A small spur running S. is sometimes known as the Hill of the Propliets, on account of the interest- ing old ' Tomb of tlie Prophets' — a sepulchre gener- ally believed, until recentl}',t to have been origin- ally Jewish — which is situated there ; and the other somewliat isolated spur to the S. E. , on wliich stands the wretched, half-ruined village of el- 'Azariyeh, on the site of Bethany, should, for reasons given, be included in the Mount.
Along the AV. slopes facing the city lies the reputed Garden of Gethsemane (part, too, of the
* Attempts have been made to harmonize the accounts of the appearances of Jesus after His resurrection by supposing that this was the place where He appointed His disciples to meet Him. A recent disciission of the subject ibv Lepsius will be found in Das Reich Christi, Nos. 7 and 8 (1902).
t According: to Father Vincent and M. Clermont-Ganneau, it is not Jewish, but belongs to the 4th or 5th cent. a.d. (see PEFSt, 1901, pp. 309-317).
Mount, of. Lk 223"; see Gethsemane) of the Latins and its Greek rival ; and a little higher up the hill to the S. the great Russian Church of St. Magdalene. The greater part of the slopes of the S.W. part of the hill is filled with a vast number of graves, those from the valley bottom till a little above the Bethanj- road being Jewish, while liigher up are some Christian cemeteries. The Jewsha\e a strong sentiment about being buried on this spot, the slopes of the ' Vallej- of Jehosha- phat' being traditionally, with them and with the Moslems, the scene of the resurrection and final judgment.
Traversing this side of the Mount are three steep paths, all probably ancient. The most evi- dent and important is the N. one, which continues the line of the path from the St. Stephen's Gate and the Tomb of the Virgin. It runs along the depression between the two summits, and is the direct route for travellers crossing the Mount from or to Bethany. Too steej) for riding, it is essenti- ally the short cut for the pedestrian. The second path, still steeper, branches oti' from this just above the Garden of Gethsemane, and after passing the traditional scene of the lamentation of Jesus over the city, leads to-day to the Russian tower and buildings. It is the path of the modern pilgrim. The third, more gradual in ascent, starts from the Garden of Gethsemane and ascends the hill through Russian property in a S. direction, passing near the ' Tomb of the Prophets. ' "Whether the first or second of these lies most in the direction of our Lord's frequent passages from the city to the Alount of Olives and to Bethany, it is difficult to say, but it can hardly be supposed that He came by such a path on the morning of His triumphal entry into the city. The only likely course for the highroad of Roman times must have been in the general direction of the present Bethany and Jericho road ; and, as Dean Stanley has suggested, the n^^-st natural site for the scene of the lamenta- tion over the city is the point where this highroad crosses the S.AV. shoulder of the Mount and the first full view of the city is obtained. A viaduct appears to have connected the Mount with the Temple hill, probably on the site of one of the two bridges which to-day span the dry torrent bed of the Kidron.
I Tlie jNIount of Olives in the days of Christ must 'have presented rural fertility, verdure, and quiet very grateful to country visitors to the great metropolis ; fresh mountain breeziness in contrast to the closeness and foulness of the city atmo- sphere, and a view of the beloved and sacred citj' in -which all that was sordid was lost, and only the beauty and grandeur remained. This view is, when the historical associations are taken into consideration, probably the most fascinating in the Holy Land. It is seen at its best about the hour of sunset. In its essential details it is one on which the eyes of Christ must frequently have rested.
To the immediate W. is the Holy City, separated from the onlooker bj' the deep Valley of Jehosha- phat ; just within the wall lies the ' Dome of the Rock' and the al-AJcsa mosque, and in the open space of the gi'eat Temple area figures of people may be discerned moving about. Beyond this enclosure lie, pile above pUe, the domed houses of the modern city, interspersed with the minarets, the synagogue domes, and the church towers of the followers of tlie three great Semitic religions : most prominent of all are the two domes and the massive tower which go to make up the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Far to the W. lie the battle- ments of the so-called Tower of David, and behind ihat, on the horizon, the W. mountains of Judfea shut oft" the distant sea. The roar of the city is
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MOUNT OF OLIVES
MOURNING
deadened, Ijut the fresh breeze carries the chiming of many bells, the blast of a military bugle or the roar of a salute from the barracks, reminding the onlooker that it is no dead city of the far past he is looking at. Somewhat to the N. the eye passes from the close-packed streets of the Moslem and Christian quarters, past the long line of the N. ■wall, to the many buildings of the newer Jeru- salem, chiefly mean Jewish houses, but among them many handsome buildings like the great French Hospice, the Russian Cathedral, or the Abyssinian Church. Here lies all that is progres sive and of promise for the days to be. Beyond again, against the sky line to the N., rises the outline of Nebi Scumvtl crowning the height of Mizpeh.