feast of Tabernacles four years ago while the country was prosperous and at peace; and while engaged in the duties of this occasion became suddenly a changed man, and before the multitudes cried aloud, “A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the Holy House, a voice
against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!" A dead weight of fear has ever since lain upon the spirits of the inhabitants, crushing the timid, and oppressing even the boldest. They have tried by every means to stop his mournful cry; they have beaten him till his bones were laid bare, but he made no supplication and shed no tears; they have carried him before the rulers, but he has not been awed to silence, nor to their queries and threats has he made any reply; he has associated with no one, but in the crowded city has made himself a solitary and a lonely man; he has not complained when ill treated and abused from day to day; he has not thanked those who gave him food; to each he has replied only by his usual exclamation of, wo to the city; the channels of all feeling, except a deep and dreadful horror, seem to have been frozen up. He rests but little; something within him hath murdered sleep. At midnight, when all nature is hushed in death-like repose, from amid the deep darkness his mournful voice is heard; and the mother starts and draws her infant to her breast, and the sentry on his post trembles at the prolonged and melancholy cry, "Wo, wo, wo to Jerusalem!"
* * * * * * * * * *
The wo bath been poured out upon the unhappy city.
* * * * * * * * * *
Eleven hundred thousand persons perished during
278 SYRIA.
the siege, by famine, pestilence, or by human violence. Ninety-seven thousand at its close were carried as captives into distant lands.*
* See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. v. § 3. Ibid. cap. ix. § 3; and for the prodigies, see also Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xiii.
279
CHAPTER XIX.
Visit to Bethlehem. Well of the Star. Monastery of Elijah. Rachael's Tomb. Plain of the Shepherds. Town of Bethlehem. Character of its inhabitants. Church and Cave of the Nativity.
Traditions. The Turpentine Tree, &c. Manufactures of the Bethlehemites. Tattooing. Country northward from Jerusalem. Cave of Jeremiah. Hill of Bezetha. Tombs of the Kings. Dr. Clarke's subterranean Chapels. Ancient quarries. Tombs of the Judges. Thorn from which the Saviour's crown is supposed to have been made. Difficulty at the Gates. Yaoub and the Soldiers.
ON the morning of the 18th we started for Bethlehem, which lies at the distance of about five miles from Jerusalem on the south. Leaving by the Jaffa gate, and crossing by difficult paths the valley of Hinnom, we had then before us an elevated plain bordered eastwardly by the valley of Jehoshaphat, about two miles wide, and extending three miles toward the south, in which direction it has a slight ascent. As we passed on, a troop of cavalry, which had been out at their morning drill, came sweeping along on our left; but when they had passed us, we were left alone in the open country, where scarcely a sign of cultivation appeared. A blight has for a great many years been upon this doomed and unhappy land. At the distance of about two miles from the city, we came to a well, called “the well of the kings," or, “the
280 SYRIA.
well of the star," from a tradition that when the wise men had left Jerusalem for Bethlehem, and had reached this place, the star (Matthew ii. 9.) appeared again, and led them on to the couch of the infant Messiah. At the extremity of this plain, and on a height commanding a view both of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, is the Greek monastery of Elijah, where is one of the sacred places of the country. "Here," says el Devoto Peregrino, "is a rock impressed by the body of the holy prophet, as natural as if it had been stamped there; for we see the head, the shoulders, the ribs and body, extended horizontally. This is the place to which the holy prophet retired to contemplate the future Messiah; and where, looking towards Bethlehem, he saw him enveloped in coarse swaddling clothes, but surrounded by angels, singing glory to God in the highest; and, looking towards Jerusalem, saw him nailed to the cross and crowned with thorns, while the multitude around were blaspheming and insulting him."
Sandys, in his quaint style, remarks of it: "Hard by is a flat rock, whereon they told us that the prophet was accustomed to sleepe, and that it beares as yet the impression of his body. Indeed, there are certaine hollowes in the same, but not by mine eyes apprehended to retaine any manly proportions."
