ON the morning following our arrival in the Holy City we had some discussion concerning the places we should first visit. Bayard wished to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Will had read in Dr. Barclay's "City of the Great King," of Miss Barclay's visit to the Tomb of David, and was eager to see it, while others thought it best to first visit the site of the Temple. The discussion was brought to an end by the announcement of Mr. Crunden, that the American Consul had been seen and that soon a Cavass would be at our hotel to conduct us to the Haram Esh Sheriff, as the Mohammedans call the sacred inclosure where once stood the Temple of God. This spot is considered by the disciples of Mohammed as one of the holiest places in the world. Indeed, they place it in sanctity next after Mecca, where their Prophet was born, and Medina, where we was buried.

      They have always been much averse to having Christians visit their holy places. Up to this time no one has visited Mecca or Medina unless he was in disguise and passed himself off as a [282] Mohammedan. For a long time Christians were not allowed to visit the "Harem Esh Sheriff," and still they refuse to all them to enter the mosque at Hebron which stands over the Cave of Macpelah. where Abraham and the patriarchs were buried. But the pressure of the European powers has forced the Turks to give orders to admit visitors, under certain restrictions, to the site of the Temple. We found it necessary to secure permission to make this visit through the U.S. Consul, and to go under the protection of an officer sent from his office, called a Cavass. This officer is an Oriental in the service of the Consul, is dressed in a peculiar uniform, carries his badge of authority, and represents the power of the United States. When one looks upon a Cavass for the first time, covered with spangles, and sparkling in his tinselry, he hardly know whether to laugh at him as he would at a clown, or to feel a sense of awe in the presence of one more gorgeous than Solomon in all his glory.

      Soon after we had eaten our breakfast, he presented himself shining and glorious in rich colors, and at once we started off at his heels filled with eager expectation. As our hotel was outside of the Jaffa Gate, where a new modern city is being built, we had not before entered within the walls of the Holy City. We were led through the gate usually [283] called by Europeans the Jaffa Gate, because the road to Jaffa starts from this point, but called by the Arabs Bab el Khalil, "The Gate of the Friend," because the road to Hebron where Abraham, "the Friend of God," was buried, also starts here. There is an archway in a massive tower, and the entrance turns at right angles in the center of the tower. The gates until within a few years were closed at sunset, and not opened again until sunrise, but they now usually stand open night and day.

      Passing within, we found ourselves upon a street running to the east which is much wider than we had usually found in an Eastern city. Indeed, near the gate it is widened into a market place, and was filled with traffickers, who were busy chaffering, and pushing the sale of their fruits, vegetables, or wares of various kinds, in the noisy manner common with Orientals. The street before us is named after the great king who was the real founder of Jerusalem, and is called "David Street," and runs across the city to the east until it tens at the wall of the Haram Esh Sheriff, or Temple enclosure.

      There was a great frowning building upon our right hand which had far more interest for us than the offers of the anxious merchants; a lofty, castle-like structure, built of great stones, and bearing every mark of antiquity. We could see the crescent flag of the Turks waving over it, and it [284] seemed to be occupied with Turkish soldiers.

      "What building is this?" asked Bayard. "The great stones in the lower course show it to be very ancient."

      "It is called," replied Mr. Crunden, "the Tower

THE TOWER OF DAVID FROM THE WEST.

of David. It is not likely that it was standing in David's time, but it is probable that it stood here when Christ taught in Jerusalem, and perhaps he rested many times under its shadow."

      "But is there any proof that it is so old?" asked David. "I have understood that the Romans in A.D. 70 entirely destroyed the city, walls and Temple. They would hardly have spared this building." [285]

      "We have the testimony of a man who was at Jerusalem when it was destroyed," said Mr. Crunden. "We are told by Josephus, the Jewish historian, who was present, that Titus, the Roman general, threw down all the towers except two or three. One of those spared was then called the Tower of Phasælus. That tower has never been destroyed, and is probably the tall fortress which we are now admiring. To the tower, of which Josephus gives an extravagant account, the Turks have added the citadel that you see about it, and made it their chief stronghold in Jerusalem."

