in a curved line, west and north, until the ridge is reached, about the middle of the south wall, where the rock was probably cut away in part. From this point westward, it bends down to the deep gully of the Tyropoon. The subjoined diagram will illustrate this and subsequent references. Owing to the rapid rise of the ground towards the north and west, the arches vary in height as well as width, the southern arches being about thirty-five feet in height, while the northern are only ten. It is a curious fact, that in some instances the roots of the olive trees, which adorn the platform above, have penetrated through the arches, and, still descending, have again taken root in the soil of the crypt, which is also a favourite haunt of owls and ravens. It is probable that where the arches terminate, the rock nearly rises to the level of the platform. At the triple gate, the floor within, being the native rock, is on a level with the exterior surface of the ground, while, at the south-east angle, the outer surface is many feet below. The stones of the piers are five feet long, and bevelled at the ends and corners. These substructions are of admirable workmanship; possess, in a preeminent degree, all the peculiar features of Jewish architecture; and are, without question, of the highest antiquity.

Lieutenant Warren found that the bases of the piers of these vaults, rest on a plane which is 17 feet above the exterior surface of the earth at the south-east angle, and 80 feet above the rock. Thinking it very unlikely that all this space would be filled with forced earth, he concluded that there might be another system of old arches beneath these already known. He accordingly, with characteristic vigour, set about determining this question; and after repeated and unsuccessful attempts, he discovered an entrance through the south temple wall, which leads to a passage running 60 feet northwards. It is from 12 to 18 feet in height; its roof is 20 feet below the surface of the floor of the haram vaults, and 60 feet below the level of the platform. The walls are composed of strong masonry, some of the stones being 15 feet long, nearly all bevelled, and beautifully worked; the upper course four feet in height; the roof consisting of large stones, many of them bevelled, and laid flat cn the upper course of the walls. Along the bottom of the passage, on either side, there are remains of a small aqueduct, made of dark cement. The use of this passage is, as yet,

unknown.

Let us now place these facts alongside of the description which Josephus gives of the temple, and observe how the facts and the history tally.

"There was a large wall to both the cloisters, which wall was itself the most prodigious work that was ever heard of by man. The hill

Sectional Plan of Haram Platform.

299

SECTIONAL ELEVATION OF THE SOUTH WALL OF HARAM AREA.

11. Passage beneath vaults discovered by Warren. 12. Present surface of ground in Tyropoon.

was a rocky ascent, that declined by degrees towards the east parts of the city, till it came to an elevated level. This hill it was which Solomon . . . encompassed with a wall. It was of excellent workmanship, upwards and round the top of it. . . . At the south side he laid rocks together, . . . and included some of the inner parts, till it proceeded to a great height, and till both the largeness of the square edifice and its altitude were immense, and till the vastness of the stones in the front was plainly visible on the outside; yet so that the inward parts were fastened together with iron, and preserved the joints immoveable for all future time. . . . Now in the western quarters of the enclosure of the temple there were four gates; the first led to the king's palace, and went to a passage over the intermediate valley; two more led to the suburbs of the city; and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent, for the city lay over against the temple in the manner of a theatre, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter. But the fourth front of the temple, which was southward, had indeed itself gates in its middle, as also it had the royal cloisters, with three walks, which reached in length from the east valley unto that on the west, for it was impossible that it should reach any farther, and this cloister deserves to be mentioned better than any other under the sun; for while the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen if you looked from above into the depth, this farther vastly high elevation of the cloister stood upon that height, insomuch that if any one looked down from the top of the battlements, or down both these altitudes, he would be giddy, while his sight could not reach to such an immense height."-Antiq., b. xv., ch. ii., sec. 5.

These huge remains of ancient masonry which we have described, the Cyclopean fragments of the arch which spanned the Tyropoon-the southern gateway and entrance gallery-the massive substructures,-all point to the highest antiquity, and prove that the present southern wall, and the south part of the platform of the Haram, occupy the site of, and are identical with, the south side of the area of Solomon's temple. As for the objection that the arch is Roman, and that the ancient Jews were not acquainted with it, the masonry which lies beneath the Pools of Solomon overthrows this theory; while the discoveries at Nineveh prove that the arch was known in the East long before Rome was founded. Nor can these relics of ancient Jerusalem be Herodian; for, except in constructing a subterranean passage to it from the tower of Antonia, Herod did not interfere with the foundations of the temple. He only rebuilt the naos, or sanctuary, and erected the cloisters which surmounted its walls.

