u. Natural Site.— Jerus. stood on the site
* Sayce's view ia controverted bv Zimmem (^«(scAr./. Assyr. 1891, p. 263) and Jastrow (Journ. Bib. Lit. xi. [1S92J, p. 105).
occupied by the present town, though at it« greatest it extended farther to N. and S. The geogr. posi- tion (taken at the Dome of the present Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre) is 31" 40' 45" N. lat., 35* 13' 25" long. E. of Greenwich. The town stood on spurs extending S.E. from the main watershed of Pal., and still presents almost the ajjpearance of sliding downhill towards the Kidron ravine on the S.E. This ravine (now called Wi'idij en- N&r, 'Valley of Eire') is one of the main drains of the country, and is formed by the junction of three head valleys, the longest on the E. being the Kidron proper, running due south, west oi Olivet ; the second, which itself had two branches, passed through the city S.E. ; the third, running S. and turning E., is the Valley of Hinnora. The summit of Olivet is 2641 ft. above the Mediter., and the valleys at their junction have a level of about 'JOOO ft. above the same. Thus Jerus. was defended, on the E., S., and S.W., by naturaJ fosses 500 ft. deep, and was naturally weak only on the N. and N.W., from which quarters it haa always been attacked in the various sieges re- corded in history. In considering the natural site it is, however, important to remember the geological character of the region, and the changes which have been due to artificial alterations — the levelling of hills and the cutting of scarps, ditches, reservoirs, and aqueducts, together with the filling up of the valleys by ruins, or with a particular purpose. The present features, though somewhat obscured by these circumstances, are, however, distinguishable in ancient accounts of the site, and the careful measurement of rock levels, in all parts of the city, now enables us to sjjcak with certainty as to tlie original conditions. The strata di]) down S.E. from the watershed, with an average inclination of 10° or 12°. The highest beds, called locally Ndri and K'lkuli, are found on the summit and slopes of Olivet. Tlie Nilri is identified with the nummulitic beds found on Gerizim and Carinel, which belong to the Middle Eocene period. The Kakuli is a soft white lime- stone witli bands of Hint or chert, and containing marine shells as fossils, with ammonites and other distinctive genera of the Upper Chalk. The E. clill's of the Kidron Valley, below this white chalk, are formed by the Mczzch — a hard silicious lime- stone with bands of Hint and fossils. This, with the underlying beds, lielon''s to the period of the Lower Chalk. The Mezzeh also ajipears in the Sacred Kock (es-Sakhrah), on the summit of the Temple Plateau, W. of the Kidron ; in the cliff of Antonia to the N. ; and in the dill" of the traditional Calvary, as well as in that N. of the city at the so-called 'Jeremi.ah's Grotto.' Under the Ulezzeh is a deep bed of fine wliite limestone, very suitable for building stone, and hardening by exposure. It is locally kno^vn as Meleki, and in it are excavated the great resenoirs of the Temple Area, and the ancient quarries under the city N. W. of the Temple. Beneath the Meleki again is a hard dolomitic limestone, of white colour streaked with pink, which appears on the watershed sur- face W. of the city, and which is called the ' Santa Croce ' marble, being found near the Con- vent of the Cross. The alternation of these hard and soft beds accounts for the existence of cliffs and sloj)es, and for the water supply of the city, which IS deficient on the W., the water sinking down through the Meleki bed, and only ajipearing in the Kidron ravine to the E., where the dolom- itic limestone is near the surface. The natural drainage of the watershed is collected in this ravine, and no springs occur near the city at any higher level. The thickness of the various beds diUers in different parts, the Mezzeh ■ tailing off' to the N.W.
JERUSALEM
JERUSALEM
685
The rock is visible on the present surface on the N. and N.W., near the watershed, and in the N.W. part of the Temple Area. In the valley beds it is hidden by an accumulation of rubbish, which within the city has a depth in some cases of 40 or 50 feet. The level of the surface of the rock has in these parts been traced in mines, in welU and cisterns, and in sinking foundations for houses. About 150 such measurements have been carefully recorded, of which 40 are in the Temple Area and the rest within the ancient city, being fortunately most numerous in the most important parts. On the ridge S. of the Temple 30 such observations were made during the mining opera- tion.* In some cases the rock is visible in great cisterns for a considerable distance, in others its absence is proved by the existence of masonrj- walls. Thus, although it is probable that a cer- tain amount of earth covered the valley beds from the first, it is known that, in parts where a shingle of stones covers the rock, the tilling up of the valleys has been caused bv the frequent demoli- tion of buildings during the various destructions of the city.