      Here the Cavass gave a sign of impatience, and Mr. Crunden assured us that at another time we should examine all objects of interest by the way, but that now we must hurry forward. As we moved eastward David Street grew more and more narrow until it was not over eight feet wide. We might have followed it directly to the Haram Esh Sheriff and entered through the gate at its foot, but from some cause which we did not understand we turned to the left on Christian Street, and then again passed through other narrow streets, where the light of the sun never falls, and where often the projecting buildings touch each other over our heads, until at last we paused at a gate in a great wall like that of a fortress. After a short interval the gate was opened, a turbaned patriarch with a long white beard, and a flowing garment a good deal like a Bloomer costume, gave us [286] welcome. This gentleman was the "Sheik of the Holy Places," and had met us in order to conduct us, show us the sights, and to watch us and see that we showed becoming reverence.

      At his bidding we passed within and found ourselves inside of a walled inclosure containing about thirty-five acres, with two large and striking buildings within, and several smaller structures. It was almost level and a considerable part of it was paved with stone. The larger buildings were Mohammedan mosques, and all the smaller were devoted in some way to sacred users.

      We paused for a moment, and Mr. Crunden said: "You are within the Temple enclosure, and upon the hill of Mount Moriah, the hill so famous in Israelitish history. On this hill Abraham is supposed to have built the altar in order to offer Isaac; on it was the threshing floor of Araunah, where David offered sacrifices when the pestilence was stayed; here also Solomon reared the Temple of God, and here our Lord worshiped, taught, and gave his solemn warning to Israel. Here also the apostles 'taught daily,' and here the apostle Paul was when the Jews seized him, and would have killed him if the Romans had not rescued him. There is no more interesting place in the world. It is now used for Mohammedan worship, and the largest of the mosques that you see, the Mosque of Omar, stands on the precise spot where the Temple stood." [287]

      "How can we be certain of this?" I asked.

      "When you go within the Mosque of Omar you will see a great projection of the natural rock of Mount Moriah rising within, on account of which the mosque is often called the 'Dome of the Rock.' Josephus, who was a Jewish priest, and often within the Temple, says that this point of rock rose within the Holy Place of the Temple."

      "You spoke of this as the Mount Moriah," said Bayard. "It looks more like a level plain than a hill."

      "That," said he, "is because great walls have been built around the hill nearer its base, and then the enclosed space filled up so as to bring it to the level of the hill top, and thus form a level area."

      "That must have been a stupendous labor. Who did it?" asked Will.

      "It was mainly the work of Solomon, though the level enclosure has been enlarged since his time by additions on the north end. But let us now go to the Mosque of Omar."

      Occupying a central position in the inclosure is the Mosque of Omar, as it is usually called, from the belief that it was built by the great warrior of that name, who took Jerusalem in A.D. 637, though others think that it was built by one of his successors about A.D. 686. The [288] Mohammedans call it "The Dome of the Rock" for a reason that has been given above. It stands on a raised platform which is approached by steps of stone, is of an octagon shape, with each of its eight sides sixty-eight feet in length; it has four gates at the four points of the compass, and is surmounted by a great dome ninety-eight feet high. The richly-colored porcelain tiles with which it is covered, and the passages of the Koran engraved upon the walls, give it rather a striking appearance.

      We paused at the entrance to take off our shoes, for none can enter so sacred an inclosure unless they are laid aside; then we passed within, and had to wait a moment until our eyes could adapt themselves to the light before we could see. There are fifty-six stained windows, but these temper the light so as to make the interior quite gloomy. The walls are covered with porcelain, the floor is composed of marble mosaic, and great columns of porphyry supported the dome.

