Stanley (op. citat. p. 189) truly points out with regard to the Mount of Olives ‘that its lasting glory belongs not to the Old Dispensation, but to the New. Its very barrenness of interest in earlier times sets forth the abundance of those associations which it derives from the closing scenes of the Sacred History. Nothing, perhaps, brings before us more satan the contrast of Jewish and Christian feeling, the abrupt and in- harmonious termination of the Jewish dispensa- tion,—if we exclude the culminating dad of the Gospel History,—than to contrast the blank which Olivet presents to the Jewish pilgrims of the Middle Ages, only dignified by the sacrifice of “the red heifer”; and the vision, too great for words, which it offers to the Christian traveller of all times, as the most detailed and the most authentic abiding-place of Jesus Christ.’
‘No name in Scripture calls up associations at once so sacred and so pleasing as that of Olivet. The “mount” is so intimately connected with the
rivate life of our Lord, that we read of it and ook at it with feelings of deepest interest and affection. Here He sat with His disciples, telling them of the wondrous events yet to come; of the destruction of the Holy City, of the sufferings, the persecutions, and the final triumph of His followers’ (Porter’s Handbook to Pal.). Here He was wont to retire for meditation and prayer. Here He was met by a concourse of people frum Jerusalem when He made His triumphal entry into the Holy City. Here He came on the night of His Bebeayel and past this mount He led His dis- ciples on the day He ascended to heaven.
Ariane are many traditional sites on the Mount of Olives, but there are some that more particu- larly claim our attention.
The Garden of Gethsemane is to be looked for beyond the Kidron and at the foot of Olivet (Jn 18', Lk 22%), and the modern traditional site seems to be a likely locality, though both Robin- son (i. 347) and Thomson (Land and Book, p. 634) suggest it was higher up the hill. This site is
robably the same as that alluded to by Eusebius,
erome, and the Bordeaux Pilgrim, but there is no earlier tradition. The balance of opinion appears to be in favour of its being near the true site. It is situated on the Olivet k of the Kidron, not far from the bridge, and immediately south of the road leading from the bridge to the summit of Olivet. On the other side of the road are the ‘Grotto of the Agony’ and the ‘Tomb of the Virgin’ (el-Jesmaniyeh of the Arabs, i.e. Geth- semane). There are continuous links of tradition uniting these chapels with the traditional spot early in the 4th cent., where the site may possibly have been fixed by the empress Helena, A.D. 326. See, further, art. GETHSEMANE.
Theodorus (A.D. 530) states, ‘and there is the Basilica of St. Mary the Lord’s Mother and her sepulchre’ ; and St. John of Damascus writing in the 8th cent. states that it existed then. A church was erected over it in the time of the empress Pul- cheria (A.D. 390-450); since the 8th cent. there has been an unbroken chain of tradition concern- ing the tomb. Bernard (A.D. 867) found it in ruins ; it had been a round church. It was rebuilt
OLIVES, MOUNT OF
OLIVES, MOUNT OF 619
by ical & and is described by Sewulf and | about 40 ft. north and south, by 30 ft. east and illiam of T
'yre as it now exists. The Moslems handed it over to the Christians, A.D. 1363, but they still visit it on a certain day in the year. Eusebius (A.D. 833) states that Gethsemane was at the Mount of Olives, and was then a place of ae er for the faithful, and that the rock where
udas betrayed Christ was in the valley of Jehoshaphat (tin. Hieros). The Bordeaux Pil-
im also places the same rock in the valley of
ehoshaphat. St. Silvia (A.p. 379-388) describes the service at Gethsemane. Jerome (A.D. 393) says that Gethsemane was at the foot of the mountain, and that a church had been built over it. Eucherius (A.D. 427-448) alludes to the two famous churches where our Lord is said to have had discourse with His disciples, and that of the Ascension. Theodorus (A.D. 530) speaks of a Basilica on the spot where Christ taught His dis- ciples. The presumption is, then, that the Grotto of the Agony was the original site of Gethsemane. The olive trees of Gethsemane are not mentioned by any of the earlier pilgrims, and there is no tradition connecting the very old trees now in the garden with the past.
Modern tradition makes the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem over the summit of the Mount of Olives, and the scene of the lamentation over Jerusalem about half-way down the hill; but Stanley has shown conclusively that His journey lay by the southern road through Bethany—that by which mounted travellers at the present day spore Jerusalem, over the southern shoulder οἵ Olivet, between the summit which contains the tombs of the Prophets and the Mount of Offence. ‘There can be no doubt that this is the route of the triumphal entry, not only because, as just stated, itis and must always have been the usual approach for horsemen and for large cara- vans, such as then were concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three ap- proaches which meets the requirements of the narrative’ (Stanley, SP 191). The road on leaving Bethany passes over a spur of Olivet which runs out to the south-east; from here a view is obtained of the southern part of the Holy City, then the road descends into a hollow, and mounting again by a rugged ascent it reaches a ledge of smooth rock from which the whole city bursts into view. This point is opposite to the south-east angle of the temple enclosure and con- siderably above it. ‘Nowhere else on the Mount of Olives is there a view like this. By the two other approaches, one being over the summit and one over the northern shoulder of the hill, the city reveals itself gradually; there is no partial glimpse, like that which has just been described as agreeing so well with the first outbreak of popular acclamation, still less is there any point where, as here, the city and temple would sud- denly burst into view, producing the sudden and affecting impression described in the Gospel narra- tive’ (SP 193).