Part 71

The NAVE, which we next visit, has suffered greatly from the introduction of the Catholicon. The pointed windows, the clustered pillars, and the groined vaulting still bear traces of their origin in the Crusaders’ era. The southmost of the three chapels in the apse, in the outer wall of the choir ambulatory, contains the ‘Column of the Derision’.

To the left of this chapel a flight of 29 steps descends to ST. HELENA’S CHAPEL, belonging to the Armenians, on the site of Constantine’s basilica, with foundations of the period of Modestus; 13 more steps descend thence to the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross.

We now return to the ambulatory and ascend from it, to the left (S.), to the higher-lying GOLGOTHA CHAPELS, the 10–13th stations on the Via Dolorosa (see below).

On the S. side of the quadrangle, in front of the Holy Sepulchre Church, lies the =Mûristân= (Pl. E, F, 5), an open space of 170 by 150 yds., which contained, from the days of Charlemagne onwards, the hostels and hospitals of the European pilgrims and, from 1140, the grand buildings of the Knights of St. John. Saladin (p. 443) granted it as a charitable endowment (wakf) to the Dome of the Rock (p. 477), but allowed the old hostels to remain. The larger W. half, with modern shops, now belongs to the Greek patriarchate; the E. half was presented by the sultan to Prussia. At the N.E. corner, next to the street called Hâret ed-Dabbârîn, is the German Prot. _Church of the Redeemer_ (Pl. E, 5).

The Mûristân is bounded on the E. by the now unimportant _Old Bazaar_, or sûk, the three parallel streets of which form part of the great thoroughfare between the Damascus and Zion gates (p. 473). The middle street, the Sûk el-Attârin (p. 335), is continued to the N. by the Khân ez-Zeit (Pl. F, 4), from which an alley on the left leads to the _Abyssinian_ and _Coptic Monasteries_.

At the Coptic Monastery is the 9th station on the =Via Dolorosa=, the ‘route of suffering’, mentioned for the first time in the 16th cent., on which Christ is said to have borne the Cross from Pilate’s house to Golgotha. The last five stations are within the Holy Sepulchre Church (see above). The other stations lie between the Greek _Monastery of St. Caralombos_ (Pl. 24, E F, 4; 8th station) and the _Barracks_ (Pl. G, 3; 1st station) in the Tarîk Bâb Sitti Maryam (street of the Virgin Mary’s gate).

This street leads to the E. to _St. Stephen’s Gate_ (Pl. H, I, 3; 2405 ft.), the only E. gate of the city, called by the natives _Bâb Sitti Maryam_, or Lady Mary’s Gate, from its proximity to the Virgin’s Tomb (see p. 480).

Within the gate a passage leads to the N. to the fine old =Church of St. Anne= (Pl. H, 3; Arabic _Es-Salâhiyeh_), on the supposed site of the house of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin. It is mentioned as already existing in the 7th cent., but in its present form dates chiefly from the 12th. The crypt hewn in the rock is the traditional birthplace of the Virgin, and the tombs of Joachim and Anna also are now pointed out.

We now retrace our steps towards the W., and halfway along the Via Dolorosa follow the El-Wâd street (Pl. F, G, 4, 5) to the left, through the hollow of the ancient Tyropœon (p. 472), to the Sûk el-Kattânîn (see below), near the entrance to the Haram esh-Sherîf; or starting from the Old Bazaar, we reach the same point by the TARÎK BÂB ES-SILSELEH (Pl. F, G, 5).

The *=Haram esh-Sherîf= (Pl. G-I, 4–6; ‘noble sanctuary’), the ancient site of the Temple, is the most interesting place in Jerusalem. Adm., see p. 471. The usual entrance is by the _Bâb el-Kattânîn_ (Pl. G, 4, 5), the central W. gate, built by En-Nâsir (p. 448) in 1318, behind the now deserted Sûk el-Kattânîn (cotton-market).