      Probably the most striking thing within is a great rugged point of limestone rock, unhewn, and lying where nature placed it, which rises about five feet above the floor. It is about sixty feet long by forty-five feet wide, and is the original rock summit of Mount Moriah, around which Solomon, with immense labor, made the great level platform for the the Temple and its courts. This is the rock of which Mr. Crunden had just spoken, [289]

MOSQUE OF OMAR. [290]

which the Jewish historian, Josephus, who was a priest while the Temple was standing, says arose within the Temple. Hence, we can have no doubt but that this mosque, which is called the "Dome of the Rock" on account of this circumstance, stands on the exact spot where the Temple stood.

      This rock is surrounded by a railing, but we were allowed to go within and to descend by eleven steps into a cavern which had been hewn out below. The old Sheik pointed us to a circular stone in the floor of the cavern, and beat upon it to show by the sound that it was hollow beneath. It was explained to us by an interpreters that there is a well or cavity below which leads down to hell! We were also informed that until about fifty years ago the mouth of the well was left open, and that conversation could be carried on between the living and the lost. Some of the news carried back and forth, however, caused such excitement, both down in hell and in the city, that the authorities ordered the mouth to be closed with the circular stone. Occasionally still, on a good day, the groans of the damned may be heard here, but the circumstances did not favor when we were there, and we heard no sound.

      Another item of information we received here had more interest, from the fact that it might be partly true. The Sheik stated as an undoubted fact that Abraham, David, Christ and Mohammed had all prayed in the cavern, and he added that [291] whatever prayer was offered in this holy spot would surely be granted. Another marvel that he showed us after we had ascended from the cave was the mark, apparently, of a colossal hand in the rock. When Mohammed took his famous night journey to heaven, in which all good Mohammedans believe, they tell us that he first came from Arabia to this spot and ascended from the point of this rock. As he ascended, the rock started from its foundations to follow, and would have gone after him had not the Angel Gabriel laid his hand upon it and forced it to remain. In proof of this veritable history see there the marks of his hand! Sure enough, there is an impression of a great hand upon the rock, and you can believe that it was made by the hand of Gabriel if you wish. Not far from it there is the impression of a foot on the rock, and we are gravely told that this was made by the foot of Mohammed when he took his leap to ascend to heaven! Yet, in spite of these fictions, a place which was the very center of the worship of Jehovah for a thousand years, and which had been hallowed by the feet of prophets, the Savior and his apostles, made us feel very solemn.

      I can only mention here one more incident that occurred in this wonderful place. As we were slowly moving about the mosque, looking at various objects of interest, suddenly I heard an outburst of rage. I looked, and the venerable Sheik [292] of the Holy Places, before so genial and benevolent, had been suddenly transformed into the appearance of a madman. His eyes were flashing, he was shouting, brandishing his arms, and was evidently in a great fury. I could not understand him, as he spoke Arabic, and stepping up to Joseph I asked him the cause of the commotion. He replied, "I don't want to tell you just now," but it was explained a moment after, when I saw the Sheik fling himself upon the marble floor, seize the skirt of his robe, and begin to scour the pavement with all his vigor. One of company, a gentleman from New York, had thoughtlessly spit on the floor! The Sheik regarded it an insult to the holy place, and such an act was so much opposed to Oriental ideas of the due respect to the house of God that he supposed it had been done out of disrespect. It occurred to me that Americans who so thoughtlessly defile the floor of churches by a torrent of tobacco spittle might learn a useful lesson from the Orientals. So horrified was the guardian of the Holy Places that I believed that if the Cavass in all his splendor had not been standing there representing the majesty of the United States and throwing its protection over us, our lives would have been sacrificed. It required a long time and much effort of our conductor and dragoman to appease his rage.

      From the Mosque of Omar we were led to the Mosque El Aksa, which stands at the southeast [293] corner of the enclosed area. It is a beautiful building, said to have been built for a Christian Church before the Mohammedans took Jerusalem, but, like many other ancient churches in the East, converted into a mosque. There were two things that interested us very greatly. Since the mosque is in the corner of the Haram Esh Sheriff we looked down from it directly into the Kedron Valley, nearly a hundred feet below. Before the valley was filled up with so much rubbish that its depth has been reduced fully one hundred feet, the height here must have seemed very giddy.

