Page:Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894.djvu/131

Rh On Friday morning half the party went to Bethlehem, with Canon Tristram to lecture there and on the way, while the rest of the party had the privilege of listening to a peripatetic lecture by the Rev. Mr. Hanauer upon the present Walls and Gates of Jerusalem.

After meeting at the Jaffa Gate, this section proceeded up David's Tower, then on to the Rock Scarp of Zion at Bishop Gobat's School, and so on as far as St. Stephen's Gate. The party was somewhat large for an open-air lecture, so in the afternoon the section that had visited Bethlehem in the morning heard Mr. Hanauer's lecture in the lecture room, and then guided by the dragomans, visited the places described. Mr. Hanauer pointed out that the present city walls, though comparatively modern, yet present many points of interest which, as a rule, receive scant attention. Legendary lore has a real value, as, for example, the legends connected with the district east of the city which point unmistakably to the mysterious sect of the Essenes. The present walls, the lower parts of the Haram enclosure excepted, are the work of Suleiman the Magnificent, and were erected between the years 1536 and 1542. The order of the building may be followed from the inscriptions. Several interesting legends are extant, one of which tells that the architect who had excluded Neby Daûd lost his head for his impiety. The lecturer, however, pointed out that the first reference to this spot as the sepulchre of David is by Raymond D'Argilis. The circumference of the walls is about three miles. Space forbids my following the lecture any further, but its value lay, not only in the folk lore, of which Mr. Hanauer has made a speciality, but also in the fact that the lecturer has passed most of his life in Jerusalem, and as a boy assisted in Warren's excavations. 1 hope that we may see it published in full some day.

Friday evening the Rev. Mr. Zeller gave a learned lecture upon the Druzes, but as the substance of the lecture is in the September number of the "Church Missionary Intelligence and Record" (Salisbury Square, London), for 1887, I refer the reader to that magazine. It was originally intended that on Saturday morning Mr. Hanauer should accompany the party to the Haram, but it was decided to have his lecture beforehand in the lecture room, and at the early hour of half-past eight the room was crowded. The enthusiasm of the pilgrims for the lectures was most gratifying to those who arranged them. In six days they listened to ten lectures and visited all the sites of Jerusalem besides.

Mr. Hanauer illustrated on the black-board the original contours of the Temple Hill, showing how it had been altered in the course of centuries. A most hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the lecturer who had come up from Jaffa, and who was obliged to return immediately in the midst of a wild storm in order to preach twice the next day. In the evening Mr. Bliss lectured on the "Mounds of Palestine," with an account of his work at Tell el Hesy. On Sunday the Bishop of Worcester preached in the morning at Christ Church from the text "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." He spoke of the