Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/183

 Materials used in the Wall of the Enclosure. 165 angles. This peculiarity of the Jewish builders is often alluded to in the Scriptures. 1 It should be noticed that each course is set back from that on which it rests, and that, roughly speaking, the batter does not exceed o m. 5c; but here also no uniform rule seems to have guided the builder, for at the south-east angle the batter is from om. *75 c. to om. 10 c. 2 Each stone is beautifully dressed on all its faces, well jointed, but without mortar. All the joints are either horizontal or perpendicular. A striking feature in these blocks is seen in the drafts surrounding them on their outer face. These drafts or grooves form a pleasing variety, and serve to break the monotony of a large bare surface by showing up each course and each joint. The medium width of these grooves on this side is o m. 15 c, and their depth o m. 25 c. (Fig. 1 1 2). Each stone has a slightly projecting table, polished throughout with the greatest care ; a shallow line, seen on all its faces, served to regulate the mason's work, well seen in Fig. 113. Here and there, as for instance in the basement of David's Tower, which has been identified with the Phasceebus of Josephus, blocks were met with marginal groove, but roughly faced, showing that the draft had been done at the works, and the finishing when the stone was in place (Fig. 1 14). The blocks uncovered on the south face at the north-east, notably at the south-east angle, where fifteen courses are exposed, were examined by De Vogué, as well as those on the west side. Here the finest stones, in a good state of preservation, are found on the portion of the wall called Heit-el-Maghâribe, or place of wailing, where every Friday the Jews come to lament over the ruins of Jerusalem — a most pathetic scene, not likely to be for- gotten by the traveller who has witnessed it (Fig. 115). To the north of the south-east angle, some fifteen yards from this point, may be seen the remains of Robinson's Arch, the masonry of which undoubtedly belongs to the " first method " of building. The back part of the arch rested on the wall (Fig. 1 16). To-day we are more advanced than De Vogué, and we know that wherever excavations were made along the wall, stones with sunken face or groove, their lower base resting upon the rock, have been uncovered. The two exceptions to this rule were : 1. The south face of Birket-Israil, forming the west front of the 1 Matt. xxi. 42 ; Eph. ii. 20; Job xxxviii. 6. 2 Recovery, p. 149.