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of the stones in the present wall, between the north-west corner of the city and the Damascus gate, and also of those in the adjacent buildings, are ancient and bevelled, and could not resist the impression that this had been nearly the course of some ancient wall.* Dr Wilson, too, states that the wall westward of the Damascus gate, "for some extent above its foundation, bears, in the magnitude and peculiarity of its stones, the evidence of its great antiquity;" and he regards this as a relic of the ancient second wall. The ancient remains found at the gate of Damascus, are now universally recognised as belonging to an ancient gate on the same spot, and connected with the second wall. The conclusion of Dr Robinson from these facts, confirmed by all subsequent examination, was, that "the course of the second wall nearly followed the line of the street which leads northwards from the citadel to the Latin convent, deflecting perhaps a little on the east or west of that street; while from the convent to the Damascus gate it lay along or near the course of the present city wall." To the east of this gate it no doubt ran to the top of the rocky ridge, which has been scarped on the north side for purposes of defence, and then deflected southward, following the summit of the ridge of Bezetha, till it joined Antonia, at the west end of the fosse, as shewn in our sketch.

Having thus traced the boundaries of the ancient city, and identified its principal landmarks, we are in a position to comprehend the sketch in which Josephus briefly outlines the Jerusalem of his day, and to compare its leading localities and features with those of the modern city.

The city, properly so called, as distinguished from the temple which stood on mount Moriah, lay on two hills facing each other; and the buildings which stood on them terminated at the intervening valley, called the Tyropoon. An open space, perhaps a roadway, extended along the bottom of this glen or gully. The hill which bore the upper city, was the culminating point of the ridge. On account of the strength of its position, and its fortifications, the upper city was called the citadel or stronghold, and it is obvious from 2 Sam. v. 7, that it was the same as Zion. Zion was bounded on the north and east by the Tyropoon, which must have run on the north side of the hill, parallel to the first wall, and on approaching the temple curved to the south, separating between the temple and Zion, and descending as far southwards as Siloam. This is one of the vexed questions of Jerusalem topography; but topographers of the highest eminence have for many centuries held

* Biblioth. Sac., 1843, p. 29.

Later Researches, P. 219.

Lands of the Bible, i. 421.

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that this was the course of the Tyropoon valley, and that they were right is now proved beyond question, by excavations eastward of the Jaffa gate, which shew that a deep depression must have once existed where one is now hardly perceptible, because filled up by immense accumulations of rubbish.

Acra, or the lower city, lay to the north of Zion, corresponding to the part of the modern city where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is situated. A broad valley originally separated it on the east from the hill Bezetha, which, during the reign of the Asmoneans, was filled up, for the purpose of joining the city to the temple.

Bezetha, a fourth hill, lay to the north of Antonia, and was immediately adjacent to it, being divided from it by a deep fosse or trench, which was cut for the purpose of increasing the height of the towers of the fortress, and rendering it inaccessible to an enemy. Ophel was the ridge of mount Moriah, running southward to the point where the Hinnom and Kedron valleys unite.

The water supply of Jerusalem is a subject of very peculiar interest, and there are several questions relating to it, which have given rise to much ingenious speculation, but which are still unsettled. Though situated in a region of limestone, where fountains and wells are comparatively rare, the city seems seldom to have suffered, even in times of siege, from an insufficient supply of water. Strabo described it "as a rocky, wellenclosed fortress, well watered within, wholly dry without;" and the accuracy of his laconic delineation has been frequently proved; as, for instance, when the Romans under Antiochus Pius, or the Crusaders in the Middle Ages, besieged it, and were in the greatest straits from thirst, while the inhabitants were plentifully supplied with water. Its chief dependence ever has been, as it still is, on its numerous cisterns and tanks for collecting rain water. "Its inhabitants," says William of Tyre, "use only rain water. For during the winter months they are accustomed to collect the showers for themselves in the cisterns, which exist in great numbers in the city, and to store them up for the whole year for necessary uses. "Every private house of consequence is supplied with one of these, which are excavated in the soft limestone on which the city stands; and some houses have as many as three or four, of considerable dimensions, varying from 8 or 10 feet square, to

* "Est autem locus in quo civitas sita est, aridus et inaquosus, rivos, fontes, ac flumina non habens penitus, cujus habitatores aquis tantum utuntur pluvialibus. Mensibus enim hibernis, in cisternis quas in civitate habent plurimas, imbres solent sibi colligere, et per totum annum ad usus nccessarios conservare."