The difficulty presented by the statement of Josephus regarding the length of the southern wall is not insurmountable. According to him the temple enclosure was a quadrangle, mea

Josephus sometimes Inaccurate.

301

suring four stadia in circumference, or a stadium on each side -the stadium being usually considered equal to about 607 of our feet. In another place he gives the circumference, including the tower of Antonia, at six stadia. Not to speak of the impossibility of attaining certainty as to the precise value of the measures used by Josephus,-for here authorities have been greatly divided, it may at once be conceded, that there is not a little confusion, and sometimes exaggeration, in some of his statements regarding the temple. In this instance, his error consists in understating the fact by about 300 feet. Dr Robinson puts the case with judicial fairness, when he says:—

"Josephus wrote at Rome, far from his native land, and long after the destruction of Jerusalem; nor is there any evidence or probability that he had collected specific materials for his works in his own country previously to that event. Hence, when he enters into minute descriptions, and professes to give the exact details of heights and magnitudes, there is every reason to distrust the accuracy of his assertions, except perhaps, in things of public notoriety, such, for example, as the distances between places situated on the great roads. But in cases where he describes in specific terms the length and breadth and height of buildings, or the like,-measures which he himself had certainly never taken, and which were not likely to be publicly known,— we can regard these only as matters of estimate or conjecture, on the part of an author writing far remote from the objects described."Res. i., 414.

There is considerable difficulty in determining how far the Temple area extended northwards. It is generally held that the masonry at the Golden Gate, about 1018 feet from the south corner of the Eastern wall, is neither Solomonic nor Herodian, even in the lowest courses of the wall. Dr Robinson speaks of it as "Roman work." By some it is referred to a period not earlier than the time of Adrian or Justinian. To the north of this gate "the whole appearance of the wall is that of a structure which was built of former materials, irregularly thrown together." But at the N.E. corner of the Haram wall, the ancient Jewish masonry indubitably reappears for a distance of upwards of 80 feet. The stones are of large dimensions up to a considerable height in the wall. One of them measures 23 ft. 9 in. by 3 ft. 5 in., and similar stones are carried round the corner in the north wall of the Haram, within the city. These are certainly the remains of an ancient bastion; no other, doubtless, than the bastion of the tower at the S.E. corner of Antonia, which, as Josephus states, commanded a view of the entire temple.

We do not enter into the arguments, partly historical, partly topographical, by which Dr Robinson has satisfactorily proved

that the Fortress of Antonia stood at the N.W. corner of the Haram area, occupying in part the site of the present Serai, or barrack, and extending from west to east throughout the entire width of the enclosure; and that the deep trench (now called by some the Pool of Bethesda), is a portion of the fosse which protected the fortress on its northern side. On these points we accept his conclusions, which few have challenged, and no one has succeeded in subverting. The only particular here in which we are obliged to suggest a modification of the views of the distinguished author of the "Researches," has reference to the space which intervened between Antonia and the temple. He holds that this intervening space formed part of the fortress, properly so called, and in some sort connected it with the Temple. Now, it seems to us to be clear, from various considerations, that this space must have been a deep depression or ditch.

According to Josephus, the castle of Antonia was joined to the cloisters of the temple, only at the N. W. angle; but the history of the Roman siege shows that this connection could be cut off. The rock on which the castle was erected rose to the height of 75 feet. The fortress itself was 60 feet in height, so that its summit must have been toward 135 feet above its rocky base. He states expressly that "it was a great precipice," and that it was separated from Bezetha on the north by a deep artificial trench, the depth of which added greatly to the elevation of the tower. It was of large dimensions, containing numerous apartments and courts, and roomy spaces for the accommodation of soldiery. On each of the four corners there was a lofty tower. That which rose at the S.E. corner was 105 feet in height, and commanded a view of the entire temple. At the S.W. corner, where it was connected by some sort of gallery, or colonnade, with the cloisters, there were passages by which the guards had access to the cloisters on the Jewish festivals, to keep watch over the populace, and repress any attempt at disorder. This is the amount of the direct information which Josephus gives us respecting Antonia. We gather from it, that the fortress must have stood apart, and that it was precipitous on all sides, implying great depression of the ground beneath. Now, the fosse, or trench, lying to the north, of whose prodigious depth Josephus repeatedly makes mention, and part of which is still extant, proves its isolation on that side. Eastward, the lofty tower overhung the deep valley of the Kedron. On the south, it is plain that a deep moat or ditch also separated the citadel from the temple. This appears from what Josephus states in connection with the siege of Pompey: “Even on the north side of the temple there were great towers, and a ditch had been dug, and a deep valley begirt it round