I speak of the place from the authority of others, for I felt no disposition at the time to trouble myself with matters of this nature. Indeed, it requires a constant effort in travellers among these places to
keep the mind free from disgust, and from the baneful effects of the errors, that, like leeches, have fastened themselves to the truth, covering and deforming it, and exhausting its power, while they themselves live on its fading strength.
The monastery is surrounded by a strong wall, and looks as if it might be a place adapted as much for defence as for devotion.
Bethlehem here came into full view, though more than two miles distant; the country between it and us, although broken, being rather low, and the town itself being situated on an eminence of steep ascent. On the way, we left, at a short distance on our right hand, a small square edifice surmounted by a dome, evidently a modern structure, but called the tomb of Rachael, and regarded by Moslems as well as by the Christian sects here with high respect. Further on to our left, and below the town of Bethlehem, was a small valley, covered even at this hot season with a refreshing verdure; and here they inform us the shepherds were watching their flocks by night, when the angel appeared to announce glad tidings of great joy, the birth of "a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Near this is also a well, said to be the one from which David's three “mighty men" procured him water at the risk of their lives. Passing these spots, we soon after arrived at the outskirts of Bethlehem; and as our large cavalcade wound up the steep ascent, the whole population of the place came crowding along the way, hanging over the rude
282. SYRIA.
walls, and filling every door and window. They are all Christians in name, though they bear an indifferent character; and, what in these countries strikes one with surprise, the women appeared with their faces exposed, and frequently very good-looking faces they were. Our arrival seemed to excite a very unusual sensation, which I was able to account for by and by, when one of the men, taking me aside in the convent, asked seriously whether the report was true, “that we had come to take the place from the Egyptian Pasha." They bear no good feeling towards the Moslem power, and have always been refractory and troublesome subjects to the Porte; their insulated situation, and the facilities for retiring to mountain fastnesses in the wild country around, encouraging in them bold and independent habits. We were informed that when the general order from Mohammed Ali for disarming the populace of Syria was carried to them, they sent in about a dozen muskets, saying, that these were all they had; nor could any threats wrest more from them, though the place has three or four hundred fighting men well equipped. The town is situated on a piece of isolated table land, of sudden elevation on every side. On the east this runs out into a narrow tongue, and at the extremity of this projection, 200 yards distant from the village, are the monastery and church of the Franciscans, covering the spot where the Messiah was born.
The recent earthquake had rent the massive walls of these edifices, but not so as to endanger them, and we met with a ready and hospitable reception
beneath the roof. The door of entrance is low and strong, and every where in this country is the traveller reminded of the insecurity of life and property; and, unless people would live there with a martyr's spirit, of the necessity of being constantly prepared for defence.
Having entered the building, we were carried along some winding passages, and found ourselves presently in a church that had once been splendid, but which is now in a dilapidated state, owing partly to the effects of time, and partly to the spoliations of the Turks. It has four rows of columns, ten in each row, and still imposing objects, the effect of which is heightened by gilding and paintings on the wall; but the colors are dim, and the pavement is torn up, and the place has a melancholy grandeur that chills and oppresses the feelings.
They took us from this, after a short period for resting, into some side passages, and we soon found ourselves descending into the Cave of the Nativity. It is reached at one end by a tortuous underground passage, but on the other by a flight of steps that brings us at once to the spot. We were introduced by the former of these, and after winding along for a distance of about fifty feet, we turned short to the left, and a flood of light bursting suddenly upon us, we knew that we were in the Chapel or Cave of the Nativity. The main body of this subterranean apartment is about thirty-five feet long by twelve in width, with a height of ten or twelve feet, but it is
284 SYRIA.
irregular in shape. On either side, as we advanced, were benches or seats for those who may choose to come here for meditation. Having proceeded about twenty feet, we came to a small apartment on our right, about ten feet square, the floor of which is lower by eighteen inches than the remainder of the cave; it is open in front, where are two pillars to support the roof. On the three remaining sides are shallow recesses; one of which, they inform us, is the manger in which the infant Messiah was laid; in the recess opposite the Magi sat, and in the third they deposited the gifts of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh." The rock over this apartment is bare, and visitors are allowed to break off small fragments; the other portions of the cave are all lined with precious marbles.
