Tlie Kidron is a mountain ravine, in most places nar- row, with precipitous banks of naked limestone; but here and there its banks have an easy slope, and along its bottom are strijis of land capable of cultivation. It contains the bed of a streamlet, but during the whole .summer, and most of the winter, it is perfectly drj'; in fact, no water runs in it except when heavy rains are falling in the mountains round Jerusalm. The resident missionaries assured Dr. Kobinsoa that they had not during several years seen a stream running through the valley (see Bibl. Researches, 1,396-402). On the broad summit of the mountain ridge of Jud;ra, a mile and a quarter north-west of Jerusalem, is a sUght depression; tills is the head of the Kidron. The sides of the de- pression, and the elevated ground around it, are whiten- ed by the broad, jagged tops of limestone rocks, and al- most every rock is excavated, partly as a quarry, and partly to form the f;ii,'ade of a tomb. The vaUey or de- pression runs fur about half a mile towards the city; it is shallow and broad, dotted with corn-fields, and sprink- led with a few old olives. It then bends eastward, and in another half mile is crossed by the great northern road coming down from the hill Scopus. On the east side of the road, and south bank of the Kidron, are the celebrateil Tombs of the Kings. The bed of the valley is here about lialf a mile due north of the city gate. It continues in the same course about a ([uartcr of a mile fan her, and then, turning south, opens into a wide basin containing cultivated fields and olives. Here it is cross- ed diagonally by the road from Jerusalem to Anathoth. As it advances southward, the right bank, forming the side of the hill Bezetha, becomes higher and steeper, with occasional precipices of rock, on wliicli niay be seen a few fragments of the ancient city wall; while on the left the base of Olivet projects, greatly narrowing the valley. Opposite St. Stephen's gate tlie depth is fully 100 feet, and the breadth not more than 400 feet. The olive-trees in the bottom are so thickly clustered as to fjrai a shady grove; and their massive trunks and gnarled boughs give evidence of great age. This spot is shut out from the city, from the view of public roads, an<l from the notice and interrfiption ol' wayfarers. See (■i;riisi;MAXii. A zigzag path descends the steep bni-.k from St. Stephen's gate, crosses the bed of the valley by an old l)ridge, and then branches. One branch leads direct over the top of Olivet, This path has a deep his-
torical interest ; it was by it that David went when he tied from Absalom : " The king passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, towards the way of the wilderness'' (2 Sam. xv, 23). See Olivet. An- other branch runs round the southern shoulder of the hill to Bethany, and it has a deep sacretl interest, for it is the road of Christ's triumphal entry (Matt, xxi, 1 sq. ; Luke xix, 37). Below the bridge the Kidron becomes still narrower, and here traces of a torrent bed first be- gin to appear. Three hundred yards farther down, the hiUs on each side — iMoriah on the right and Olivet on the left — rise precipitously from the torrent bed, which is spanned by a single arcli. On the left bank is a sin- gular group of tombs, comprising those of Absalom, Je- hosha])hat, and St. James (now so called) ; while on the right, 150 feet overhead, towers the south-eastern angle of tlie Temple wall, most probably the "pinnacle" on which our Lord was placed (Matt, iv, 5). The ravine runs on, narrow and rocky, for 500 yards more ; there, on its right bank, in a cave, is the fountain of the Vir- gin ; and higher up on the left, perched on the side of naked cliffs, the ancient village of Siloam. A short dis- tance farther down, the valley of the Tyropceon falls in from the right, descending in terraced slopes, fresh and green, from the waters of the Pool of Siloam. The Kid- ron here expands, affording a level tract for cultivation, and now covered willi beds of cucumbers, melons, and other vegetables. Here of old was the " King's Garden" (Neh. iii, 15). The level tract extends down to the mouth of Hinnom, and is about 200 yards wide. A short distance below the junction of Hinnom and the Kidron is the fountain of En-Rogel, now called Bir Ayiib, " the Well of Job," or " Joab." The length of the valley from its head to En-Kogel is 2f miles, and here the his- toric Kidron may be said to terminate. Every refer- ence to the Kidron in the Bible is made to this section, David crossed it at a point opposite the city (1 Sam. xv, 23) ; it was the boundary beyond which Solomon for- bade Shimei to go on pain of death (1 Kings ii, 37) ; it was here, probably, near the mouth of Hinnom, that Asa destroyed the idol which Maachah his mother set up (xv, 13) ; and it seems to have been at the same spot, " in the fields of Kidron," that king Josiah ordered the vessels of Baal to be burned (2 Kings xxiii,4). It woidd seem, from 2 Kings xxiii, 6, that a portion of the Kid- ron, ajiparently near the mouth of Hinnom, was used as a burying-ground. The sides of the sun'ounding cUffs are fiUcd with ancient rock tombs, and the greatest boon the dying .Tew now asks is that his bones be laid in the Valley of Jehoshajihat. The whole of the left bank of the Kidron, opposite the Temple area, far up the side of Olivet, is paved with the white tombstones of Jews. This singidar longing is doubtless to be ascribed to the opinion which the Jews entertain that the Kidron is the Valley of Jehoshaphat mentioned by Joel (iii, 2). See Jehoshaphat, Valley of. Below En-I!ogel the Kidron has little of historical or sacred interest. It runs in a winding course cast by south, through the AMlder- ness of Juda?a, to the Dead Sea. For about a mile be- low En-Eogel the bottom of the valley is cultivated and thickly covered with olive-trees. Farther down a few fields of corn are met with at intervals, but these soon disajipear, and the ravine assumes the bleak and deso- late aspect of the surrounding hills. About seven miles from Jerusalem tlie features of the valley assume a much wilder and grander form. Hitherto the banks have been steep, with here and there a high precipice, and a jutting cUff, giving variety to the scene. Now they suddenly contract to precipices of naked roclv nearly 300 feet in height, which look as if the mountain had been torn asunder by an earthquake. About a mile farther, on the side of this frightful chasm, stands the convent of St, Saba, one of the most remarkaule buildings in Pal- estine, founded by the saint whose name it bears, in the vear A.D. 439. The sides of the chasm both above and "below the convent are filled with caves and grottoes, once the abode of monks and hermits, and from these doubt-