and exposed to observation. It is highly probable that a considerable portion of this ancient wall is still buried below the present surface, and might be brought to light by excavations. Josephus represents the height of the ancient walls as much greater than that of those now existing, though it was raised by Solomon only to the levelled top of Mount Moriah, the precise measure of its present altitude. "When this work (the foundation) was done in this manner, and joined together as a part of the hill itself, to the very top of it, he wrought it all into one outward surface, and filled up the hollow places which were about the wall, and made it level on the external upper surface, and a smooth level also." The difference, therefore, between the ancient and present height of the enclosure, whatever it may be, is the measure of the depth of the accumulations at its base. The statements of the Jewish historian upon this subject, however, are evidently exaggerated, and made for readers at a distance. He says in one account, that the eye of a spectator standing upon the top of the portico of the Temple could not reach the bottom of the valley, and in another passage he states that the height of the bulwark is three hundred cubits.

If we allow that these ancient substructions are the work of the early Jews, of which, it seems to me, there is no reasonable ground of doubt, we are at once made acquainted with the form and extent of the outworks of their Temple, as well as with the style of architecture which prevailed at that early period. The dimensions of the Haram are identical, at least on the western, southern, and eastern sides, with those of the ancient enclosure. This is demonstrated by the large remains of the old wall, which extend, with considerable interruptions, along these three sides of the im

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mense quadrangle. The most massive portion of it is at the southeast corner, where this ancient wall is above forty feet in height, and extends, with some interruption, and with a less elevation, the whole distance to the northern termination of the Haram. The same massive style prevails for a considerable distance from the southeast angle towards the west, and again reappears near the termination of this side of the Haram. The noble relic of the ancient bridge I have already described as belonging to the western wall, and as situated near the southwest angle of the Haram. A little north of the bridge, and nearly opposite the Mosque El Aksa, I counted ten courses of these massive blocks of stone, rising to the height of about thirty feet.

Near the foot of this part of the wall, and a little farther south, is an open space paved with flags, where the Jews assemble every Friday, and in small numbers on other days, for the purpose of praying and bewailing the desolations of their holy places. Neither Jews nor Christians are allowed to enter the Haram, which is consecrated to Mohammedan worship, and this part of the wall is the nearest approach they can make to what they regard as the precise spot within the forbidden enclosure upon which the ancient Temple stood. They keep the pavement swept with great care, and take off their shoes, as on holy ground. Standing or kneeling with their faces towards the ancient wall, they gaze in silence upon its venerable stones, or pour forth their complaints in half-suppressed, though audible tones. This, to me, was always a most affecting sight, and I repeated my visits to this interesting spot to enjoy and sympathize with the melancholy yet pleasing spectacle. The poor people sometimes sobbed aloud, and still found tears to pour

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out for the desolations of their "beautiful house." "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."

The wall is not accessible from a short distance north of the Jews' place of prayer to its termination in this direction, houses being built close to the Haram.

The northern limit of this area is not well defined, nor was I able, though I several times attempted it, to discover any portion of the old wall. The region is partly covered with houses, and a long, deep reservoir, known to the people as the Pool of Bethesda, extends nearly half the length of this side of the Haram, from the middle almost to the eastern wall.

At the northwest angle of the Haram is a large public edifice, formerly the governor's palace, but now used for barracks, which occupies the site of the ancient Castle of Antonia. It is probable that the Haram extends in this direction considerably beyond the ancient limit of the Temple proper. The form of that enclosure was a square, according to Josephus, each side being one stadium in length. The Haram is a parallelogram, with a length from south to north more than one third greater than its breadth from east to west. This fact, taken in connexion with the disappearance from that side of the Haram of every vestige of the constructions of Solomon, suggests the probability that the northern wall of the great area was completely demolished, while the destruction of the others, as we have seen, was only partial, and did not extend to their foundations. This supposition is confirmed by the fact that the Romans under Titus made all their approaches upon the Temple, where the Jews made their final and most determined stand, on this (the northern) side. The

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CHANGE OF TOUR.

Castle of Antonia, which was adjacent to the enclosure of the Temple on the north, was demolished to favour their assaults, and the northern temple wall unquestionably shared the same fate.

The length of the Haram, which may be measured along its eastern side without difficulty, is very nearly five hundred paces. The breadth I found it less easy to ascertain satisfactorily, as the ground outside the southern wall, where alone it is practicable to attempt its measurement, is very uneven, and some enclosed gardens prevent in several places an approach to the wall. Near the western end of this side of the Haram the wall of the city interposes another obstacle of a similar kind. I think three hundred and twenty paces may be taken as a close approximation to the length of this end of the immense area.

The difference between the dimensions of the ancient Temple, as given by Josephus, and those of the Haram must be ascribed to the inaccuracy of the historian, and ought not to throw any suspicion upon their identity. It is a little singular, however, that, with all his proneness to exaggeration in whatever concerns the Jewish antiquities a propensity especially manifest in his descriptions of the Temple-he should have given its dimensions too small by one third or more.

I have already attempted to account for the change of form in the ancient enclosure, that having been a square, while the Haram is a parallelogram, with an extent greater, by nearly two fifths, in length than in breadth. The site of the ancient Castle of Antonia, immediately north of the Temple, has evidently been included in the Haram. Even before the destruction of the Temple, this contiguous fortress seems to have been regarded as constituting a part of the sacred enclosure, to which it, of course, gave precisely, or nearly, the

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form and extent of the present Haram. We learn this incidentally from a passage in Josephus, where he is describing the prodigies that attended the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, and the infatuation and blindness of the Jews. "The Jews, by demolishing the Tower of Antonia, had made their Temple four square, while, at the same time, they had it written in their sacred oracles that their city should be taken, as well as their holy house, when once their Temple should be four square.

The great reservoir, by the monks and inhabitants of Jerusalem called Bethesda, and believed by them to be the pool "by the sheep market," mentioned John, chap. v., though probably ancient, has nothing in its appearance to induce us to refer its origin to the era of the massive foundations of the Temple. It is much filled with rubbish, and has probably contained no water for centuries. I conjectured the depth to be from fifty to sixty feet above the accumulations, and its length is one hundred and twenty paces, by a breadth of a little more than forty. At the northern end of this basin are two unequal arches, encumbered also with rubbish, and forming a covered way under some buildings of considerable extent. Those who regard this as the Pool of Bethesda take the two arches for the remains of the "five porches," which gave shelter to the "impotent folk" who were waiting for the troubling of the water; a conjecture which may derive some support from the fact that the arches extend only a part of the way across the reservoir from its southern side, leaving a space for the other three porches which have disappeared. I know of no circumstances or facts, however, that lend any support to the tradition in question. The "sheep gate" or market seems to have been south or south* Wars, book vi., chap. v., sect. iv.

VOL. II.-Z