DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0093
TOOLS OF SOLOMON.
83
liquid, and almost spiritual expression of its eye;
—then it was at once so sprightly and so gentle.
No doubt I saw it under the most favorable circum-
stances, not caged and sickening in a foreign and
ungenial clime, but here, under the most delightful
sky, and surrounded with the mildest, sweetest air
imaginable. It evidently felt at home and perfect-
ly happy. Assuredly, it is no bad compliment,
when an Eastern lover compares the eyes of his
fair one to those of a gazelle.
We left the Artoss with sincere reluctance and
regret. Continuing our way for about half a mile,
we came to the Pools of Solomon.* These are
truly wonderful works of art, and they must appear
still more wonderful, if Ave take into consideration
the early date at which they were, in all probability,
constructed. These "pools," as they are termed,
are, in fact, immense cisterns, sunk in the earth so
as to bring the top of the wall nearly on a level
with the ground. The walls, partly formed of
mason-work, and partly cut out of the native rock,
are covered on the side next to the water with a
layer of calcareous cement, not quite an inch thick.
These cisterns are three in number. The Lower
Tool, as it is called, is above 580 feet in length,
* Soo Ecolesiastes, chap. ii. verse 6.
83
liquid, and almost spiritual expression of its eye;
—then it was at once so sprightly and so gentle.
No doubt I saw it under the most favorable circum-
stances, not caged and sickening in a foreign and
ungenial clime, but here, under the most delightful
sky, and surrounded with the mildest, sweetest air
imaginable. It evidently felt at home and perfect-
ly happy. Assuredly, it is no bad compliment,
when an Eastern lover compares the eyes of his
fair one to those of a gazelle.
We left the Artoss with sincere reluctance and
regret. Continuing our way for about half a mile,
we came to the Pools of Solomon.* These are
truly wonderful works of art, and they must appear
still more wonderful, if Ave take into consideration
the early date at which they were, in all probability,
constructed. These "pools," as they are termed,
are, in fact, immense cisterns, sunk in the earth so
as to bring the top of the wall nearly on a level
with the ground. The walls, partly formed of
mason-work, and partly cut out of the native rock,
are covered on the side next to the water with a
layer of calcareous cement, not quite an inch thick.
These cisterns are three in number. The Lower
Tool, as it is called, is above 580 feet in length,
* Soo Ecolesiastes, chap. ii. verse 6.