On this site king David erected an altar (2 Sam. xxiv. 25), and Solomon built his palace and Temple. Here stood also the second Temple, erected about 520–516 after the Babylonish captivity, and the third Temple, begun by Herod the Great (p. 472) in 20 B.C. but never completed on the grand scale projected. On the same spot Hadrian erected a temple of Jupiter as the chief sanctuary of Ælia Capitolina (p. 472), and near the S. wall of the great quadrangle Justinian built a basilica in honour of the Virgin, which afterwards became the mosque of El-Aksâ. Beyond these facts little or nothing is known of the history of this memorable site during the early centuries of the Christian era.

Mohammed, who claimed to have visited this spot, evinced great reverence for the ancient Temple, and before he had broken off his relations with the Jews he even enjoined believers to turn towards Jerusalem in prayer. About the year 637 caliph Omar converted the church of St. Mary into a mosque, and the Omaiyade Abd el-Melik (685–705) erected the famous Dome of the Rock on a platform in the centre of the sacred precincts, a building which the Crusaders took to be Solomon’s Temple. Adjoining the mosque of El-Aksâ, then called the Porticus or Palatium Salomonis, probably stood the royal palace of the Franks and the castle of the Knights Templar.

The huge substructions of the Temple plateau, the surface of which was much altered by Saladin, still date from the reign of Herod. The plateau itself forms an immense quadrangle of irregular shape (W. side 536, E. side 518, N. side 351, S. side 310 yds. long). In the N.W. corner, once perhaps the site of Baris, the castle of the Maccabees, and of the Roman castle of Antonia, rises the highest _Minaret_ of the Haram. The buildings by the W. and N. walls, Koran schools, dwellings, etc., with open arcades on the groundfloor, are unimportant. The great quadrangle, now partly planted with trees, is studded with numerous _mastabas_, raised platforms with prayer-niches (mihrâbs), and _sebîls_, or fountains for the religious ablutions. Especially to the S.W. of the Dome the ground is honeycombed with deep _Cisterns_, some of which are very ancient.

Entering the precincts and passing the pretty _Sebîl_ of Kâït Bey (p. 458) we mount one of the flights of steps of the time of Abd el-Melik to the PLATFORM, 10 ft. in height.

The so-called **=Dome of the Rock= (_Kubbet es-Sakhra_; Pl. H, 4, 5), usually but erroneously called Omar’s Mosque, was built, according to the Arabian historians, by Abd el-Melik for political reasons, the Omaiyades being at that period denied access to the Kaaba at Mecca. The year 72 of the Hegira (691–2) is mentioned as the date of its erection. The chief restorations in the middle ages were undertaken by the Fatimite Ez-Zâhir (1021–36), who rebuilt the dome in 1022, and by Saladin, to whom is due the superb stucco decoration of the dome. Most of the later additions were made by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Great (1520–66). The W. porch alone is quite modern.

The building, in the late-Roman and Byzantine style (comp. p. 548), is in the form of an octagon, 50 yds. in diameter, with sides 22½ yds. in length, and with two concentric aisles. Above the inner aisle rises the boldly designed *Dome (98 ft. high), consisting of two wooden vaults placed one inside the other and roofed with plates of copper. The external walls are still incrusted below with their old slabs of marble, while above the window-sills the ancient glass mosaics were replaced in the time of Suleiman by superb Persian porcelain-tiles (kishâni). The keel-arches of the windows are of the same period.

The two aisles are separated by two series of supports. Between the eight pillars of the outer octagonal aisle, which are incrusted with marble dating from the time of Suleiman, rise sixteen columns with late-Roman or early-Byzantine capitals, and the round-arched arcades are connected, above the Byzantine imposts, by tie-beams overlaid with copper. The inner row of supports, bearing the dome, consists of four large pillars and twelve antique monolith columns. The pointed arches of the vaulting here, dating from Suleiman’s restoration, rest immediately on the capitals. The wrought-iron screen is of French workmanship of the Crusaders’ era.

