DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27910#0043
THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT, JERUSALEM.
HE Valley of Jehoshaphat lies under the walls of Jerusalem, on the east, between the city
and the Mount of Olives. That part which is beneath the supposed site of the temple has
for ages the burial-place of the Jews, To be here entombed with their fathers they come
Europe, where they enjoy freedom, to the degradation of their ancient city, where they
are alike despised by Turks and Christians.
The view is taken from near the south-eastern corner of the Haram-area. On the right
rise the low slopes of the Mount of Olives, sprinkled with olive-trees. In the eastern side of the valley are
three of the most remarkable tombs, and, beneath the nearest, some of the countless grave-stones of the Jews.
In the depth of the valley flows the brook Cedron.
Before describing the three great tombs seen in the view, we may remark on the evidence their architecture
affords as to the age in which they were made. They are partly, or wholly, rock-hewn, and that tombs were
here cut in the rock, as early as the time of the prophet Isaiah, is shown by this passage:—“ Thus saith the
Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, [even] unto Sliebna, which [is] over the house [and
say], What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here,
[as, or 0] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that graveth an habitation for himself in a
rock?” (Isa. xxii. 15, 16.) This Sliebna is elsewhere mentioned (Isa. xxxvi. 3; 2 Kings xviii. 37) as
an officer of Hezekiah. Some of the simple excavations, with square entrances, may be of this age, but
the more elaborate monuments are unquestionably of a far later date. The middle one in the view, notwith-
standing its general resemblance to the very early Egyptian sepulchral grottoes at Benee-IJasan, is in all
its details, perfectly Greek, and cannot, therefore, be earlier than the period of the Seleucidm, although
more probably it is to be limited to the times of the Herodian princes. The remarkable tombs on either
side belong unmistakably to one age, for they are of a peculiar style that prevailed in Asia and Africa
for about two centuries before the Christian era, and for as long after. This style seems to have been
originated by the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, which was a peristyle monument supporting a pyramidal
superstructure. It appears to have been regarded as a great marvel, not so much for its novel form, or
because of its beautiful sculptures, but, as suggested by Mr. Oldfield, of the British Museum, on account ol
the constructive skill shown in supporting so great a weight alone upon columns, for it must be remembered
that the Greeks were extremely deficient in their application of mechanics to architecture, and built their
temples upon the same principle that children build houses of bricks. Tombs of this style are common in
Asia Minor, but most numerous among the Roman remains of northern Africa, and in the Idumean capital,
Petra. These two may be most reasonably supposed to be of the Herodian period, the most important
building-age of Jerusalem, after that of Solomon. It is possible, however, that they may be of the earlier
time of the Maccabees, for the description of the monument, or monuments, made at Modin, by Simon the
Maccabee, presents some resemblances which can scarcely be accidental, and seem, therefore, to point to
the same style of architecture. “ Simon also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his
brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with hewn stone behind and before. Moreover he set up seven
pyramids, one against another, for his father, and his mother, and his four brethren [and himself?]. And
in these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he made
HE Valley of Jehoshaphat lies under the walls of Jerusalem, on the east, between the city
and the Mount of Olives. That part which is beneath the supposed site of the temple has
for ages the burial-place of the Jews, To be here entombed with their fathers they come
Europe, where they enjoy freedom, to the degradation of their ancient city, where they
are alike despised by Turks and Christians.
The view is taken from near the south-eastern corner of the Haram-area. On the right
rise the low slopes of the Mount of Olives, sprinkled with olive-trees. In the eastern side of the valley are
three of the most remarkable tombs, and, beneath the nearest, some of the countless grave-stones of the Jews.
In the depth of the valley flows the brook Cedron.
Before describing the three great tombs seen in the view, we may remark on the evidence their architecture
affords as to the age in which they were made. They are partly, or wholly, rock-hewn, and that tombs were
here cut in the rock, as early as the time of the prophet Isaiah, is shown by this passage:—“ Thus saith the
Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, [even] unto Sliebna, which [is] over the house [and
say], What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here,
[as, or 0] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that graveth an habitation for himself in a
rock?” (Isa. xxii. 15, 16.) This Sliebna is elsewhere mentioned (Isa. xxxvi. 3; 2 Kings xviii. 37) as
an officer of Hezekiah. Some of the simple excavations, with square entrances, may be of this age, but
the more elaborate monuments are unquestionably of a far later date. The middle one in the view, notwith-
standing its general resemblance to the very early Egyptian sepulchral grottoes at Benee-IJasan, is in all
its details, perfectly Greek, and cannot, therefore, be earlier than the period of the Seleucidm, although
more probably it is to be limited to the times of the Herodian princes. The remarkable tombs on either
side belong unmistakably to one age, for they are of a peculiar style that prevailed in Asia and Africa
for about two centuries before the Christian era, and for as long after. This style seems to have been
originated by the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, which was a peristyle monument supporting a pyramidal
superstructure. It appears to have been regarded as a great marvel, not so much for its novel form, or
because of its beautiful sculptures, but, as suggested by Mr. Oldfield, of the British Museum, on account ol
the constructive skill shown in supporting so great a weight alone upon columns, for it must be remembered
that the Greeks were extremely deficient in their application of mechanics to architecture, and built their
temples upon the same principle that children build houses of bricks. Tombs of this style are common in
Asia Minor, but most numerous among the Roman remains of northern Africa, and in the Idumean capital,
Petra. These two may be most reasonably supposed to be of the Herodian period, the most important
building-age of Jerusalem, after that of Solomon. It is possible, however, that they may be of the earlier
time of the Maccabees, for the description of the monument, or monuments, made at Modin, by Simon the
Maccabee, presents some resemblances which can scarcely be accidental, and seem, therefore, to point to
the same style of architecture. “ Simon also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his
brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with hewn stone behind and before. Moreover he set up seven
pyramids, one against another, for his father, and his mother, and his four brethren [and himself?]. And
in these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he made