DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0103
8o
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
Robinson's Arch, Barclay's Gate, and Wilson's Arch are identified with three of the west
gates of the Temple, and the Double Gate with the Huldah Gate on the south. The altar
is placed near the fountain El Kas, in front of the Mosque El Aksa (see vignette). Captain
Warren, R.E., considers that the outer courts of the Temple of Herod are defined by the
east, west, and south walls of the Haram esh Sherif, and by the northern edge of the raised
platform of the Dome of the Rock. He places the altar over the west end of the curious
cruciform cistern beneath the platform. Count de Vogue, Mons. de Saulcy, Sir Henry James,
Dr. Sepp, and others, believe that the entire surface of the Haram enclosure was occupied by
the Temple, its courts and cloisters. Drs. Robinson and Barclay, Professors Porter and
Kiepert, maintain that the Temple enclosure was a square of about nine hundred and twenty-
five feet, situated in the southern portion of the Haram. Drs. Tobler and Rosen believe that
the Temple was a square of six hundred feet, nearly coincident with the platform of the
Dome of the Rock. In these last cases the altar is placed on the Sakhra. With regard to
the position of Antonia all differ. The questions are such as can only be settled definitely by
excavation ; but, so far as we can judge at present, Mr. Fergusson's theory of the Temple site
most nearly accords with what is known of the features of the ground and with the written
description of Josephus.
From the Haram esh Sherif we may pass out of the city by the "Gate of the Tribes"
and "St. Stephen's Gate," and commence an examination of the modern walls of Jerusalem,
which were built by Sultan Suleiman in the sixteenth century. From the gate of St. Stephen
to Burj Laklak, " Stork Tower," at the north-east angle, the wall is partly protected by a ditch
excavated in the rock, and the bases of the flanking towers, thirty-two feet wide, are also
rock-hewn. Between Burj Laklak and the Damascus Gate in the north wall there is a similar
ditch cut in the rock, and between these two points there is also a closed gateway known
as the " Gate of Herod," but more properly called the " Gate of Splendour, or Blooming."
Near the latter gate the ditch is of considerable depth, a feature which probably marks the
original entrance to the quarries (see page 93). From the Damascus Gate to the north-west
angle of the city, in which "Goliath's Castle" stands, the wall appears to have been built on
the foundations of an older one ; material of all kinds has been used in its construction, and at
one point the Moslem builders have made a curious attempt to assimilate the older work to
their masonry by cutting false joints in the stones of the former. The wall was protected by
a ditch cut in the rock, but it is now almost filled with rubbish. The ruin known as " Goliath's
Castle " is an old tower of rubble masonry, partly faced with stone having a marginal draft.
Within the tower there is a modern chamber, and beneath it an older one with two piers,
which are supposed by some writers to be Herodian ; they are, however, more probably
Crusading or Saracenic. The castle has been identified with the octagonal tower of Psephinus,
mentioned by Josephus, but it is more probably the Tower of Tancred, mentioned in the
histories of the Crusades. There seems evidence, too, that the castle is built on the founda-
tions of one of the old walls of the city. From the north-west angle to the Jaffa Gate the
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
Robinson's Arch, Barclay's Gate, and Wilson's Arch are identified with three of the west
gates of the Temple, and the Double Gate with the Huldah Gate on the south. The altar
is placed near the fountain El Kas, in front of the Mosque El Aksa (see vignette). Captain
Warren, R.E., considers that the outer courts of the Temple of Herod are defined by the
east, west, and south walls of the Haram esh Sherif, and by the northern edge of the raised
platform of the Dome of the Rock. He places the altar over the west end of the curious
cruciform cistern beneath the platform. Count de Vogue, Mons. de Saulcy, Sir Henry James,
Dr. Sepp, and others, believe that the entire surface of the Haram enclosure was occupied by
the Temple, its courts and cloisters. Drs. Robinson and Barclay, Professors Porter and
Kiepert, maintain that the Temple enclosure was a square of about nine hundred and twenty-
five feet, situated in the southern portion of the Haram. Drs. Tobler and Rosen believe that
the Temple was a square of six hundred feet, nearly coincident with the platform of the
Dome of the Rock. In these last cases the altar is placed on the Sakhra. With regard to
the position of Antonia all differ. The questions are such as can only be settled definitely by
excavation ; but, so far as we can judge at present, Mr. Fergusson's theory of the Temple site
most nearly accords with what is known of the features of the ground and with the written
description of Josephus.
From the Haram esh Sherif we may pass out of the city by the "Gate of the Tribes"
and "St. Stephen's Gate," and commence an examination of the modern walls of Jerusalem,
which were built by Sultan Suleiman in the sixteenth century. From the gate of St. Stephen
to Burj Laklak, " Stork Tower," at the north-east angle, the wall is partly protected by a ditch
excavated in the rock, and the bases of the flanking towers, thirty-two feet wide, are also
rock-hewn. Between Burj Laklak and the Damascus Gate in the north wall there is a similar
ditch cut in the rock, and between these two points there is also a closed gateway known
as the " Gate of Herod," but more properly called the " Gate of Splendour, or Blooming."
Near the latter gate the ditch is of considerable depth, a feature which probably marks the
original entrance to the quarries (see page 93). From the Damascus Gate to the north-west
angle of the city, in which "Goliath's Castle" stands, the wall appears to have been built on
the foundations of an older one ; material of all kinds has been used in its construction, and at
one point the Moslem builders have made a curious attempt to assimilate the older work to
their masonry by cutting false joints in the stones of the former. The wall was protected by
a ditch cut in the rock, but it is now almost filled with rubbish. The ruin known as " Goliath's
Castle " is an old tower of rubble masonry, partly faced with stone having a marginal draft.
Within the tower there is a modern chamber, and beneath it an older one with two piers,
which are supposed by some writers to be Herodian ; they are, however, more probably
Crusading or Saracenic. The castle has been identified with the octagonal tower of Psephinus,
mentioned by Josephus, but it is more probably the Tower of Tancred, mentioned in the
histories of the Crusades. There seems evidence, too, that the castle is built on the founda-
tions of one of the old walls of the city. From the north-west angle to the Jaffa Gate the