Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/166

 148 A History of Art in Sardinia and Judaea. a country of drought like Judœa, the first qualification in choosing the site of a city was an abundant supply of water throughout the year. Whoever has visited Asia Minor, Syria, or Greece, must have observed that the remains of ancient cities, like the old fortress of the Jebusites, crown every hill-top with a prospect of water. David's city formed no exception to this rule, for it occupied the southern slope of temple mount, or Ophel, with groves and gardens extending below the Pool of Siloam, and around Bîr Eyûb. Secure against drought, well fortified by ravines, it was a stronghold that defied the Hebrews until David, who, with the unerring instinct of a great commander, had seized at a glance all the advantages to be derived from its unique position ; advantages not yielded by the eastern hill. 1 The city of David and Solomon has disappeared ; but its site remains, and now encloses the Haram-esh-Sherif. All the misapprehension about the topography of Jerusalem has resulted from a misconception of the true area occupied by Zion or David's city, as well as from having ignored that, when it broke its ancient limits, it extended mostly westward. We have deemed it our duty to point out this error, long believed in and repeated by successive scholars, but which the excavations of Messrs. Wilson and Warren have for ever dispelled. With passing regret, but for convenience' sake, in speaking of the various localities about Jerusalem, we shall adopt the nomen- clature more generally in use ; thus, for instance, instead of temple mount, or eastern and western hill, the former we shall call Mount Moriah, and the latter Zion. It is a conventional mode, which we trust will be acceptable to the reader as less confusing. The site west of Tyropceon, where now rises the modern city, was also the first built over in remote days, perhaps as early as David. There the eastern slope of the mountain was cut asunder an open canal wound round the foot of the rock, may be inferred by David's exclamation, " Whosoever getteth up to the gutter and smiteth the Jebusites, shall be captain " (2 Sam. v. 8). A plan and cut of this canal, with inscription descrip- tive of its construction, will be found in Rapports d'une Mission en Palestine et en r/iénicie, i88r. V. rapport, pp. 203, 241, Plates VIL, VIII. Archives des Missions Scientifiques et Littéraires, 3 e série, tom. xi., 1885. 1 In the time of the Maccabees, Zion was carefully cut down and reduced to a less elevation than the temple, because, during the reign of the Macedonians, the Greek garrison dominated the temple and disturbed the worshippers (Warren's Underground Jerusalem). — Editor.