The glass *Mosaics in the spandrels of the outer aisle, executed by Byzantine artificers, all belong to the earliest building; those in the drum of the dome are partly of the time of Ez-Zâhir and of Saladin. The stucco decoration of the dome was restored under Mohammed en-Nâsir (p. 448) in 1318, and again in 1830. The *Windows, dating from Suleiman’s restoration, present a marvellous wealth of colouring.

Enclosed by the inner aisle, and best viewed from the high bench beside the N.W. gate of the screen, is the _Sacred Rock_, measuring 18½ by 14½ yds., and rising 4–6½ ft. above the pavement of the church. Under it is a cavity, probably once a cistern. The rock is supposed to have been the site of the great Jewish altar of burnt-offering. The Jews and the Moslems believe it to have been also the scene of Abraham’s sacrifice. From this spot Mohammed is said to have been translated to heaven on his miraculous steed Burâk, while an angel restrained the rock in its attempt to follow him; here too, they believe, will be erected the throne of God on the Day of Judgment.

Outside the E. gate of the Dome of the Rock, and probably as old, is the so-called DOME OF THE CHAIN (_Kubbet es-Silseleh_, or _Mehkemet Dâûd_, ‘David’s Place of Judgment’). This structure consists of two concentric rows of columns, the outer forming a hexagon, the inner an endecagon. The large prayer-recess on the S. side, facing Mecca, is of the 13th century. The arcades, connected by tie-beams, and the drum of the dome are richly adorned with fayence tiles of Suleiman’s period. Across the dome, it is said, will be stretched a chain (silseleh) on the Day of Judgment, from which the awful scales will be suspended.

We now descend from the platform by the steps near the ‘_Summer Pulpit_’ (15th cent.), at the S.E. angle, and walk past the round basin of _El-Kâs_ to the—

*=Mesjid el-Aksâ= (Pl. H, 5, 6), the sanctuary ‘farthest’ from Mecca and one of the holy places of Proto-Islam, to which God is said to have brought Mohammed from Mecca in one night (Sureh xvii. 1). The mosque without its additions is now 88 yds. long and 60 yds. wide. Of the church of Justinian nothing apparently has survived except the columns of the nave and two inner aisles. The capitals perhaps date from caliph Omar’s period (637). The broad transept was probably constructed by the Abbaside El-Mehdi (775–95); the wooden dome is now covered with lead outside. The transept gave the edifice the form of a =⟙=, which was converted later into a rectangle by the two rows of aisles added on the E. and W. These, in their present shape, and the pointed arcades of the nave and inner aisles, connected by tie-beams, belong to a late period of restoration. The so-called White Mosque, now set apart for women, a long double corridor to the W. of the transept, probably once belonged to the castle of the Knights Templar. The latest addition is the porch built by Melik el-Muazzam Isâ (d. 1227) and restored at a later period. Its middle arcades imitate Frank Gothic.

The interior was once almost as sumptuously decorated as the Dome of the Rock. The *Pulpit (mimbar), carved in wood and inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl, executed by order of Nûreddîn (p. 485) in 1169 for the great mosque of Aleppo, was presented by Saladin. To him also the mosque owes the prayer-recess, with its graceful little marble columns, the superb mosaics of the mihrâb-wall, and the drum of the dome. The author or at least restorer of the decorations of the dome is said to have been Mohammed en-Nâsir (p. 448). The windows date only from the time of Suleiman.

In the S.E. corner of the Haram area a staircase descends to a small _Moslem Oratory_ with the ‘Cradle of Christ’ and to 13 vaulted galleries, part of the old substructure of the Haram, known as _Solomon’s Stables_. In the sixth gallery, counting from the E., there is a small door in the S. wall called the ‘_Single Gate_‘, an old entrance to the Haram.

The roof of the ‘_Golden Gate_’ (Pl. H, I, 4; Bâb ed-Dâhirîyeh), the only E. gate of the Haram, dating from the reign of Justinian (?) but now built up, affords a survey of the whole great quadrangle. At our feet lies the Kidron valley (p. 480), with its rock-tombs, and opposite rises the Mt. of Olives (see below).

