IV.

Some four hundred and fifty years after Joshua led the children of Israel through the divided waters of the Jordan, and with his military forces swept up the Jordan valley and up through the hills of Judea, destroying those heathen nations,--when these four hundred and fifty years had been placed on the tablet of time King David appeared on the scene, with Joab as his major-general. Mount Zion was then called Jebus, and the people were called Jebusites.

King David made an attack, capturing the city, Joab being the first man to enter.

Josephus claims that Melchizedek once lived here. On Mount Zion David built his palace, this being the whole of the city.

Thirty-seven years later the foundation of the temple was laid on Mount Moriah. These two elevations are divided by the Tryphon valley, and were at one time connected by a bridge.

On Mount Moriah Ornan had his threshing-floor, and it was also the spot where Abraham offered up Isaac. Mount Zion became the civil capital of the nation, and Mount Moriah the sacred capital. Jerusalem attained its greatest power during Solomon’s reign, but this was largely lost by the revolt of Jeroboam.

It passed through many changes of fortune, until five hundred and eighty-eight years before Christ, when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Jews were taken into captivity. Jerusalem remained a heap of ruins until Cyrus allowed the Jews to return, guided by Ezra and Nehemiah, and for many years, until Grecian power became strong in Western Asia, Syria and Palestine were governed by Persian satraps in Damascus; yet the Jewish priest had much liberty.

Some three hundred and thirty years before Christ, after the battle of Issus, Palestine fell under the dominion of Alexander the Great. That illustrious monarch appeared one day before Jerusalem on the hills to the north-west, where now stand the Russian buildings; and a solemn procession, headed by the high priest, clad in pontifical robe, marched out to meet him. As soon as the monarch saw them, he advanced, and reverently saluted the sacred name inscribed on the priest’s mitre, saying, “I adore not the man, but the God with whose priesthood he is honored. When in Macedonia, pondering how to subdue Asia, I saw this figure in a dream, and he encouraged me to advance, promising to give me the Persian empire. I look upon this as an omen that I have undertaken the expedition by divine command, and success will be mine.” Alexander granted the Jews many privileges; and after his death Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Ptolemies of Egypt, under whose mild rule it remained over two hundred years, when it was plundered and defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. Two years later he sent his general, Apollonius, to complete the work; and all the able-bodied men were slain, and the women and children sold into slavery.

Then arose the priestly family of Asmones to revenge their injuries and vindicate the honor of their God. This warfare lasted until thirty-four years before Christ, when Herod the Great was appointed ruler of the Jews. In the year 70 the Romans stormed the city, and killed more than a million Jews (this number is given by Josephus), and razed the temple to the ground.

Wars and fighting went on until 636, when Omar captured the city, and ordered the mosque of Omar built. Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders in 1229; and in 1243 it was secured by the Moslems, and has been in their power ever since. The last few years the Jews have been returning, and have settled largely outside the city walls at the north-west. The Russian Jews have some fine buildings. Within the walls the city is dirty. Many of the streets are arched, and lined with bazaars. Zion Street runs from the Jaffa gate through the city. David Street is another of the main streets. The city seems divided into four sections, each section being occupied by different religious sects,--Mohammedans, Latins, Christians, and Armenians. The city is poorly watered, only two nearly dried up fountains they depend on. Cisterns catch the water from the roofs of the buildings. Lumber is a scarce article. The buildings are nearly all stone; and, from appearances, the inhabitants of that country are more efficient in working on stone than on any other material. The stones in the old walls of Jerusalem, laid without mortar or cement, are fitted so closely that you can hardly tell where they are joined together,--perfect joints. From the Mount of Olives you get the finest view of the city. It is composed of four elevations, Mount Moriah, Zion, Ackra, and Bezetha, the two former lying to the east and the most prominent, and rich with historical interest. No city in the world so thrills the soul as the one that has within its bosom Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. While you may not believe all that the native tells you about the exact localities of the thrilling scenes of eighteen hundred years ago, yet you know you are near the spot where the King of kings yielded to the will of the Father, triumphed over death, led captivity captive, and established a kingdom that Satan has not been able to prevail against. You can go to the house of Caiphas where they took Christ the night of the betrayal. They will show you where Peter sat when he denied his Master. From there it is not very far to Pilate’s judgment hall. When that was rebuilt, it is evident they dug down to the old foundation; and you can, no doubt, stand where Christ stood when before Pilate, you can see the stone upon which Pilate stood when he pronounced judgment. This building is now occupied by the Latin Sisters. They will also show you the way Christ was led out to be crucified, where he fell with the cross, where he spoke to the women and told them not to weep for him, but weep for themselves, etc.

