I
JERUSALEM
853
JERUSALEM
and encompassing that mountain where Pompoy hail formcrh' jiitched his camp [the extremity of tlie Hill of Evil Counsel], it returned to [i. e. towards] the north side of the city, and was carried [along the south-west- ern bank of (iihou Valley] as far as a certain village called the house of the Erebinthi [at Abu-Wa'ir] ; after whicli it encompassed [the foot of the eminence on which stood] Herod's monument [south of Upjior 'iilion], and there on the east [end] was joined to Titus's own camp, where it began. Now the length of this wall was forty furlongs less one." Along the line thus indicated it ivould be ])recisely this length ; it would make no sharp turns nor devious projections, and would keep on com- manding eminences, following the walls at a convenient distance so as to be out of the reach of missiles.
For a further discussion of the various points connect- ed with the ancient topography of Jerusalem, see Villal- ])andi, Apparatus urbis Ilierosol. in i5t. 3 of Pradi and "S'lUalji. Explanat. in Ezech. (Rome, 1()04) ; Lamy, De Tiib.fwil. sanct. civ. etc., vii (Paris, 17'20), bk. iv, \\ 552- (>87 ; Reland, Palivst. p. 832 sq. ; Otfenhaus, Descript. vet. Ilierosol. (Daventr. 1714) ; Faber, A rchceol. i, 273 sq. ; Hamesveld, ii, 2 sq. ; Rosenmliller, A Iterth. II, ii, 202 sq. ; Eobinson, Beseqrches, i, 408-51G; Williams, IIoli/ City, ii, 13-G4; Bibliotheca Sacra, 1843, p. 154 si\.; 1846, p. 413 sq., GO.') sq. ; 1848, p. 92 sq. ; Reisner, /e>-»,so^f ;« Ve- tvstissima Bescripta (Francof. 15G3); Olshausen, Zur Topographie d. alten Jerusalem (Kiel, 1833) ; Adricho- mius, Hicrusulem sicut Christi tempore floruit (Colon. 1593) ; Chrysanthi (Beat. Patr. Hierosolymorum) llisto- ria et Descriptio Terrre Sancta, Urlmque S(inct(e Jlieru- salem (Veuet. 172§) [this work is in Greek] ; D'Anville, JyUsert.mr VEtemlue de VAncieime Jeritsalem (Paris, 1747) ; Thrupp, .4 ncient Jerusalem (Lond. 1855) ; Strong's JIarmonif ami Expos, of the Gospels, Append, ii ; Sepp, Jerusalem, (Miinich, 1863) ; Barclay, Citji of ike Great Js'iiif/ (Phila. 1858); Fergusson, .4>«iV;;^ Topoffraphy of Jerusalem [altogether astray] (Loud. 1847); Lewin,,/(- rusalem (London, 1861) ; Vieroni, Jerusalem Explored (Loudon, 18G4) ; Unruh, Das alte Jerusalem (Langens. 18G1); Scholz, De Hierosolymce situ (Bonn, 1835).
III. Modem City. — 1. Situation. — The following able sketch of the general position of Jerusalem is extracted from Dr. Robinson's Researches (i, 380-384) : " Jerusa- lem lies near the summit of a broad mountain-riilge, extending ^vithout interruption from the jilaiu of lis- draelon to a line drawn between the south end of the Dead Sea and the south-east corner of the Mediterrane- an ; or, more jiroperly, perhaps, it may be regarded as extending as far south as to Jebel Araif, in the Desert, where it sinks down at once to the level of the great •western plateau. This tract, which is everywhere not less than from 20 to 25 geographical miles in breadth, is, in lact, high, uneven table-land. It everywhere forms tiie precipitous western wall of the great valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, while towards the west it sinks down by an offset into a range of lower hills, which lie between it and the great plain along the coast of the ^Mediterranean. The surface of this upper region is everywhere rocky, uneven, and mountainous, and is, moreover, cut up by deep valleys which run east or west on either side towards the Jordan or the Jlediter- ranean. The line of division, or water-shed, between the waters of these valleys — a term which here applies almost exclusively to the waters of the rainy season — follows for the most part the height of land along the ridge, yet not so but that the heads of the valleys, which run off in different directif)ns, often interlap for a considerable distance. Thus, for example, a valley which descends to the Jordan often has its head a mile or two westward of the commencement of other valleys which run to the western sea.
" From the great plain of Esdraelon onwards towards the south, the mountainous countrj' rises gradually, forming the tract anciently known as the mountains of Ejihraim and Judah, until, in the vicinity of Hebron, it attains an elevation of nearly 3000 Paris feet above the
level of the IMediterranean Sea. Further north, on a line drawn from the north end of the Dead Sea towanls the true west, the ridge has an elevation of only about ■2500 Paris feet, and here, close upon the water-shed, lies the city of Jerusalem. Its mean geographical position is in lat. 31° 4G' 43" N., and long. 35= 13' E. from Green- wich.
'■ Six or seven miles north and north-west of the city is spread out the 0|)en jjlain or basin round about el-Jib (Gibeon), extending also towards el-Bireh (Beeroth), the waters of which flow off at its south-east part through the deep valley here caUed by the Arabs wady Beit Ilanlna, but to which the monks and travellers have usually given the name of the 'Valley of Turjien- tine,' or of the Terebinth, on the mistaken supposition that it is the ancient Valley of Elah. This great valley passes along in a 'south-west direction an hour or more west of Jerusalem, and finally opens out from the moim- tains into the western jilain, at the distance of six or eight hours south-west from the city, under the name of wady es-Surar. The traveller, on liis way from Ram- leh to Jerusalem, descends into and crosses this deep val- ley at the village of Kulonieh, on its western side, an hour and a half from the latter city. On again reach- ing the high ground on its eastern side, he enters upon an open tract sloping gradually downward towards the east, and sees before him, at the distance of about two miles, the walls and domes of the holy city, and beyond them the higher ridge or summit of the jNIount of Ol- ives. The traveller now descends gradually towards the city along a broad swell of ground, having at some tlistance on his left the shallow northern part of the Val- ley of Jehoshaphat ; close at hand, on his right, the ba- sin which forms the beginning of the Valley of II in- nom. Farther down both these valleys become deep, narrow, and precipitous; that of Hinnom bends south and again east nearly at right angles, and unites -with the other, which then continues its course to the Dea<l Sea. L^pon the broad and elevated i>iomontory within the fork of these two valleys lies the holy city. All around are higher hills ; on the east, the ]\Iount of 01- I ives; on the south, the Hill of Evil Counsel, so called, rising directly from the Vale of Hinnom ; on the west the ground rises gently, as abo^■e described, to the bor- ders of the great wady; while on the north, a bend of the ridge,. connected with the IMount of Olives, bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a mile. To- wards the south-west the view is somewhat more open, for here lies the ])lain of Rephaim, commencing just at the southern brink of the Valley of Hinnom, and stretch- ing off south-west, where it runs to the western sea. In the north-west, too, the eye reaches np along tne upper part of the Valley of Jehoshajihat, and from many points can discern the JMosque of Neby Samwil, situated on a lofty ridge beyond the great wady, at the distance of two hours.