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thrice that extent. With proper care, the water, which is conducted into them from the roofs of the houses, remains pure and sweet during the summer and autumn. In this way all the public buildings are provided with water. The Latin convent is said to have 28 cisterns, so that in seasons of great drought it can deal out to all the Christian part of the community the supply which is needed. This practice of storing the rain in cisterns, would seem to have been handed down from the first citizens, the ancient Jebusites. For beneath the line of the viaduct which Solomon constructed between the temple and the opposite hill, there were discovered, in September last, ancient tanks, excavated in the solid rock, and one built of masonry above the rock, which must, of course, have existed prior to the erection of the piers of that roadway. All over the region northwards of the city, which was once included within its walls, and occupied with dwellings, there are traces of ancient water-tanks cut out of the rock, doubtless for the supply of the inmates of the houses which stood over them. And if in any part of Jerusalem a shaft is sunk for the purpose of discovering what is entombed beneath the "heap" on which it is "built," the probability is that, whatever else is brought to light, a water-tank will be found there. At the Muristan, ör Hospital of the Knights of St John, Lieut. Warren found, 28 feet below the surface, an opening leading into arched dry tanks of immense size, the bottoms of which are roughly estimated to be 53 feet below the surface of the ground; the first tank being 40 by 17 feet, another 68 by 17, and other two of smaller size. These appear to be by far the most extensive underground cisterns yet known in Jerusalem, outside the Haram. The stones were of large size and well dressed.

The same causes which led to the excavation of these private cisterns, account for the formation of large and capacious reservoirs for more general use. Of these, the first place is due to the pools which bear the name of Solomon (called by the Arabs "El Burak," the pools), situated about eight miles from Jerusalem, near the head of Wady Urtas, which is supposed to be the site of ancient Etham. There seems no valid reason for questioning the accuracy of the tradition, according to which these are the pools to which the splendour-loving son of David alludes in Ecclesiastes. Their great antiquity is undoubted; and it is manifest that they were mainly constructed for the purpose of supplying the city with living water. The aqueduct is conducted by a sinuous course, through Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Having reached the valley of Gihon, it passes round the lower pool bearing the name of that valley, about 75 yards above it, on nine or ten arches, now nearly concealed by an accumulation of earth; but, before doing so, sends off a

branch to the troughs of a monumental fountain, situated at the end of the pool, and raised in honour of Sultan Mohammed, by whom the aqueduct was probably repaired in the 14th century. After winding around the S.W. part of Zion, it passes through the city wall, and is carried along the steep eastern declivity of the hill, and having penetrated the rock by a short tunnel, it is believed to be conveyed across the valley of the Tyropoon by a mound or causeway, termed by Pierotti "a bridge," and thence to the Haram. A portion of the ancient aqueduct has been discovered south of the Coenaculum, and traced for a distance of 500 feet to near the English School on the S.W. brow of Zion, where the two aqueducts cross, shewing that the old line nearly coincided with the modern one. Indeed, at some points they unite, the original work not having been disturbed. This portion of a former aqueduct, which Lieut. Warren describes as "evidently of most ancient construction," and which he believes to have been the original aqueduct from Solomon's pools, is in some parts cut out of the rock, in others built of masonry; generally of a semi-cylindrical shape, but varying in size. In some places it is 12 feet high, and the stones at the sides measure 12 feet by 6. The plaster is still in good preservation. This channel, which was quite concealed from an enemy, in consequence of the depth at which it was driven, must have been of great consequence in olden times, as appears from the well-cut shafts which lead to it; and a reliable supply could be drawn from it by the city. Although, however, we can trace this aqueduct to a point near the Haram, and must reckon its connection with the large reservoirs there a certainty, we do not know the manner of that connection, the point of its entrance, nor the arrangement, if there be any, for the escape of the overflow supply. These are questions yet to be solved by further exploration, when ampler facilities than now exist shall be afforded for that purpose.

A few facts may be stated respecting these reservoirs. Dr Barclay having observed on one of his visits to the area, that the removal of a half-buried marble capital disclosed a rude passage leading to a long flight of steps, the Effendi, who patronised him, immediately despatched an order for flambeaux, and prepared for an exploration. Descending a broad flight of 44 steps cut in the rock, they reached a beautiful sheet of water. The cavern was found to be 736 feet in circuit and 44 in height, and at a moderate calculation, might contain a million of gallons. The rock-vaulted roof is supported by piers of rough unhewn rock. "The rain from El Aksa is conducted into it by a small trench, and much also enters by small superficial channels leading from various parts of the temple area into the same opening." This large subterannean

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