      "It makes me think," said Will, while we were gazing down, "of the account of Satan taking Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and asking him to cast himself down. I imagine that the height was much like this."

      "It is generally thought," said Mr. Crunden, "that this is the very place referred to. Josephus says, in his description of the temple, that at this place from the top of the porches to the bottom of the valley was a precipitous descent of three hundred feet. See what a fine view of the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Kedron, the tombs of Absalom, Zacharias and St. James, and of the Jewish cemetery, is presented here."

      We next descended a stairway that leads down beneath the mosque. After a long descent we found ourselves in a great subterranean enclosure, the roof of which was supported by a multitude [294] of great columns and walls built of huge stones. This great cavern, the work of man, was so vast that we could not make out its dimensions in the dim light. Our attention was called to a number of iron rings fastened into the stones of the walls and columns. These had evidently been used for fastening horses, and these great subterranean chambers have been called on this account "The Stables of Solomon." If the southern part of the present temple enclosure was used, as many think, for Solomon's palace, it would be strange if he were to use the vast space enclosed below the level surface for stables which would open out into the Kedron valley. We are told in one place that Solomon had stalls for forty thousand horses (1 Kings 4:26). They may also have been used for the same purpose by the Crusaders or the Turks.

      Here down beneath the platform we could see by what vast labor Solomon had built up the substructions which enabled him to construct a great level area for the temple and its courts about the peak of one of the hills of Jerusalem. Mr. Crunden called our attention to the fact that three styles of architecture were seen in these columns. Near the base were the great stones, laid without cement, which had been put in place by the workmen of Solomon. Then came the repairs of Herod the Great when he rebuilt the Temple; still above these was more recent work when repairs were needful in later times. Before we [295] ascended we took a peep into a dark hole which we were told was a passage leading to Palestine, and then after we were upon the upper floor, inspected two columns about six or eight inches apart which, we learned, were a test of fitness for Paradise. He who could squeeze through between these would be able to pass the strait gate, but he who failed in the effort would find also that the doors of Paradise were too narrow for him. We asked two or three men in our company who would weigh about two hundred pounds each to test their own title, but they declined the attempt.

      Next we walked along the eastern wall of the Haram until we came to a flight of stairs which ascends the wall, and gives one a fine view of the Kedron valley below and of Mount Olivet beyond. The Sheik spoke some words to Mr. Crunden, and then he explained to us that this would be the scene of the Last Judgment. A line, as fine as a thread, would be stretched from the wall here across the valley, and all would be called upon to walk the rope, more than a hundred feet in mid-air. The angels would support the righteous and help them to safely make the passage, but the wicked, left to their own devices, would fall and be dashed to pieces.

      Next we came to a gate in the eastern wall, which has been walled up. It had not been in use for generations, probably for the reason that it is not now needed, but another explanation is [296] offered by the Mohammedans. They have a tradition that if the Christians ever take Jerusalem again, they will come in through this gate, and the people say that it was walled up as a precaution to prevent this. Another tradition is that Jesus will enter the city at this gate when he comes for judgment, and many think that he will preside over the trial at the rope over the Kedron which we have just described.

      We had now spent about five hours in the Haram, and were far from being satisfied, but our vigorous appetites gave warning that we needed food; hence we passed out of the enclosure at a gate to the north, and were guided through the bewildering maze of crooked and narrow streets to the Damascus Gate in the northern wall, from whence we soon found our way outside of the walls to our hotel outside the Jaffa Gate.

      We were soon refreshed by an attractive lunch, to which the luscious grapes of Eschol formed a dessert, and then started out under the charge of Joseph to visit Mount Zion. We again entered the Jaffa Gate. but turned south from David Street as soon as we had passed the Tower of David. This is the Armenian quarter, and is occupied by their convent, by their church of St. James, a very large structure, and by other Armenian buildings. This portion of the city is clean and pleasant, [297] with attractive gardens and shade trees. At the end of the street we came to Zion Gate, called also the Gate of the Prophet David. Near this gate until recently was the Leper's Village, a row of hovels occupied by these unfortunates. They have now been removed, and the lepers are provided for in a hospital northwest of the city, near the Upper Pool of Gihon. We first met these wretched people at Nablous, and in the description of our visit there have given some account of them.

