THE MOSQUE OF OMAR.

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sure, a circumstance that would seem to confirm Dr. R.'s opinion of their Jewish origin, as this style appears to be Jewish, in distinction from the Roman or any other style seen in the remains of the Holy City. The Turks, according to Dr. R., ascribe the erection of these pillars to Solomon. This traveller was informed that there were three thousand such pillars under the Mosque of El Aksa, which, however, he was not admitted to examine. Mr. Catherwood advanced nearly a hundred yards into the labyrinth of ancient columns, when his progress was interrupted by a wall, which seemed only to be a division in these immense subterranean vaults.

The entire area of the Haram, the magnificent site of Solomon's Temple, and the noblest, perhaps, ever occupied by a religious edifice, is consecrated to Mohammedan worship, and contains two celebrated mosques, those of El Aksa and the Sakhara, so called from a stone which it encloses, held in great veneration by the Mohammedans. Christian travellers must be content with such views of these celebrated fanes as can be obtained from elevated positions near the Haram, but outside of its walls. The place most commonly resorted to for this purpose is the old palace of the governor, near the northwest corner of the sacred enclosure. I obtained a very good view of the Sakhara and interior of the Haram from the roof of a house on the brow of Mount Zion, whither I was conducted by an English gentleman, an amateur painter, who preferred this view of the mosque and the sacred area to the one from the governor's house. The position was commanding, and I saw to good advantage the splendid architecture of the Mosque of Omar, as well as the beautiful grounds, the favourite haunt of the faithful, and enlivened at the time by a host of idlers of both sexes, promenading or

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EXTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE.

sitting upon the green turf in the shade of orange, olive, and cypress trees.

This building stands on a raised platform, which is ascended by stairs. It is in form an octagon, each of its eight sides being, according to Richardson, sixty feet in length. Lofty porches projecting far from the body of the building, and, supported by columns, give admittance to the worshippers, and have, from the point of view which I occupied, an air of peculiar lightness and elegance. The exterior of the lower story is formed of white marble, which, according to Richardson, has, upon a near inspection, an ancient appearance, that might lead to the suspicion of its having belonged to the Temple. The upper story is faced with small tiles of very brilliant colours-blue, white, green, and yellow-arranged with much taste, and producing, in the flood of sunlight which poured upon the edifice, a striking and very splendid effect. A beautiful dome surmounts the whole, in the usual Mohammedan style. The interior is said to answer well to the external magnificence of the mosque. The octagonal form is preserved, and a multitude of columns, of no particular order, made of white and blue marble, rise from the floor, supporting pointed arches, upon which rest the timbers of the roof. As in other Mohammedan temples, there are no ornaments, the want of which is amply supplied by relics and holy places held in the utmost veneration by the people for their traditionary connexion with various important transactions and personages, Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan.

This mosque was built by the Caliph Omar in the seventh century, soon after the Saracen conquest of Jerusalem. It bears his name in many books, but is known to the Arabs as the Sakhara, and it is deemed by them one of the holiest as well as most magnificent