the pool of Hezekiah. On the higher ground beyond, and
almost touching the walls, is the castle of David; northward
of which, on the most elevated spot in the city, is the Latin
convent; and about the same distance southward, on lower
ground, is that of the Armenians, a less conspicuous but still
more extensive pile of building, with a large garden reaching
to the gate of Sion. On the southern and eastern slopes of
this hill are the remains of the aqueduct of Solomon, and
below is the valley of Hinnom, which falls into that of
Jehoshaphait, or Kidron; the former contains the lower pool
of Gihon, and the latter that of Siloam, with the village of
the same name. On the summit of Mount Zion are some
mosques and other Turkish buildings, in the midst of which
are the tomb of David, the place of the Last Supper, and the
house of Caiphas. This hill, which is the southernmost and
smallest of the four belonging to the ancient city, appears to
the left of the temple, outside of the present walls, and it
completes the remarkable coup-d’ceil which is formed by the
houses, convents, churches, gaudy domes, and graceful minarehs
of Jerusalem, these being thrown out with' a clearness which
belongs to nature only in that region.
The circumference of the present city is about two miles
and a half; the western side extends from Mount Zion to a
distance of 800 paces along the valley of the Gihon, and the
eastern side to nearly 950 along that of Jehoshaphat; whilst
the northern and southern sides join their extremities by two
lines, which run in a slanting or north-eastern direction.
Besides the gate already noticed on the east, there are five
others, viz., that of Yafa or Bethlehem on the west, the
Zion and Dung gates on the south, and finally those of Herod
and Damascus on the north. Between these, a little way
north, is the grotto of Jeremiah; at some distance farther are
the extensive and well-finished sepulchral excavations called
the Tombs of the Kings; and a little onward those of the
Judges; these last are smaller than the others, and their
architecture is greatly inferior.
Owing to the space occupied by the public buildings, the
number of private houses in Jerusalem is comparatively few;
and in 1830 the population scarcely exceeded 15,000 souls, of
whom more than one-third were Muslims; the rest are composed
of Jews and different sects of Christians, the last being
rather more numerous than the sons of Abraham.
A t the south-west corner of the Mesjid-el-Aksa are the
remains of the bridge mentioned by Josephus as crossing the
valley of the Tyropceon; and portions1 of the former walls
may likewise be traced at intervals along the eastern and
western sides of the present city. There are some massive
remains near the southern side of Mount Zion, and others
considerably to the northward of the gates of Damascus and
Herod: it is evident, therefore, that the ancient walls must
have enclosed almost double the space occupied by the modern
city ; and they probably had a circumference of about 3§
geographical miles.2
The time of founding the city is supposed to be at least as
remote as that of Melchizedeck, who met Abraham near this
place, then called Salem (Peace)/ and it appears to have then
occupied two of the hills, Mounts Akra and Zion. About
1879, B.C., the city was taken by the Jebusite branch of the
iCanaanites, who built the fortress called Jebus on Mount
Zion; and the compound, Jebus-Salem, is supposed to have
given rise to the present name/
The two northern portions of the city were taken by
Joshua B.C. 1442 ;5 but 400 years elapsed before David took
the castle on Mount Zion.6 That the neighbouring hill of
Mount Moriah had previously been sacred, is evident from its
having been chosen as the place for the sacrifice of Isaac, and
from the command given to Dan to rear an altar there.
Herodotus himself gives it the name of Cadytis,7 or the Holy;
and this epithet it retains to ¡the present time, being called
Kuds-el-Sherif (Sanctuary of the Just), and Beit-el-Macaddes
1 Jo s.,;De Bello Jud., lib. V., cap. iv., s. 1 ; and Dr. Robinson’s Biblical
Researches, vol. I., p. 425. ! Ibid, p. 467.
3 Gen., chap. XIV., v. 18. * Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible.
5 Joshua, chap. X., v. 23, &c.; chap. X I I I , v. 10.
6 2 Sam., chap. V., v. 6 and 7.
7 Herod., lib. II., cap. clix., and lib. II., cap. v.
2 K 2