JERUSALE:\r
JERUSALEM
857
capture of Antonia is recorded as one of the fiercest of the iii.'lits of tlie siege (BJ VI. i. and ii. ). It is commonly ))elieved that t\\& Prmtorium (M\i 15""-) ^^as in ]jart of Antonia, for there un- doubtedly was the Ivoman garrison (Ac 2]?*). See Pe^torium.
Near the W. wall of the Temple where is now the Turkish Town Hall (el-Mehlcemeh) was the To^vn Council House. Possibly it was here the high priest held his court.
The palaces of Monobazus, king of Adiabene, and of his mother Queen Helena appear to have been on the southern slopes of the Eastern hill, the former probably due east of the Pool of Siloam.
Of the great number of tombs around Jerusalem the majority of the most conspicuous and notable belong to a later period than Christ's life. The monuments of Queen Helena, known as the •Tombs of the Kings,' and probably almost all the tombs in the valley in which the ' Tombs of the Judges ' are situated, are of a date very soon after Christ's death. The same is probably true of the famous group of tombs near the S.E. corner of the Temple, the so-called ' Pillar of Absalom,' the ' Tomb of Jehoshaphat,' the ' Grotto of St. James,' and the 'Pyramid of Zacharias.' It is very tempting to connect these highly ornamented tomb structures with the words of Jesus (Mt 23-'-^), spoken as they probably were almost within sight of this spot. If so, the indications of work of a later period may be additions to earlier constructions of the Herodian era. The so-called Tombs of Joseph of Arimathtea and of Nicodemus, to the W. of the shrine of the Holy Sepulclire, though only by a late tradition asso- ciated with these NT characters, are undoubtedly old tombs, probably much before Christ's time. The traditional tomb of Christ has been treated in a .separate article. See Golgotha.
A general view of the city in the time of Christ from such a height as Olivet must have been an impressive sight. In the foreground lay the great Temple in a grandeur and beauty greater than it had ever had in all its long history, its courts all day crowded with throngs of worshippers from every corner of the known world. To the north of this, Antonia, with its four massive towers, stood sentinel over the city and the Temple. Behind these lay the Upper City crowned by the magnili- cent palace-fortress of Herod, with its great groves of trees and well-watered gardens. To the right of this lay the great towers Hippicus, Phasael, and Mariamne. Then between these buildings and the Temple lay the central valley with the Xystus and its many columns, the lofty bridge, and, a little to the south, the great Hippodrome. Then some- where among the houses, which rose tier above tier from the valley, very probably in that part of the city which is described by Josephus (Ant. XV. viii. 1 ) as like an amphitheatre itself, lay the theatre of Herod, doubtless facing the distant mountains of Moab. Then southward, covering both the hills as they descended into the deep valleys towards Siloam, were the thick built houses of the common folk, with other palaces such as those of Monobazus and Helena rising like islands from among them. Enclosing all were the mighty walls of the Temple and of the city — these latter alone with a hundred towers — rising up, in many places precipitously, from deep valleys, suggestive at once of strength and security. To the north lay the New City, yet unwalled, where, doubtless, countless villas rose amid the fresh greenness of gardens and trees.
'The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ' (Mt 4"). Did they not all lie beneath the gaze of the Man of Galilee if He were brought from the neighbouring
wilderness into the blaze of material glory — Greek, Koman, and Hebrew — spread out beneath Him in the Holy City!
The city over which the Son of Man wept (Lk 19''') must have been a city representing, in small area, more extravagant display, more intense contra.sts of materialism and religious zeal, of Rome's iron discipline and seething rebellion, of the East and the West, and more seeds of that fanatic hatred that spells murder than the world has ever seen. Elements were here gathered that made the city a miniature of the whole world, of a world, too, hastening to destruction.
The total population of the city cannot have been large, and the numbers given by Josephus (BJn. xiv. 2, V. vi. 1, VI. ix. 3) and Tacitus (Hist. V. 13) are manifestly exaggerated. The present permanent population of modern Jerusalem, which covers a considerably larger area than the city in the time of Christ, is about 65,000. However closely the people were packed in the ancient city, it is hardly possible that there could have been so many as this, and many put the estimate at one- half this number. At the time of the Passover, when numbers were camped on the Mount of Olives and at other spots around, it is possible to believe that the population may have been con- siderably higher than that of to-day.
6. History of Jerusalem during the period OP the Gospels. — For a few short years before the birth of Jesus, Jerusalem enjoyed a time of extraordinary material prosperity, during which the great architectural works of Herod the Great were completed. It is evident, as has often been the case in the East, that this work was carried out only by means of great opijression, so that the king, while he left behind him vast monimients in stone, left also a memory execrated in the hearts of the common people. Some twenty years before the birth of Jesus the magnificent palace of Herod was finished ; * the three great towers, the theatre, the Xystus, and the Hippodrome (these last two adorned, if not initiated, by Herod) were completed early in his reign. Several years (B.C. 19-11) were also spent in adorning and extending the Temple, a work which was being continued during the life of Christ (Jn 22»). At this time the Temple must have attained a grandeur and beauty exceeding all previous eras. Yet the declining days of Herod the Great found the city seething with rebellion, which, just before his death, found vent in the public destruction of the golden eagle (BJ I. xxxiii.) which he had erected over the gate of the Temple. In revenge for this forty persons were burnt alive, and others were executed in less terrible ways. When tlie king considered that his last hour was imminent, he shut into the Hippodrome the most illustrious of the Jews, with orders that they should be executed when he died, so that the city might on his death be filled with mourning, even if not for him.