Just beyond this spot the cave branches to the right and left, a broad flight of steps, on either hand, leading, at the distance of about twenty feet, to the surface of the ground; at the angle formed by this branching is another recess, about three feet deep and six in length. It is occupied by an altar, over which is a handsome painting of the Adoration; the altar is in form of a table, and beneath it, at the centre of a star formed of marble mosaic work, is a silver plate inscribed,
HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST.
Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.
I suppose there can be no reasonable doubt that
this is actually the cave of the Nativity. Hadrian, in derision of the Christians, placed here a statue of Adonis, and Helena, not long after, erected the church, the remains of which we have just been examining. Jerome speaks of the place as undisputed in his day; and as he resided here a while, we must suppose him well acquainted with the subject. A subterranean chamber, on the right of the winding passage by which we had reached this cave, is still pointed out as his study; they show, adjoining to it, also, the place where the bodies of the Innocents were cast, the sepulchre of St. Jerome, that of Eusebius, and that also of St. Paula and her daughter Eustoquio, persons distinguished in the Romish calendar. Over the small chamber in which the manger is situated, they show also what they call a picture of St. Jerome, stained miraculously in the natural rock.
It is sad, when we enter a place of such powerful interest, to be met at the very threshold with things that we cannot believe; and instead of being left to indulge in salutary reflections, to be compelled to commence separating truth from error, and fixing their boundaries, or else to feel the repulsive and chilling effect of scepticism settling upon the whole. The great error of the Romish and Greek churches here has been in endeavoring to fix upon a locality for every event noticed in Scripture; and even the parables of our Saviour have not been suffered to escape from this spirit of blind and injudicious zeal.
286 SYRIA.
They point out upon the Mount of Olives spots as those where the Saviour taught the Lord's Prayer, where the Apostles composed the creed, where Christ wept over Jerusalem, where he preached the Judgment, &c.; and on Mount Zion, where the last supper was held, where Peter retired to weep, where Isaiah was sawn in two, and a great variety of other places with which it is not necessary to fatigue the reader.
And as if this were not enough, they have got up traditions of the wildest and most startling nature, and the whole country is full of the localities with which these are connected. On the way out to Bethlehem are two which I have not yet noticed, and at which I will now barely glance. One is a place where formerly stood a turpentine tree. As the Virgin was going to Jerusalem with the infant for the Presentation in the Temple, this tree bowed and did reverence as they passed; and to make its show of respect more lasting, did not return to its
former position, but remained thus inclined. It was worthy of observation, too, that ever after, though the air might be sultry and stifling in all the region about it, yet under this tree was always a refreshing breeze. Indulgences were granted to those who recited prayers beneath it; wood was cut from it by night (through fear of the Turks), and carried, in the form of crosses, all over Europe. The Arabs, at length, in a fit of ill humor, cut it down.
As we descend the hill toward Bethlehem is
another spot made sacred by their traditions. The Virgin passing by this place, saw a man sowing or planting beans, and asking him what he was employed at, received for answer, that he was sowing pebbles; on which, the beans in his basket turned to pebbles, nor has any care since that availed to make the field produce any thing else than stones.
These are only specimens of the superstitious legends with which the whole region is filled.
On our return to the convent, we found an excellent dinner in a state of preparation by the monks, who indeed, during the whole of our visit, treated us with great hospitality and attention; on leaving it, we, in return, made them a present of some gold coin, which, as was perfectly proper, they accepted. During the recent troubles in the country, the strong walls of their monastery had afforded protection to the persons and property of many of the inhabitants of Bethlehem; and we found several of the chambers and passages still filled with furniture and bags of grain. While dinner was in preparation, the natives of the town crowded in with a great variety of articles which they are in the habit of making for pilgrims; crosses, inkstands, boxes of mother of pearl, huge clasps for girdles made of a complete shell with figures cut in relief, and beads of the same material, and of a substance called Mecca-stone, which is sometimes colored red or black. Most of these objects were rude enough, but some of the figures in relief were conceived and executed in a manner that would
288 SYRIA.
not have disgraced an Italian artist. The pilgrims place these things first in the Cave of the Nativity, and then carry them to the Holy Sepulchre, where, being deposited on the tomb, prayers are said over them, which are supposed to give them a supernatural power over evil spirits, so far as to protect the persons and property of the possessors.