Time permitting, we may now visit the _Wailing Place of the Jews_ (Kautal Maarbei; Pl. G, 5), to the W. of the Haram, reached by descending (to the S.) the eastmost side-street of the Tarîk Bâb es-Silseleh. It is probable that the Jews, who never enter the Haram precincts for fear of desecrating the holy of holies, were in the habit of repairing hither as early as the middle ages to bewail the downfall of Jerusalem. The scene is most touching on Friday afternoons (after 4 p.m.), when crowds of mourners flock to the place and litanies are chanted.

The =Mount of Olives= (_Mons Oliveti_, _Jebel et-Tûr_), running parallel to the Temple hill, is closely associated with the last days of Christ on earth. It is visited (best in the forenoon) either by carriage from the Jaffa or the Damascus Gate (10–12 fr.; ascent ½ hr.), or on horseback (p. 471) or on foot from St. Stephen’s Gate (p. 475). Those who return by the valley of the Kidron should order their carriage to meet them at the Garden of Gethsemane.

From the Damascus Gate (p. 473) the road leads past the _Dominican Monastery of St. Stephen_ (on the right; Pl. E, 1) and then, beyond the Anglican _Bishop’s House_, past the so-called _Tombs of the Kings_ (on the right). This large subterranean burial-ground, with its tomb-chambers and shaft-tombs, probably belonged to queen Helena of Adiabene and her family (1st cent. A.D.). The road to Nâbulus soon diverges to the left; ours ascends in a wide curve northwards to the top of the _Scopus_ and to the Mt. of Olives.

On the N. height of the Mt. of Olives, to the left of the road, is the new German _Augusta Victoria Institute_ (sanatorium and church).

On the E. summit (2665 ft.) are the Russian Buildings, a pilgrims’ hospice, the _Russian Church of the Ascension_, and a six-storied _Belvedere Tower_ (214 steps). The *Panorama embraces the city and the hills around Jerusalem and Bethlehem (the latter itself not visible). Towards the E. lie the Dead Sea (1293 ft. below sea-level) and the Jordan valley (Arabic El-Ghôr), and among the bluish Mts. of Moab rises Mt. Nebo (2644 ft.), whence Moses beheld the promised land before his death (Deut. xxxiv. 1–4).

A little to the W. of the Russian Buildings lies the poor village =Kafr et-Tûr=. Near it is the _Chapel of the Ascension_, built in 1834–5, to mark the scene of the Ascension (in contradiction to Luke xxiv. 50, ‘He led them out as far as Bethany’). Of the earlier churches here, one a round building of Emp. Constantine, the other built by the Crusaders, few traces are left.

To the S. of the village are the LATIN BUILDINGS, including the _Credo_ and _Paternoster Churches_ (1898).

A steep path descends hence, to the W., to the GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE (Pl. K, 4), now the property of the Franciscans. Near the entrance (E. side) a rock marks the spot where Peter, James, and John are said to have slept (Mark xiv. 32 _et seq._), and the fragment of a column close by indicates the traditional scene of the Betrayal. (A monk acts as guide; fee 3–6 pias.) A little higher up the Greeks have their own Garden of Gethsemane, containing the many-domed _Church of Mary Magdalen_ (Pl. K, 4).

A few paces to the N.W., on the road to the upper bridge over the Kidron (Pl. I, 3) and to St. Stephen’s Gate, rises _St. Mary’s Church_ (Pl. K, 3; Arabic Kenîset Sitti Maryam), built by queen Milicent or Melisendis (d. 1161) on the site of an ancient church mentioned as early as the 5th cent.; it contains the ‘coffin of the Virgin’, in which she lay until her Assumption.