      Outside of the gate the first building was the "House of Caiaphas," now a part of an Armenian convent. It had not much interest for us, since we know of no evidence that Caiaphas ever lived here, but we approached with somewhat different feeling a large, irregularly built mosque with several domes and a minaret, which is style the Tomb of David.

      First, we are led into a large room which we are told is the "Upper Room" where the last supper was eaten, and are shown a great stone which is said to have been the table used. This place would have some interest for us if we had believed that it was the scene of that event, and we are glad when we are conducted by a flight of steps into another large room, whitewashed, bare, except a large stone tomb in the center about twelve feet long and five feet high, covered with a bright-colored curtain, which we were told is the [298]

THE TOMB OF DAVID. [299]

Tomb of David. We know, however, that the real tomb lies in a cavern below, to which visitors are not admitted, and indeed, it is only of recent years that Christians have been allowed to enter the chamber where we now stand. Miss Sarah Barclay, the daughter of Dr. Barclay, the missionary, is the only Christian of whom I have heard who has been permitted to enter the cavern and behold the real tomb. An account of her visit and a picture of the tomb are found in her father's very interesting book, "The City of the Great King."

      When we had gone out into the open air, Bayard said: "Yusef, do you really think that this is the Tomb of David?"

      "I know," said Joseph, "that the Bible tells us that David, and most of the kings, were buried on Mount Zion. It is hardly likely that the burial place would be forgotten."

      "I know," exclaimed Will, "that Peter says to the Jews in speaking of David, `His sepulcher is with us unto this day.' The place was known in Peter's time."

      "And I know," I added, "that Nehemiah (3:16) says that the tomb was opposite a certain pool. This tomb is exactly opposite the pool of Gihon. This building is in the right place. We know, too, that this has always been pointed out as the place. We can safely accept the tradition, I believe."

      We were now outside of the buildings upon a [300] cultivate field. The city in David's time was on Mount Zion, but now it extends far to the north, and at least half of Zion is outside the walls, and had this season borne a harvest of grain, thus fulfilling the words of the prophet to Judah: "Therefore, for your sake, shall Zion be plowed like a field" (Micah 3:12).

      But we must hurry on for we wish to enter the city at the "Stranger's Gate" and go to the Jewish Wailing Quarter. This is Friday afternoon, when the Jews assemble at the foot of the temple wall to wail over the desolation of Jerusalem, a sight we must not fail to see. Hence we go east on the outside of the wall, descend the slope from Mount Zion into the valley between Zion and Moriah, the valley once called the Tyropoeon, entered at the gate named by the Arabs "the Gate of Strangers," but having a different name in Neh. 3:15, and find ourselves in a jungle of cactus which fills this part of the valley. We soon reach the southwest wall of the "Haram Esh Sheriff," and stop to wonder at the tremendous blocks of stone which we see in the wall. One of them, by measurement, is thirty-four feet four inches long, seven feet wide, three and half feet high, and Captain Warren, who dug down through the rubbish which has filled this valley to the original surface, says that this great stone was [301] placed in the wall seventy-five feet above its foundations. How did the builders ever lift it up into place?