While most of us were laying in large stores of their bead and pearl manufactures, some of our younger companions were submitting to the painful process of having figures, from Scriptural subjects, pricked and stained in the arm with blue or black pigment, a species of tattooing, at which, it seems, the Bethlehemites are expert, and to which pilgrims very often submit. It is not often that they have such a market for their commodities, and I believe our visit to Bethlehem will long be remembered; to us it was certainly a very interesting epoch.
---------------------
Taking our usual interpreter, an intelligent young Armenian, for a guide, and accompanied, whether we would or no, by a half crazy and yet very shrewd fellow, called Yaoub, a party of us made an excursion one day to “the Tombs of the Kings." They lie about three quarters of a mile north of the city, amid olive groves and fields; and we found the walk there pleasanter than we anticipated.
We passed out by the Damascus gate, so called from the circumstance that the great road from Damascus enters the city here; and soon after leaving it, turned to our right to examine a huge cavern
that stood yawning upon us. It is called the Cave of Jeremiah, from a tradition that he made it his residence; it is above 100 feet deep, by seventy in width and thirty in height, and is a gloomy, desolate place, such as we may suppose would have been chosen by the author of the Lamentations; but I presume there is no other authority for its name.
We were now on the hill Bezetha, where stood the Neopolis, or New City, inclosed by Agrippa’s wall. The hill is still marked with tolerable distinctness, though it is in no place very high. It is ridge shaped, declining gently towards the east and west, and ascending gradually towards the north. Passing on, we reached, in a short time, a square pit with smooth perpendicular sides, about 100 feet on each side and fifteen in depth, cut in the solid rock, and resembling a quarry, which it may have originally been. An inclined plane at the north-eastern angle leads to the bottom; and having descended by this, we had opposite to us, on the south, a portico about twenty-five feet long by ten in depth, cut out of the solid rock; this is surmounted by an entablature, enriched with flowing sculpture of plants and fruits, in bold relief, and of very superior execution. At the eastern end of this portico was a hole, formerly a door-way of easy passage, but now so filled up that we could enter only by prostrating ourselves flat on the ground, and pushing ourselves forward by the feet. Having entered in this manner, we found that we were in a room about twenty feet square, cut entirely out of
290 SYRIA.
the solid rock. It appears to have served as a vestibule to other chambers, of which there are six in number, each with one or more receptacles for the dead. These consist of troughs cut out of the native rock, not sunk in the floor as is generally the case in the ancient sepulchres about this city, but on its level; fragments of the covers of one or two were scattered about the rooms; these were enriched with flowing sculpture, very well executed in strong relief; the coffins or sarcophagi were in other respects entirely plain.
The doors by which these chambers were closed are very remarkable objects. They are of stone, and are in dimensions about forty by thirty inches, and are six inches in thickness. Above and below are projecting knobs, forming a portion of the same stone, four inches in length; these were inserted into corresponding sockets, and formed the pivots on which the door revolved; but the question, how they were inserted into the grooves, is one that it would be difficult to solve. It is said that the ancients had a mode of fastening these doors so that no one who had not the secret could open them without breaking the stone. I have seen similar grooves in the gateway of the citadel of Mycenae in Greece; and the sculpture belonging to these tombs, so strongly resembling the Grecian, appears to indicate for them an origin in the latter days of the ancient city. They are probably what by Josephus are called Herod's Monument, and in another place, “the sepulchral caverns
of the Kings;"* and I think we may reasonably suppose them to have been formed by Herod. If this surmise with regard to their name is correct, they receive an additional interest, as showing us the northern boundary of the “new city" of Bezetha.