The =Valley of the Kidron=, identified from a very early age with the _Valley of Jehoshaphat_, has been supposed, ever since pre-Christian times, owing to a misinterpretation of Joel iii. 2, to be the future scene of the Last Judgment. The Moslems bury their dead on the E. slope of the Haram esh-Sherîf, and the Jews on the W. slope of the Mt. of Olives.

From the Jericho road, to the S. of the Garden of Gethsemane, a path diverges to the right to the lower bridge over the Kidron (Pl. I, 5). To the left of the path are the so-called _Tomb of Absalom_, a cube of rock, with a curious conical roof expanding at the top; _St. James’s Cavern_, a rock-tomb; and the _Pyramid of Zacharias_. All these date from the Græco-Roman period.

Farther on, to the S.E., passing below the hill-village of _Siloah_ (Pl. H, I, 7–9; Arabic Kafr Silwân), we come to _St. Mary’s Fountain_ (Pl. H, 7; Aïn Sitti Maryam), an intermittent spring, probably the _Gihon_ of the Old Testament. Since the time of Hezekiah (about 700 B.C.) its water has flowed through the underground _Siloah Conduit_ to the _Pool of Siloam_ (Pl. G, H, 9), within the Jewish town-wall.

Farther down the valley we reach in a few minutes ‘_Job’s Well_’ (about 2035 ft.; Bîr Eiyûb).

We return thence to the town by the =Valley of Hinnom= (p. 472). The ‘_Zion Suburb_’ (p. 473) rises steeply on the N.W.; to the left is the slope of _Jebel Abû Tôr_, covered with rock-tombs. Near (12 min.) the _Sultan’s Pond_ (see below) we join the Bethlehem road.

The EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, by a good road (half-a-day; carr. about 12 fr.; horse, see p. 471), will even repay walkers.

The road descends to the S. from the Jaffa Gate (p. 473) into the _Valley of Hinnom_ (see above). Beyond the _Birket es-Sultân_ (Pl. C, D, 8), an old Jewish reservoir restored by Suleiman the Great (16th cent.), the station-road diverges to the right.

Our road leads to the S.W. across the tableland of _El-Bukeia_ (p. 470), past the traditional _Well of the Magi_ (Matth. ii. 9), to the (3 M.) Greek convent of _Mâr Elyâs_ (left). Bethlehem appears in the foreground. Fine view of the Dead Sea (p. 479) to the left.

At (4 M.) ‘_Rachel’s Tomb_’ (Kubbet Râhîl), built like the welis or tombs of Moslem saints, the Hebron road diverges to the right.

[Illustration: BEYROÛT VIEILLE VILLE ET BAZAR]

[Illustration: BEYROÛT]

5 M. =Bethlehem= (2550 ft.; pop. about 11,000, almost all Christians), the home of David and the birthplace of our Saviour, has a situation resembling that of Jerusalem. It consists of eight different quarters, containing many monasteries, hospitals, and schools. Fine view from the German Prot. _Weihnachtskirche_ (‘Christmas Church’, 1893), on the W. outskirts.

Over the traditional birthplace of Christ rises *ST. MARY’S CHURCH, now occupied by the Greeks, Latins, and Armenians jointly. The original columnar basilica of the time of Constantine, with its double aisles, is still the nucleus of the present church. It was thoroughly renovated by the Crusaders, and the superb wallmosaics were restored by the Byzantine Emp. Manuel Comnenos (1143–80). The Greeks, who were in sole possession from 1672 to 1852, unfortunately added the transept wall.

INTERIOR. The entrance is by the old central portal, approached from an open space once occupied by an atrium. Three passages lead through the transept, with semicircular apses at either end, to the semicircular choir. Among the almost obliterated mosaics is a quaint representation of the Entry into Jerusalem in the S. apse.

Adjoining the choir are two flights of steps descending into the Crypt, or Chapel of the Nativity, and to the ‘Chapel of the Manger’, the ‘dwelling of St. Jerome’ (b. about 340 in Dalmatia, d. in 420 at Bethlehem), and his tomb, which also are highly revered.

