DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0070
JERUSALEM.
47
so much attention. The letters are either cut into or painted on the stones. The incised
characters are cut to a depth of three-eighths of an inch ; the painted characters, some of
which are five inches high, were probably put on with a brush. They are in red paint,
apparently vermilion, and easily rubbed off with a wetted finger. These g rap hit i were
examined by the late Mr. Emanuel Deutsch, who says : " The signs cut or painted were on
the stones when they were first laid in their present places. They do not represent any
inscription. They are Phoenician. I consider them to be partly letters, partly numerals, and
partly special quarry signs or masons' marks. Some of them were recognisable at once as
well-known Phoenician characters; others, hitherto unknown in Phoenician epigraphy, I had the
rare satisfaction of being able to identify on absolutely undoubted Phoenician structures in
Syria." The pottery obtained during the excavations consisted of a small jar found in a hole
cut out of the rock, " standing upright, as though it had been purposely placed there," and
many fragments of lamps and other utensils. Dr. Birch, the keeper of oriental antiquities at
the British Museum, states that it is just possible that this jar, which resembles Egyptian ware
in shape, might be as old as the fourth or fifth century B.C. Mr. Greville Chester, the well-
known antiquary, observes, in the " Recovery of Jerusalem," that the vase " is of pale red
ware, and of a common Grseco-Phoenician type." Amongst the fragments were found several
broken lamps of red or brownish ware, with one, two, or three lips, which " seem adapted for
the burning of fat rather than oil." They are similar in design to lamps that have been found
in Cyprus and Malta; and Mr. A. W. Franks, of the British Museum, considers them " to be
of late date—not earlier than the second century before the Christian era." The south-east
angle is by some writers believed to be one of the oldest portions of the wall and the work of
Solomon ; whilst others, from the peculiar character of the masonry, believe it to have been
built by Herod Agrippa, or to be even as late as the reign of Justinian.
The most remarkable features of the south wall of the Haram esh Sherif are the lar^e
stones known as the " Great Course," and the Single, Double, and Triple Gates. The "Great
Course " is a course of drafted stones about six feet high, which extends continuously for a
distance of seventy feet west of the south-east angle, and can be traced thence at intervals to
the Triple Gate. The stones have sometimes been supposed to be of great age, but in our
opinion they are more probably connected with the great works which were undertaken at
Jerusalem by order of Justinian. Procopius, in describing the Mary Church of Justinian, says
that the fourth part of the ground required for the building was wanting towards the south
and east; the builders, therefore, laid out their foundations at the extremity of the sloping
ground, and raised up a wall until they reached the pitch of the hill. Above this they con-
structed a series of arched vaults, by means of which they raised the ground to the level of
the rest of the enclosure. Procopius also speaks of the immense size of the stones and of
the skill with which they were dressed. This describes exactly what is found at the south-
east angle : solid masonry to the level of the top of the hill under the Triple Gate, then vaults
to raise the level to that of the area, and the " Great Course " to mark the end of the solid
47
so much attention. The letters are either cut into or painted on the stones. The incised
characters are cut to a depth of three-eighths of an inch ; the painted characters, some of
which are five inches high, were probably put on with a brush. They are in red paint,
apparently vermilion, and easily rubbed off with a wetted finger. These g rap hit i were
examined by the late Mr. Emanuel Deutsch, who says : " The signs cut or painted were on
the stones when they were first laid in their present places. They do not represent any
inscription. They are Phoenician. I consider them to be partly letters, partly numerals, and
partly special quarry signs or masons' marks. Some of them were recognisable at once as
well-known Phoenician characters; others, hitherto unknown in Phoenician epigraphy, I had the
rare satisfaction of being able to identify on absolutely undoubted Phoenician structures in
Syria." The pottery obtained during the excavations consisted of a small jar found in a hole
cut out of the rock, " standing upright, as though it had been purposely placed there," and
many fragments of lamps and other utensils. Dr. Birch, the keeper of oriental antiquities at
the British Museum, states that it is just possible that this jar, which resembles Egyptian ware
in shape, might be as old as the fourth or fifth century B.C. Mr. Greville Chester, the well-
known antiquary, observes, in the " Recovery of Jerusalem," that the vase " is of pale red
ware, and of a common Grseco-Phoenician type." Amongst the fragments were found several
broken lamps of red or brownish ware, with one, two, or three lips, which " seem adapted for
the burning of fat rather than oil." They are similar in design to lamps that have been found
in Cyprus and Malta; and Mr. A. W. Franks, of the British Museum, considers them " to be
of late date—not earlier than the second century before the Christian era." The south-east
angle is by some writers believed to be one of the oldest portions of the wall and the work of
Solomon ; whilst others, from the peculiar character of the masonry, believe it to have been
built by Herod Agrippa, or to be even as late as the reign of Justinian.
The most remarkable features of the south wall of the Haram esh Sherif are the lar^e
stones known as the " Great Course," and the Single, Double, and Triple Gates. The "Great
Course " is a course of drafted stones about six feet high, which extends continuously for a
distance of seventy feet west of the south-east angle, and can be traced thence at intervals to
the Triple Gate. The stones have sometimes been supposed to be of great age, but in our
opinion they are more probably connected with the great works which were undertaken at
Jerusalem by order of Justinian. Procopius, in describing the Mary Church of Justinian, says
that the fourth part of the ground required for the building was wanting towards the south
and east; the builders, therefore, laid out their foundations at the extremity of the sloping
ground, and raised up a wall until they reached the pitch of the hill. Above this they con-
structed a series of arched vaults, by means of which they raised the ground to the level of
the rest of the enclosure. Procopius also speaks of the immense size of the stones and of
the skill with which they were dressed. This describes exactly what is found at the south-
east angle : solid masonry to the level of the top of the hill under the Triple Gate, then vaults
to raise the level to that of the area, and the " Great Course " to mark the end of the solid