From this we proceeded to visit "the Tombs of the Judges," which lie nearly a mile further, in a course somewhat west of north. The ground was still cultivated in patches, and was covered with olive trees; the surface undulating. We passed, on the way, several subterranean apartments like that which Dr. Clarke discovered on the Mount of Olives, and which he supposed to have been a chapel for the secret and forbidden worship of the false gods. They are in shape like a bee-hive, are plaistered, and are entered by a small hole at the apex, which is the only opening. To our judgment they seemed designed to be reservoirs for water, or for granaries, but were most probably the former. Several years since I discovered one exactly similar to these, on some heights overlooking the site of the ancient Abydos at the Dardanelles.
We were now getting into an interesting region, evidently that from which were procured the huge blocks that formed the walls of the ancient city. The rock here is compact and solid, and of a fine texture; and for a great distance, and in every direction, exhibited the appearance that rocks would do
* Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. xiii. § 2. and Ib. cap. iv. 2.
292 SYRIA.
from which large rectangular blocks with smooth surfaces had been cut. The vertical sections were regular and smooth, and sometimes fifteen or twenty feet in height. In the face of them were a great number of tombs, such as I have already described; sometimes consisting of a single chamber, sometimes of a succession of chambers, and with from two to four burial-places each, generally without ornament, and, as far as we observed, without inscriptions.
The largest of these chambers are called the Tombs of the Judges; but as the name is probably fanciful, we gave it little attention. Nor are the tombs themselves, except in size, more interesting than the others. These tombs are scattered over a surface of about a square mile, and are numerous. In the interval between this and the city grows abundantly a thorn, which is considered to be the species from which the Saviour's crown of thorns was made. It is called the Rhamnus Paliurus, and consists of a bush with long slender twigs, on which are, alternately, a long and a short thorn, slightly curved and very sharp. It is found all over Syria, and also in Asia Minor.
We set out from this on our return; but the sun had set, and when we reached the city gates we found them closed; nor, in the strict vigilance which the recent dangers had taught them, was it at that time easy to get them opened again. Our crazy friend, Yaoub, who had been acting the merry-andrew along the road, now, however, interfered,
and was more serviceable than a more sensible person would have been. He hailed a soldier, whom, in his walks about, he spied reconnoitring us through a loop-hole, and the man of gunpowder and bullets, perhaps thinking him sufficiently crazy to be a Turkish Santon or Saint, was at length brought to a parley. A messenger was despatched forthwith to the Governor; and Yaoub, now once more quite at ease, called to the soldiers to pass him a pipe beneath the gate, which having been done, he sat down to enjoy its fumes and his own importance. The messenger at length returned, and the guard having been mustered, and the gates having been thrown wide open, we were about to advance, when we were met by a couple of dozen fixed bayonets directly at our breast. We were brought to a stand till a more careful scrutiny of our faces had satisfied the officers that we were not wild Arabs in disguise; when the ranks opened, and we were allowed to enter. And we found that the prospect of spending the night in the open fields, that for a while was staring upon us, was sufficient to give a charm even to our hard and uneasy quarters in the convent.
294
CHAPTER XX.
OUR party, with a good store of relics, olive canes from the Mount of Olives, and other memorials of their visit, left Jerusalem on the morning of the 20th; their early departure being occasioned by a desire to give the officers, who had remained in charge of the ships, also an opportunity of visiting the city.