The stairs on the N. side ascend to the Latin Church of St. Catharine, through which we return to the principal church.

For full details, see _Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria_.

74. Beirut. Excursion to Damascus.

ARRIVAL. The steamers anchor in the harbour (Pl. F, G, 1). The landing is better managed than at Jaffa. Boat for 1 pers. 2 fr.; less for a party, as may be arranged. The hotels and tourist-agents send their men on board. The _Douane_ (Pl. F, 1; passport and custom-house formalities; comp. p. 537) is close to the landing-place.—To the E. of the Douane lies the RAILWAY STATION (_Gare_; Pl. F, G, 1).

HOTELS. *_Hôt. d’Allemagne_ (Pl. a; E, 1), well spoken of, _Hôt. d’Orient_ (Pl. b; E, 1), both near the sea; _Gassmann’s Hotel_ (Pl. c; F, 1), in the Sûk ed-Jemîl; pens. at these 12–15 fr. (less for a prolonged stay); _Hôt. Victoria_ (Pl. d; E, 1), plainer, etc.—RESTAURANTS. _Blaich_, _Jean Schröter_, both near the Hôt. d’Allemagne.

ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS. Four different lines traverse the town (comp. Plan); of these the _Blue Line_ runs from the Place des Canons to the Lighthouse (Phare; Pl. A, 2), near the Râs Beirût (p. 483).

CARRIAGES. Drive 1 fr.; per hr. in town 2, in country 2–3 fr. (more on Sun.). Longer drives as may be arranged.—HORSES. Half-day 1, whole day 1½ mejidieh.

POST OFFICES. Turkish (_Poste Turque_; Pl. F, 1); British, French, German, and others, Khân Antûn Beg (Pl. F, 1).—TELEGRAPH OFFICE (Internat.; Pl. F, 2), Derb el-Kebîreh (p. 483).

BANKS. _Banque Ottomane_ (Pl. F, 1), _Anglo-Palestine Co._, _German Palaestina-Bank_, all at the harbour.—For the Turkish money, see p. 536.

CONSULATES. British (Pl. 2; G, 2): consul-general, _H. A. Cumberbatch_; vice-consul, _H. E. W. Young_.—United States (Pl. 6; C, 2): consul-general, _G. B. Ravndal_; vice-consul, _L. Memminger_.

STEAMBOAT AGENCIES. _Khedivial Mail_, opposite the custom-house; _Austrian Lloyd_, _Messag. Maritimes_, and _Russian Steam Navigation & Trading Co._, all in Khân Antûn Beg (Pl. F, 1); _Società Nazionale_, opposite the German Bank.—TOURIST AGENTS. _Thos. Cook & Son_, in the Hôtel d’Orient; _Agence Lubin_, Khân Antûn Beg (Pl. F, 1).

CHURCHES. _American Presbyterian Mission_ (Pl. F, 2); services on Sun. at 11 a.m. in English and at 9 a.m. in Arabic. Among the many other missions and schools are the _British Syrian_, the _Ch. of Scotland Jewish_, the _Syrian Prot._, and a number of German, French, etc.

_Beirut_ (Fr. _Beyrout_, Arab. _Beirût_; pop. 190,000), the chief commercial place in Syria (_Esh-Shâm_), and the capital of the Turkish vilayet (province of a _vali_ or governor) of that name, is beautifully situated, in 33° 50′ N. lat. and 35° 30′ E. long., on the S. shore of _St. George’s Bay_, between _Râs Beirût_ (p. 483) and _Mt. St. Dimitri_. To the E. rises _Lebanon_ (p. xxxiv), with _Jebel Keneiseh_ and _Jebel Sannîn_ (p. 483). The climate is mild and pleasant (mean temperature of Jan. 56° Fahr., of Aug. 81°), and the rainfall is considerable (34 in.). The sea-breezes render the summer bearable, but they are apt to fail in August and September. Many of the citizens then seek refuge in the summer quarters of Lebanon, to which Egyptians and Cypriotes also resort.