righteousness, and the incense of believing prayer in all his people. Let the Christian then be content with an unadorned worship. Let him go down with the apostles and be a worshipper with them in the Christian synagogue, simple in all its appointments, and giving the chief place to the Word of God as its only essential ornament. Let him desire no affectation of sacerdotal service, of altar sacrifice, with its smoking incense and splendid ceremonial, for the Christian holds of the synagogue, not the temple, where he can enjoy a spiritual worship, and where he hears the simple preaching of Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and the Greeks foolishness, but to them who are saved, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. G. J. C. D.

ART. IV.―The Topography of Ancient Jerusalem, as Illustrated by Recent Exploration.

The City of the Great King; or, Jerusalem as it Was, as it Is, and as it is to Be. By J. T. BARCLAY, M.D. Philadelphia. 1858.

Jerusalem Revisited. By W. H. BARTLETT, Author of "Walks about Jerusalem." London: T. Nelson & Sons, Edinburgh and New York. Jerusalem Explored being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City, with numerous Illustrations, consisting of Views, Ground Plans, and Sections. By ERMETTE PIEROTTI, Architect and Engineer, Civil and Military, to His Excellency Surrayah Pasha, Jerusalem. Translated by Bonney. London: Bell & Daldy.

Horeb and Jerusalem. By the Rev. GEORGE SANDIE. Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas.

Progress-Reports, and Sectional Drawings of the Palestine Exploration Society.

T has been often said of Jerusalem, that the remains of its ancient grandeur lie, like a fossil in its deep bed, beneath some forty or fifty feet of rubbish; and that the pickaxe and spade, handled under judicious and scientific direction, would do far more than the pen to solve a multitude of intricate topographical problems, which have long puzzled and divided the learned.

This saying is at the present time receiving remarkable confirmation. The Palestine Exploration Society, having obtained the sanction of the authorities at Constantinople, and the valuable co-operation of local officials, have, for the last few months, directed their investigations specially to the Holy City; and by means of the skilful and energetic labours of their agents,-Lieut. Warren, and his assistants-very interest

Relics of the Temple.

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ing results have already been obtained, by which Scripture facts are usefully illustrated, and the most striking corroboration is given to the testimony of the Jewish historian, Josephus. It is found that in some places the explorer must go down through debris one hundred feet in depth in order to reach the original surface. With what solemn emphasis does such an enormous accumulation—the rubbish of thirty centuries-speak of the walls and dwelling-places, the fortresses and palaces of Jerusalem having been laid waste! and what a proof is it of the terrible execution of the threatening once uttered against the capital of the chosen people,-"I will make Jerusalem heaps"!

We are persuaded that we do not miscalculate the feeling of our readers, when we suppose that they will be ready to accompany us in the examination of some points of Jerusalem. topography, with the aid of such new light as is being offered us in the results of this recent movement.

Does the Jerusalem of the present day contain vestiges of the eity of Herod or of Solomon? Have any remains of the Jewish capital, as it stood at either or both of these epochs, come down to our time, in spite of the many desolating changes which it has undergone, some of which threatened its utter annihilation? This is an inquiry which interests every thoughtful man; and there are few who are not alive to the importance of discoveries which have conclusively established the affirmative reply to it. Our present object will be to shew what is known respecting some of the more interesting antiquities of the Holy City; more especially the relics of the temple and other notable structures; the extent and divisions of ancient Jerusalem; also, its very remarkable water supply; and to indicate, as we proceed, how far recent exploration has added to our stock of information on this important subject. There is another topic, much canvassed of late, on which, although but indirectly touched upon by the latest explorers, we shall, ere we close, offer a few observations,-we mean the question of the site of the Holy Sepulchre.

When one, with Josephus in his hand, examines the wall of the Haram Es-Shereef, he finds it impossible to doubt that it occupies, in part at least, the site of the Temple of Solomon, and the more careful his observations, the more thorough and earnest his inquiries, the stronger does his conviction become that in part of the enclosure, and in the substructions of the Haram platform, there are to be seen veritable relics of that ancient edifice. It was in establishing this, among other points in the archæology of Jerusalem and Palestine, that Dr Robinson achieved for himself the distinguished place, which, by common consent, he holds, and will ever hold, among writers on sacred topography. We do not in every case accept his conclusions;

for in some instances he has been proved to have been mistaken in his premises, or incorrect in the deductions which he drew from them. But we only award a meed which is richly merited, when we say, that in respect of accurate scholarship, well applied learning, profound sagacity, shrewd and careful observation, indefatigable industry, enthusiasm united to patient inquiry, freedom from prejudice and pretentiousness, honest love of truth, and thorough trustworthiness as a witness in the intricate questions which he handled, it is hardly possible to overrate Dr Robinson's merits. And in no part of his magnificent and invaluable work, which marks an epoch in this department of literature, do his pre-eminent qualifications for the task which he undertook more fully appear, than in the investigation of this particular question. That he was the first to break ground in the thorough investigation of it, he himself distinctly states, and the fact should not be forgotten. How far there exist traces," he says, "which may serve to mark a connection between the ancient and modern precincts -the Temple and the Haram-and perhaps establish their identity, is a point which, so far as I know, has never been discussed."*

