Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

of them open into inner apartments, and are provided with small windows or apertures cut in the rock. There is none of the sadness or darkness of the tomb, but in many, so elevated and picturesque is the situation, that a traveller may pass hours here with a book in his hand, while valley and hill are beneath and around him. Before the door of one large sepulchre stood a tree, on the brink of the rock, the sun was going down on Olivet on the right, and the resting-place of the dead commanded a sweeter scene than any of the abodes of the living. Many of the tombs have flights of steps leading up to them.

"Although the size of Jerusalem was not very extensive, its very situation, on the brink of rugged hills, encircled by deep and wild valleys, bounded by eminences, whose sides were covered with groves and gardens, added to its numerous towers and temple, must have given it a singular and gloomy magnificence, scarcely possessed by any other city in the world. The most pleasing feature in the scenery around the city is the valley of Jehoshaphat... The climate of the city and country is in general very healthy. The elevated position of the former, and the numerous hills which cover the greater part of Palestine, must conduce greatly to the purity of the air." The Jews bury on mount Olivet; the Mohammedans, on mount Moriah, and north of it, along the outside of the city walls; and the Christians, on mount Zion. CARNE's Eastern Letters, pp. 259-265, 289296.

[graphic][ocr errors]

MOSQUE OF OMAR.

"Now, alas! by Siloa's fountain
Moslem worship bows the knee;
Now on Judah's hallow'd mountain,
Lo, a Turkish mosque we see.
Lord, behold thy land forsaken,
By the heathen trodden down;
Arm of God, thy strength awaken
As in days of old renown."

"FROM the place where I sat, this mosque was the only object that relieved the general dulness of the city, and all the rest was dark, monotonous, and gloomy. The mosque is regarded with the greatest veneration by the Mohammedans, and to this day the Koran or the sword is the doom of any intruder. At its northern extremity is the golden gate, for many years closed, and flanked with a tower, in which a Mussulman soldier is constantly on guard; for the Turks believe, that, by that gate, the Christians will one day enter and obtain possession of the city-city of mystery and wonder, and

still to be the scene of miracles! 'It shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled;' and the time shall come when the crescent shall no longer glitter over its battlements, nor the banner of the prophet wave over its walls."-Incidents of Travel.

66

Having left Mr. S-, I went straight on to what I thought to be a gate, when I was stopped by the screams and cries of several Mahometans, 'Do not proceed, do not proceed-this is the most holy of our places.' It was the mosque of Omar, built on the ruins of Solomon's temple. I asked how far I might proceed without giving offence, in order to have at least a look at the place where my fathers once adored Jehovah, which was pointed out to me. There I stopped and looked in, and my feelings were such as cannot be described."—Missionary Labours, &c. p. 79.

JEWS' PLACE OF WAILING.

"I HAVE seen the portion of the wall of Solomon's temple where my brethren, according to the flesh, go every Friday to weep and to pray they have paved the place, which is ninety-two feet long and fifteen broad; there are two holes in the wall, which, as they say, lead toward the Holy of Holies; through these they pray, for they believe that this is the gate of Heaven through which all prayer must pass, and even those prayers which are offered up in any other place must come to the Holy City, and enter these gates of Heaven." Alas! they know not Him who alone is the way of access to the throne of God. "The wall consists of twenty-three rows of stones; nine rows are of an immense size, some of the stones nine feet long and six broad; sixteen of them form the foundation, and lie apparently in their original order, whilst it is evident that the other rows

have been arranged at a later period. The words, 'There shall not remain one stone upon another,' came into my mind. Any one may perceive by a little observation that they (the stones) do not fit together now as they originally did."-Missionary Labours in Jerusalem, pp. 94, 112.

"I went to the place where the Jews are permitted to purchase the right of approaching the site of their temple, and of praying and wailing over its ruins and the downfall of their nation. The spot is approached

[graphic][merged small]

only by a narrow, crooked lane, which there terminates at the wall in a very small open space. Two old men, Jews, sat there upon the ground, reading together in a book of Hebrew prayers. On Fridays they assemble here in greater numbers. It is the nearest point in which they can venture to approach their ancient temple, and, fortunately for them, it is sheltered from observa

D

tion by the narrowness of the lane and the dead walls around. Here, bowed in the dust, they may at least weep undisturbed, and bedew with their tears the soil which so many thousands of their forefathers once moistened with their blood."-Robinson's Researches, vol. i. pp. 349, 350.

JERUSALEM AS IT NOW IS.

Psalm cii. 13--16.

"Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory, when the Lord shall build up Zion."

"The Holy City is surrounded by a massive stonewall, which is forty feet high and four broad, built in 1542 by Sultan Sulyman, with tower, battlement, and loop-holes, like that of York; and so constructed, that a convenient walk may be taken on the top of it with perfect safety. In the cool of the evening, and early in the morning, this promenade is one of the most pleasant recreations the Holy City still affords; flights of steps. leading up at convenient distances. The circum

It

ference of modern Jerusalem is about three miles. took me an hour to walk round it. Of the several gates of the Holy City mentioned in the Scriptures and in Josephus, four only have been left open, one on each of the four sides of the city; viz. the West Gate, leading to Jaffa, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Gaza; the North, or Damascus Gate; the East Gate, leading to Gethsemane, Bethany, &c.; and the South, or Zion Gate, because it is on that mountain.

66

Though Jerusalem is built upon hills, which are more than 2,000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, yet it is surrounded by mountains still higher. Of these the principal are, the Mountain of Evil Counsel, or

« FöregåendeFortsätt »