      We now follow a crooked lane for a short distance, and find ourselves in an open space along the wall, in which are gathered a number of Jews, intently engaged in reading aloud, in a wailing tone, from books which they hold open. The tears standing in their eyes show that they are deeply affected. By glancing over their shoulders we find that they are reading from collections containing portions of the Hebrew Scriptures. One of the passages they read was from Isa. 64:9-12, and read as follows:

      "Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. The holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all out pleasant things are laid waste." Another passage which they read is found in Ps. 79:1, 4, 5, 8. It was very affecting to see this remnant of the people who so long worshiped in the temple, gathered at the foot of the ancient walls of the Holy Place, confessing the sins of their nation and mourning over the desolation of their sanctuary. For fifteen hundred years they have been wont to gather here to pray, even when they had to pay great sums of money for the [302] privilege. I could not but feel that God would some time, in some way, hear their prayers. Perhaps it will be by the removal of their blindness, so that they will recognize and welcome Him who came to redeem Israel. It is said of these Jews that they never go beyond the gates of the temple enclosure. They are unwilling to go within and see their holy courts polluted by the Gentiles, but for many centuries they have come to the foot of its walls to pray for the removal for the desolation.

      When, after dinner, we gathered in the inner court of the hotel, our minds were so full of the scenes of the day that we could talk of nothing else. One of boys asked:

      "When was the city of Jerusalem founded?"

      "It would be hard to answer that question," said Mr. Crunden. "David took a city here which had been held by the Jebusites and made it his capital. That was over 2900 years ago. But we know that Jerusalem was then over 500 years old, for it stood in the times of Joshua (Josh. 15:63). It was even then an old city, for it existed in the times of Abraham. You have all heard of Melchisedek, King of Salem, who blessed Abraham (Gen. 14:19), It had been long believed that this city of Salem was the same city afterwards called Jerusalem. This has been made certain by some ancient records which have been dug up in Egypt. [303] We know therefore that the city is nearly four thousand years old."

      "I wish you would tell us a little of its history," said Bayard.

      "We know little of its earlier history. Here Melchisedek was king. Here, on Mount Moriah, Abraham built the altar to offer Isaac. It was in the hands of the Jebusites from the times of Joshua to those of David. After David took it (2 Sam. 5:6) it was made the capital, and the seat of the temple. About 484 years after David captured it, it was taken by the Babylonians and destroyed. It was rebuilt by Zerubbabel after the seventy years' captivity, and stood until it was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. A Roman city was built upon the ruins, and this finally became a Christian city. It was taken by the Mohammedans in A.D. 636, but in A.D. 1099 was taken from them by the Crusaders. They held it for nearly a hundred years, when it was retaken by the Mohammedans, and has been in their hands ever since."

      "It appears to me," said I, "that it has had a wonderfully varied history."

      "There is no other city like it," was the reply. "It has been besieged twenty-seven times. It has been under the control of four different religions. There have stood upon these foundations eight different cities--the city of the Jebusites, the city of David and Solomon, the city rebuilt by the Jews [304] when they returned from the captivity, the city of the Herods, the Roman city built after the destruction by Titus, the Mohammedan city that followed, the Jerusalem of the Crusaders, and the modern city of the Turks."

      "What is the population at present?" asked Will.

      "It is variously estimated," said Mr. Crunden. "No accurate census has been taken, and we have to estimate. Ten years ago it was placed at from 25,000 to 30,000. The Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem now estimates it at from 50,000 to 60,000. It has increased rapidly of late years."

      "Are the most of these Mohammedans?"

      "No. The majority are Jews. The Mohammedans are next in number. There are, however, perhaps 10,000 Christians, mostly Greeks, though there are many Roman Catholics, several hundred Armenians, and some Protestants."

      "I saw a number of new buildings," said Will.

      "They are going up all around Jerusalem. You saw new houses everywhere on the Mount of Olives. You also see a large city outside of the Jaffa Gate on the west and northwest of the walls. This has been built within a few years. The Jews have been gathering here rapidly since the restrictions have been in part removed, and the Russian Church, as well as the Catholics, have been building large establishments here, which draw a considerable population. The trade [305] created by the tens of thousands of pilgrims furnishes many with a means of living. I think from what I have learned that there will be a railroad here from Jaffa within three or four years. It will give a fresh impetus to the city. Where else can you find a city four thousand years old which shows such signs of improvement as Jerusalem!" [306]

[YFBL 282-306]