Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/38

 22 JERUSALEM. the same which are elsewhere called the Monument of Herod, and, from the character of their decora- tions, may very well be ascribed to theHerodian period. M. de Saulcy has lately added to our previous in- formation concerning them, and, by a kind of ex- hausting process, he endeavours to prove that they could have been no other than the tombs of David and the early kings of Judah, which have always hitherto been placed on Jlount Sion, where the tra- ditionary site is still guarded by the Moslems. {Voyage en Si/7-ie, toni. ii. pp. 228—281.) (4) The Fuller's monument is the last-mentioned point on the new wall, and, as an angular tower occupied this site, the monument must have been at the north-east angle of the Xew City ; probably one of the many rock graves cut in the perpendicular face of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, near one of which Dr. Schultz has described the foundations of a tower. (Jentsakm, pp. 38, 64.) The Monument of the Fuller probably gave its name to the Fuller's field, which is mentioned by the prophet Isaiah as the spot near which the Assyrian army under Rabshakeh encamped (xsxvi. 2, vii. 3); and the traditionary site of the camp of the Assyrians, which we shall find mentioned by Jusephus, in his account of the siege, was certainly situated in this quarter. From this north-east angle the third wall followed the brow of the Valley of Jehoshaphat until it reached the wall of the Outer Temple at its north-east angle. Having thus completed the circuit of the walls, as described by Josephus, and endeavoured to fix the various points mentioned in his description (which furnishes the most numerous topographical notices now extant of ancient Jerusalem), we shall be in a condition to understand the most important his- torical facts of its interesting and chequered history, when we have further taken a brief survey of the Temple. But, first, a singular and perplexing dis- crepancy must be noticed between the general and the detailed statements of the historian, as to the extent of the ancient city ; for, while he states the circuit of the entire city to be no more than 33 stadia, or 4 Roman miles plus 1 stadium, the specification of the measure of the wall of Agrippa alone gives, on the lowest computation, an excess of 12 stadia, or I5 mile, over that of the entire city ! — for it had 90 towers, 20 cubits wide, at inteiTals of 200 cubits. No satisfactory solution of this difficulty has yet been discovered. IV. The Temple Mount. The Temple Mount, called in Scripture the Jloun- tain of the Lord's House, and Jloriah (2 Ckron. iii. 1), is situated at the south-east of the city, and is easily identified with the site of the Dome of the Moskin modern Jerusalem. It was originally a third hill of the Old City, over against Acra, but separated from it by a broad ravine, which, however, was filled up by the Asmonaean princes, so that these two hills became one, and are generally so reckoned by the historinn (B. J. v. 4.) 1. The Outer Court. — The Temple, in the widest signification of the word (jh i(:p6v), consisted of two courts, one within the other, though the inner one is sometimes subdivided, and distributed into four other courts. The area of the Outer Court was in great part artificial, for the natural level space on the summit of the mount being found too confined for tlie Temple, with its surrounding chambers, courts, and cloisters, was gradually increased by mechanical expedients. This extension was com- JERUSALEM. mcnced by Solomon, who raised from the depth of the eastern valley a wall of enormous stones, bound together with lead, within which he raised a bank of earth to a level with the native rock. On this was erected a cloister, which, with its successors, always retained the name of " Solomon's Porch." (aroa. 2oAo,uaivos, St. John, x. 23; Acts, iii. 11, v. 12.) This process of enlarging the court by artificial embankments was continued by successive kings; but particularly by Herod the Great, who, when he reconstructed the Temple Proper (va6s), enlarged the Outer Court to double its former size, and adorned it with stately cloisters. (yl?j/. xv. 11. § 5.) Of these, the Royal Porch, on the south, was the most remarkable of all his magnificent works. It consisted of four rows of Corinthi.an columns, distributed into a central nave and lateral aisles; the aisles being 30 feet in width and 50 in height, and the nave half as wide again as the aisles, and double their height, rising into a clerestory of unusually large proportions. The other cloi^ters were double, and their total width only 30 cubits. To this Outer Court there were four gates on the west, towards the city, and one on each of the other sides ; of which that on the east is still remaining, commonly called the Golden Gate. 2. The Inner Court. — The Inner Temple (Itpov) was separated from the Outer by a stone wall {<ppay- fiOs, see Ephes. ii. 14) 3 cubits in height, on which stood pillars at equal distances, with inscriptions, in Greek and Latin, prohibiting aliens from access. To this court there was an ascent of fourteen steps, then a level space of 10 cubit.s, and then a further ascent of five steps to the gates, of which there were four on the north and south sides, and two on the east, but none on the west, where stood the Sanctuary (vads). The place of the Altar, in front of the vaos, is determined with the utmost precision by the ex- istence in the Sacred Rock of the Moslems, under their venerated dome, of the very cessp<Jol and drain of the Jewish altar, which furnisiies a key to the restoration of the whole Temple, the dimensions of which, in all its parts, are given in minute detail in the treatise called Middoth (i. e. measures), one of the very ancient documents contained in the Mi^hna. The drain comnumicating with this cesspool, through which the blood ran off into the Kedron, was at the south-west angle of the Altar; and there was a trap connected with this cave, 1 cubit square (com- monly closed with a marble slab), through which a man occasionally descended to cleanse it and to clear obstructions. Both the drain and the trap are to be seen in the rock at this day. The Altar w-as 32 cubits square at its base, but gradually contracted, so that its hearth was only 24 cubits square. It was 15 cubits high, and had an ascent by an inclined plane on the south side, 32 cubits long and 1 6 wide. Between the Altar and the porch of the Temple was a space of 22 cubits, rising in a gentle ascent by steps to the vestibule, the door of which was 40 cubits high and 20 wide. The total length of the Holy House itself was only 100 cubits, and this was subdivided into three parts: the Pronaus 11, the Sanctuary 40, the Holy of Holies 20, allowing 29 cubits for the partition walls and a small chamber behind (i. e. we»t of) the Most Holy place. The total width of the building was 70 cubits ; of which the Sanctuary only occupied 20, the remainder being distributed into side chambers, in three stories, as-