The huge size of the blocks, which appear in portions of the lower part of the wall, convinces even a casual observer, that they must be referred to an earlier date than the upper part, which is obviously of modern origin. The appearance of the wall, in every part which is accessible, indicates that it has been built on ancient foundations; as if the original wall, of singularly massive blocks, had been thrown down, and a new one had been raised in later times on the remains of the old. At the S.E. corner, there are fifteen courses of this ancient masonry. In some of the courses, both of the eastern and the southern wall, the stones measure from 17 to 19 feet in length by 3 or 4 feet in height; while one block at the S.E. corner is 74 feet thick, and one at the N.E. corner of the Haram is 24 feet in length. One of the stones at the S. W. corner measures 30 feet 10 inches by 6 feet 6 inches, and others vary from 20 to 24 feet long by 5 feet in thickness. well understand how, as our Lord on one occasion went out of the temple, one of the disciples should say to him—" Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are these!" Of all this, a glance at Mr Tipping's admirable plates, contained in Traill's Josephus, or Signor Pierotti's lithographs of the tower at the N.E. corner of the Haram, or the admirable photographs of these points, issued by the Exploration Society,

Massive Arch in the Harum Wall.

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will satisfy the candid student, without a trip to Jerusalem, or a personal inspection of the wall.

These stones are, according to the usual phrase, bevelled(the more correct technical expression is rebated)-which means, that after the face of the stone was hewn and squared, a draft of two inches or more in breadth was cut down along the edges lower than the rest of the surface. When these rebated stones are joined together in a wall, its face exhibits lines or grooves formed by these drafts, or depressed edges, at their junction, marking more distinctly the height of the different courses, as well as the length of each stone. This is known to have been the style of masonry practised among the ancient Phenicians, having been found in portions of the walls of ancient Tyre, and in other architectural remains of old Phenicia. From the connection that there was between Hiram and both David and Solomon, it is not difficult to perceive how the Tyrian style of architecture would be imported into Jerusalem by the Phenician builders. It is self-evident, that these Cyclopean stones in the Haram wall were never laid in their places by Mohammedans, and that the style of the masonry is neither Roman nor Saracenic. That it speaks of a Jewish origin is beyond question.

This evidence is strikingly confirmed by the remains of the massive arch near the S. W. corner of the Haram area, which Dr Robinson was the first to identify as a relic of the bridge which once sprung from the western wall of the temple across the valley of the Tyropoon, and which Josephus repeatedly mentions as connecting the western side of the temple with the upper part of the city and with the Xystus. Occupying, as these stones do, their original position, they prove that the wall out of which they sprung is coeval with the formation of the bridge. This was in all probability part of the "ascent" from the king's house to the house of the Lord on Moriah, which was constructed by Solomon's builders, and which so greatly astonished the queen of Sheba, that after she beheld it, there was no more spirit in her."

Messrs Bonomi and Catherwood remarked these stones five years before Dr Robinson's visit to Jerusalem, and perceived them to be part of a massive arch. They regarded them, too, as probably among the most ancient remains in or around Jerusalem, but, like many others who had seen them, had no suspicion of their historical import.

The engineering of the Palestine Exploration Expedition has also led to the discovery of an entire arch, of the same span (within a few inches) as Dr Robinson's, which abuts on the western wall of the Haram, beneath the Mekhemeh (or Mohammedan tribunal), and near the Bâb-es-Silsileh. At the time

when we write, the details of this important discovery have not reached us. But there cannot be a doubt that it will shed an interesting light on the account given by the Jewish historian of the four gates which led from the western enclosure of the temple,-one to the king's palace over the intermediate valley, two to the suburbs of the city (probably the northern suburb Bezetha, and the suburb Ophel), and the last to the other city (Zion), where the road descended into the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent. The operations of Lieutenant Warren have, besides, disclosed very important facts relative to this portion of the antiquities of the holy city. By sinking a shaft near the south wall, he found that the mass of earth and rubbish lying on the rock at the S.E. corner of the Haram wall is not less than 60 feet in depth; so that the present surface is 60 feet higher at this spot than the rock on which the foundation of the wall rests, and which was no doubt the original surface. The fact has thus been ascertained, that the Haram wall at this corner is 138 feet high. The true bed of the Kedron valley is probably not less than 200 feet below the base of the wall. According to Josephus, the height of the middle portico above the wall was 100 feet. Assuming, therefore, that the ancient wall rose to a point not lower than the top line of the present wall (and it may have risen much higher), it appears that the distance from the summit of the middle portico, or "pinnacle," to the bed of the Kedron right below (for the rock at this point shelved down suddenly at an angle of rather more than 30 degrees), was 438 feet. Josephus says, that "the lowest part of the wall was 300 cubits," or, reckoning the cubit at 18 inches, 450 feet. He seems to refer to the height as measured from the bottom of the subjacent ravine; for he expressly says,—" Inasmuch as the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, any one looked down from the top of the battlements he would be giddy," etc. We now find, that a statement which was wont to be regarded as a hyperbolical exaggeration of the Jewish historian, is the unvarnished truth, or a very close approximation to it.

if

The material of which the immense mass of rubbish accumulated here consists, is exactly such as might be expected, when we take into account the changes which have befallen Jerusalem through its chequered history. Masses of wrought stone, the loose debris of masonry, occasional pieces of marble, and enormous quantities of chippings, which, when disturbed by sinking a shaft, or driving a gallery through them, run like dry shingle, or, as Mr Warren expresses it, "like water,"

* Antiq., Book xv. chap. ii. 5.