On Mount Moriah stood Solomon’s temple and palace, said to cover--with all its courts and appendages--acres, some say thirty. The mosque of Omar now stands on Mount Moriah. Though not so large as the temple, yet its symmetrical architecture, beautiful stained-glass, tiling, etc., will fill you with admiration. There is no mosque in the Turkish empire that surpasses it in beauty.

In the mosque is the dome of the rock, with its steps leading up to it, with the hole in the centre where the blood went in time of sacrifice, being connected by a subterranean passage to the Kedron valley. This rock is fifty-seven by forty-three feet, and six and one-half feet high. It is held wonderfully sacred by the Mussulmans. They claim that Mohammed went up from this rock, and the rock started to follow him; but the angel Gabriel put his hand on it, and stopped it. The Armenian convent, one of the largest buildings in the city, is said to hold eight thousand. We were shown the Church of St. James, said to mark the site where he was killed by Herod (Acts xii. 1, 2). It contains his tomb and chair, also three stones, one from Mount Sinai where Moses received the law, one from the Jordan where the children of Israel crossed, and one from Mount Tabor where, some think, the transfiguration took place. Near the Damascus gate you can enter a subterranean passage where there have been thousands upon thousands of stone quarried here. You take lights, and walk miles under the city. Stone has been taken out here for building and rebuilding Jerusalem. You can enter a building in which is David’s tomb, which they will not allow you to see; but you may visit a room above, called the Cœnaculum. It is fifty by thirty feet; and here it is claimed that Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, where the apostles were gathered on the day of Pentecost, when Peter in his sermon referred to the tomb of David as being with them (Acts ii. 29).

You can take Baedeker or a good guide with you, and travel days in the city with great interest.

Friday is the day to visit the Jews’ wailing-place in the Tyropœon valley, by the walls of the city, and near where the temple stood. Here they read the old prophecies and promises, and weep, to all appearances, from the bottom of their hearts, evidently sincere mourners over the destruction of their city, and the scattering of their people to the four corners of the earth. They believe, no doubt, that they are to be gathered together, and re-established in the Holy City some time in the future.

[Illustration: THE JEWS’ WAILING-PLACE.]

Jerusalem is situated high upon the hills of Judah, with her foundations of granite; and, as you stand on Olivet, you view her palaces and the surrounding country, with its hills ribbed with lime-rock, granite, and marble, and you admire it, for it was once the Holy City. But I am confident, if David had seen old Vermont clothed in her beautiful garments as she is in summer time, he would never have settled down in Jerusalem.

But the die was cast, and Jerusalem was and is to be the religious centre of the world. Around it clusters sacred memories. From its Mount Calvary went forth a power that rent the rocks asunder. From this centre went forth the great reformation and the uplifting of the nations of the earth. It is a joy to every Christian to stand on Olivet, to walk through the Garden of Gethsemane, and over Calvary and Mount Zion: it will add a richness to the study of the holy Scriptures. It is an old saying, “See Naples, and die.” There is a mistake. The phraseology should be different: “Don’t die, unless you are obliged to, until you have seen Naples.” I would say the same in regard to Palestine and the Holy Land.

Our stay in and about Jerusalem has been exceedingly interesting, and we shall study the Scriptures with greater interest than ever before.

We start the 24th on our long camping tour from here to Beyrout. I shall write up as I go along the route, but shall not mail it until we reach our destination, which will be May 11.