Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/164

 146 A History of Art in Sardinia and Judaea. significance of the name of Zion. In them its present and future magnificence, the special reason why the nations of the earth will visit it in coming ages, are minutely set forth. But if this hill was placed above all other hills, was it not because of the temple which stood upon it, with the train of ideas and glorious hopes which its image would evoke ? The name of Zion was first exclusively applied to the small mount upon which rose the fortress of the Jebusites, the edifices of David, Solomon, and other kings. Houses increased from year to year, keeping pace with the greater extension of Jerusalem to the westward. In a general sense, the City of David came to signify the whole metropolis ; but in a particular sense, the eastern hill, crowned by the temple and house of David, was alone meant. Unbroken tradition places here the site of the temple ; and here the surface of the rock shows everywhere traces of its having been smoothed over, cavities filled up, canals cut in the sides of the rock, together with tanks and cisterns for collecting the water. Added to this, the strong position and size of the ridge are in exact consonance with the qualifications looked for by primitive people in electing a site to build a city. The topmost point of the west hill was thirty-eight metres higher than Mount Zion, 1 fortified, too, on three sides by the ravines of the Tyropceon and Hinnom ; its north side, however, before its general deep incline towards the Dead Sea, is almost level ground, and had to be protected by thick walls and massive towers, such as were erected by Herod. On the other hand, if Zion was dominated by the west hill, before the invention of gunpowder, the danger was not so great as it would be now ; for in those early days strong bulwarks, deep ravines, and scarped rocks, were more formidable than mere elevation. Despite the height and solidity of these fortifications, repaired at various times, it is on this side that Jerusalem has always been taken ; whether by Chaldaean, Crusader, or Roman. 2 The legions under Titus, in their supreme effort against the rebellious 1 All the misunderstanding about the topography of Jerusalem has been due to the removal of Zion by the Maccabees ; when, instead of being higher than the west hill, it became emphatically lower. — Editor (Recovery of Jerusalem). 2 When Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldees, her defenders escaped by night through the gate between two walls by the king's garden, and fled towards Jericho (2 Kings xxv. 4) ; that is to say, the breach was on the north, and they escaped southward.