period of the Gospels.
1. Name. — This appears in the Gospels a,s'lepoa-6- Xi'/ia and'IfpowaXij/x. The former of these names, and the more used, appears to have come into common vogue a century or so before the com- mencement of the Christian era. It occurs in 2 Maccabees (3"), in the Letter of Aristeas, and in Strabo, and it is the form always employed by Josephus. In Latin Pagan writers, c.rj. Cicero, Pliny, Tacitus, it is employed transliterated as Hierosolyma. 'lepovaoK-qiJ. unquestionably is much nearer to the Hebrew a^vyv, however this was vocalized, and is therefore the more primitive. St. Luke specially emi)loys this both in his Gospel and in the Acts It is noticeable that it is the form put mto the mouth of Jesus \\ hen His words are professedly rt ported \Libatim (Mt 23", Lk 13^* 23-"). The namo Juu^ali m, as used throughout the Western \voild, and the Ar-iluc form used in Palestine today, Yetusalim, aie both derived from this Greek form In Mt 4-' 27^^' we have the expression, used previously too in the OT, 'the
•The statemtnt i n | i (I i t with m connexion with our Lord's trcui i 1 iKo in connexion with
the parable of til t I i hit Jericho w.as a sacer-
dotal city. In 1 Ml u 11 un that the priests and
Levites did m t ill i I n I i i il mi but were scattered throughout the touui and mI1i„is of Judaea Jericho, as within easy reach of Jerusalem and an important place, may have been a favourite lesidenoe for the priests (see Schurer,
VOL. 1 —54
holy city.' Tliis is familiar to us in Western lands, but it is also, for other reasons, the name for Jerusalem throughout the Moslem world. El- Kucls, or, more classically, el-Miikaddas, 'the sanctuary ' or ' holy place,' is the common name for this city in the East.
2. Natural site.— Modern Jerusalem occupies a situation whicli is defined geographically as ZV 46' 45' N. lat. by 35° 13' 25" long. E. of Greenwich, and lies at levels between 2300 and 2500 feet above the Mediterranean. It is overlooked by some- what higher ground to the N., to the E., and the South. On the West the outlook is somewhat more open, but even here the view is not very extensive ; only along a narrow line to the S.E. a gap in the mountains exposes to view a long strip of the beautiful mountains of Moab across the Dead Sea, itself invisible in its deep basin. Although the exact situation of the city has varied considerably during historical times, yet the main natural features which gave Jerusalem its strength — and its weakness — both as a fortress and as a sanctuary, may be easily recognized to - day. Built, as it has been, in a peculiarly bare and ill-watered region, oil' the natural lines of com- munication, it could never have enjoyed its long and famous history but for certain compensating advantages.
The city's site lies slightly to the east of the great mountainous backbone of Palestine, upon a tongue-shaped ridge running from N. W. to S.E. This ' tongue ' is the central of three branches given off at this point. The N.E. one terminates . opposite the city as the Mount of Olives, \vhile a southern branch, given off near the highest point before the modern Jaffa road commences to descend to the city, runs almost due south, and terminates near the commencement of the Wadij el- Witrd, at a ])oint on which is situated to-day the summer residence of the Greek Patriarch, known as Kata- ■mun. The whole mountain group is isolated from its neighbours on the N.W. and W. by the deep Wcuh/ belt Hanina, to the S.W. by the roots of the Wadi/ cs-Surdr, and to the E. and S.E. by the Wadij en-Ndr and other steep valleys running down towards tlie Jordan and tlie Dead Sea. To the north and south, where the ancient caravan road from Hebron and the Negeb runs towards Samaria and Galilee, it is separated from the main back- bone by only shallow and open valleys. The special ridge of land on which Jerusalem stands is roughly quadrilateral in shape, but merges itself into higher ground towards the N. and N.W. The surface direction is generally downwards from N. to S., with a slight tilt towards the E. ; this is due to the dip of the strata, which run E.S.E. Like all this part of the country, the rocky forma- tion is grey chalky limestone, deposited in beds of varying hardness. The least durable, which still lies on the surface of the Jlount of Olives, having been denuded here, the top layer u\er the city's site, is a hard limestone witli liinty Iiands, known locally as the Mezzeh. This is tlie formation most suitable for building-stone, tlioiigli the hardest to work upon. Under this are tliick strata of a soft white stone of uniform consistence, known locally as Meleki, These softer layers have been of the greatest importance in the history of tlie city, as in them have been excavated the countless caves, cisterns, and tombs which cover the whole district, and from them in ancient times most of the build- ing-stones were taken. In many places this MIeleJci rock when first excavated is quite soft and easily worked with the most primitive tools, but on ex- posure to the air it rapidly hardens. The stones from this soft layer, however, never have the durability of those from the Mezzeh ; and doubtless it is because of the poor material used that so