While we were preparing to sail from Alexandria, the Egyptian monarch had ordered to be prepared for Commodore Patterson a letter of introduction to Ibrahim Pasha, and a firman for all Syria, worded in strong terms of kindness, commanding all persons, whether in authority or otherwise, to treat him, and those with him, with the same respect and attention that they would show personally to Mohammed Ali himself. The Commodore, during his stay in Jerusalem, had made an official call on the Governor, but not finding him at home, had made no use of
the firman. Just, however, as the party were preparing to leave the city, the Governor heard of it, probably through the Pasha of Jaffa, where it had been used, and in great alarm sent immediately to apologize for not having shown the party greater attentions. When they reached the gate this morning, they found on the outside a double file of soldiers, who presented arms, and the Governor himself here joined the Commodore, and accompanied him some distance from the city. He regretted that he had not had official notice of our coming, so that he might have prepared accommodations for the party; and said that when the second company should arrive, they would find a commodious house ready for them. We certainly, however, had no cause of complaint; for we had every where been treated with respect and kindness; and the Governor's offer of a large escort to the plain of Jordan I have already noticed. The anecdote will show the dread in which the Egyptian Pasha is held through all his dominions.
I did not accompany the party back, having received permission to remain till the second company should conclude their visit. Mr. M., our sailing-master, who was ill of a fever, and unable to ride, was also left behind; and as the fever began to increase rapidly upon him, we accepted Mr. Nicholayson's invitation, and had him placed in more comfortable quarters at the Missionary house. But Mr. Nicholayson was now himself becoming
296 SYRIA.
seriously ill. His health had been for some time feeble; and recent exposure to the sun, and fatigue, had brought on sickness. It was now evident that a violent fever was burning in his veins. There was no nurse in the house, and I removed also from the convent to this hospital, for such Mr: N's dwelling had now literally become.
I shall not soon forget the night that followed these changes, a night of the deepest anxiety and distress. In the lower part of the house was a little girl, daughter of the Armenian Patriarch of Boirout, put here to board, sick with the ophthalmia; two servants were also ill of fevers, and unable to help themselves; Mrs. N. was just recovering from a long sickness, and durst not expose herself to fatigue. In one corner of the room with me was Mr. M., restless, and in a burning heat, and on an adjoining bed was stretched Mr. N. now in a high fever, and quite delirious. For the others we could find some medicines tolerably appropriate, but the case of the last gentleman baffled our judgment, and there was not a physician to be had in the place. It was sad to be compelled to sit and listen to his ravings, and to see the disease hourly taking stronger hold upon him, and know not what to do. The ruling passion of his life was still prevailing, even in his wildest fancies; and his language was about the mission and its friends, or else he was disputing with the Jewish Rabbis, and quoting Hebrew from their voluminous authors. Thus wore
the night away, a long and distressing night; and the day brought no relief, for we had the grief to see our friend sinking fast under his fiery disease. The fever left him towards evening, but as weak as an infant, and now particularly needing assistance which we knew not how to give; for the disease appeared to be of a complicated nature, and the little medicine which we ventured to administer, had done harm rather than good. If I could picture that missionary family as I saw it there, the scene would, I think, be a refutation of the charges of those who seem to think that missionaries go abroad for selfish and unworthy purposes. They had just passed through times of alarm and distress, such as persons seldom, and in our homes are never, called to witness; a city for days rocked and shattered by earthquakes, till the affrighted inhabitants knew not where to fly, and then plundered by fierce and lawless men. Their house had been pierced with cannon balls, and they were compelled to fly from one place to another for shelter; one of their company, whose health had been too feeble for these rude shocks, they had carried to the tomb, and had buried her beside another martyr in the same cause of missions.* In the house were now six invalids, some very ill, and one, the head of the family, apparently at the point of death; nor was there a physician to be any where found.--And the grave which we expected to dig for him was soon after this, dug for
* Dr, Dalton, from England.
298 SYRIA.
another of the mission family, Dr. Dodge, whom we met on the way as we were returning to Jaffa. Yet they keep their ground, undismayed by dangers and death; suffering discomforts with cheerfulness; patient amid rebuffs, and with a zeal that tries, even in subjects of disappointment, to find new sources of hope, and that “fainteth not, neither is weary." Nine months after this, as our ship was lying in Gibraltar bay, I heard that Mrs. Nicholayson was on board an English brig that, after suffering severely in a storm, had just come in and anchored; and procuring a boat, I went within speaking distance, for the brig was in quarantine, and we were not permitted to go on board. She was