Turning S. the spectator sees the bare slopes south of the citj- walls, once thickly covered with the houses of the poor, terminating in the two deep valleys of Kidron and Hinnom, while on the opposite slope some of the houses of Siliudn may be distinguished. Far to the S. in a gap in the hills lies the convent of 3Tar Ellas on the road to Bethlehem ; and to its left a crater-shaped hill — the Herodium— the burial-place of Herod the Great.
As the eye passes gradually E. over the wilder- ness of Judsa, it is caught by the still beauty of the Dead Sea lying nearly 4000 feet below, but in the clear atmosphere looking very near, while behind lies the long level line of the beautiful hills of Moab. More in the foreground a few houses of Bethany appear, and behind them the village of Abu Dis — inhabited by the hereditary robbers of the Jericho road. Northward of the great lake, beyond a vista of tumbled hills and parched valleys, lies the Jordan Valley, through the centre of which may be traced, by a serpentine line of green, the course of the famous river itself. Eastward of this the line of Moab is continued N. as the mountains of Gilead, with their one distinct summit — Jebel Oshci — almost directly E. of the onlooker.
Gospel incidents connected ivlth the Mount of Olives. — Although, with the single exception of Jn 8^, all the incidents expressly connected with the Mount of Olives belong to the Passion week, there can be no doubt (Lk 2P^) that this quiet spot was one beloved and frequented by the Master. Here He withdrew from the city for rest and medi- tation (Jn 8') and for prayer (Mt 26^'' etc.). Once we read of His approach to the Mount from the Eastern side ' unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives ' (Mk 1 P |] Mt 21i |! Lk ig^'J). Over a part of the Mount He must have made His triumphal progress to the city (Mt 21, Mk 11, Lk 19), and on this road He wept over Jerusalem (Lk 19*-«). During the whole of that week 'in the daytime he was teaching in the temple ; and at night he went out and abode in the Mount that is called of Olives' (Lk 2P'')— the special locality on the Mount being Bethany (Mt 21", Mk 11"). Crossing over from Bethany, Jesus illustrated His teaching by the sign of the withering of the barren fig-tree (Mt 2p8- 1" || Mk 1112-14.20-^2)^ ^nd on the .slopes of this hill, with the doomed city spread out before them, Christ delivered to His disciples His wonderful eschatological discourse (Mt 24^'- || Mk 13^*-). Then here, in the Garden of Gethsemane, occurred the Agony, the Betrayal, and the Arrest (Mt 26^6-5(i_ jvik W-"-^, Lk 2239-53, Jn W-^'^). Lastly, on the Mount, not on the summit where tradition places it, but near Bethany, occurred the Ascen- sion (Lk 245»-52, Ac 112).
To these incidents where the Mount of Olives is expressly mentioned may be added the scene in the house of Martha and Mary (Lk lO^s-^), the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11), and the feast at the house of Simon (Mt 26«-i3, Mk W-\ Jn 12i-i3) ; for, as has
been shown, Bethany was certainly a part of the Mount of Olives.
-Literature. — PA'/^ Mem., 'Jerusalem' volume; papers b3' Schick and others in the (Quarterly Statements {FEFSt) ; Groves, art. 'Mount of Olives' in Smith's DB; R. Hofman, Galilcea an) dem Oelbenj, Leipzig, 1896 ; Porter in Murray's Handbook to Palestine ; Kobinson, BRP vol. 1. (1838) ; Stanley, SP ; Socin and Benzinger in Baedeker's Palestine and Syria ; J. 'Tobler, Siloahquelle nnd Oelberc), 1852 ; Vincent (P6re), ' The Tombs of the Prophets' in Revue Biblique, 1901 ; C. Warren, art. 'Mount of Olives ' in Hastings' DB.
E. W. G. Masterman. MOURNING.— An expression of grief for death or disaster. See also artt. LAMENTATION and Bending of Garments. Mourning is associated in the Gospels (1) with 'the apjiearance of the sign of the Son of Man,' Mt 243o ; (2) with the removal of the visible presence of the Saviour, Mt 9^^ ; (3) with the death of friends. It is also one of the conditions mentioned in the Beatitudes as bear- ing a special blessing (Mt 5^, but cf. Lk 6^1). The laws of mourning A\ere very minute. The general time of mourning was seven days, during which the mourner was forbidden to work, wash, anoint himself, or wear his shoes. This last provision might,, however, be evaded by putting earth or ashes into his boots. For seven days the mourner might not read in the Law, the Prophets, or the Talmud, because it was a ' joy ' to do so ; but a teacher could teach others tlirough an in- terjjreter. The mourner was allo\\'ed during this period to read only the books of Job, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and the mS'^N n^2hn (Laws of Mourn- ing). He had to sit away from his dead, with his head tied up, and on the first day he might not wear his phylacteries. He was forbidden to shave his head or his neck, or do anything which might be considered to be for his comfort. He could take no part in rejoicings, and the rent in his garments was to be seen for thirty days. Even a poor man, or one who lived on charity, was for- bidden to work for three days ; but after that time he might do work secretly, for his maintenance, or his wife might spin in his house. Travelling with goods was forbidden, and no business even at the risk of loss could be transacted by himself or his family or his servants. It was allowable, however, to have a business carried on, if he assigned it to another before the departure of the soul. The mourner was allowed to eat onlj' in his own house ; he might eat no flesh and drink no wine ; nor could he ask blessing before or after food. Extra-Tal- mudical regulations enjoined that the mourner should sit on the floor and take his food from a chair instead of a table, and, as is still the custom, that he should eat eggs dij^jied in ashes with salt. He might not leave town for thirty days ; and in the case of mourning for a j^arent he might not go out of town for the first year, till his friends told him to do so. After the death of a wife, a widower might not marry for a year [i.e. till after three feasts had passed) ; but if his wife had died child- less, or if she had left young children, he might marry after seven days. A mourner being ' free ' must attend the synagogue ; when he aj^peared, the congregation faced him as he entered, and said : ^2i< cnvD -na 'Blessed is He that comforteth the mourner.' Immediately on a death, all water in the house and in three houses on either side was emptied out, because of the belief that the Angel of Death procured death by means of a knife which he washed in water close at hand. Between death and burial the mourner was free from all the Law, because he was supposed to be beside himself with grief. The folloM'ing is the prescribed i^rayer before meat to be used in the house of the mourner after burial : —