DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0104
JERUSALEM.
81
wall is built on the remains of an older one ; there is here a great accumulation of rubbish, and
near the gate the original features of the ground are entirely concealed. South of the Jaffa
Gate lies the Citadel (see page 3), protected by its ditch ; thence to the south-west angle and
onwards to the Zion Gate the wall has been reconstructed with old material; and from the
Zion Gate to the Dung Gate in the Tyropceon Valley, and thence to the Double Gate, the
wall is of the same character (see page 75). From the Double Gate to the Castle of Antonia,
near St. Stephen's Gate, the wall of the Haram esh Sherif is also the city wall. How far the
existing walls follow the course of the old walls of Jerusalem is a question that has often been
asked, and it is one that it is extremely difficult to answer, owing to the limited information we
possess respecting the actual nature of the topographical features of the ground. There are,
however, certain points which may now be looked upon as certain, and, taking these as a
starting-point, future excavations may complete the good work commenced by Captain Warren.
Josephus describes the walls as follows. The first or old wall commenced on the north at the
Tower Hippicus, and extended as far as the Xystus, and then, joining to the council-house,
ended at the west cloister of the Temple. Going the other way, it also commenced at Hippicus,
and, facing west, extended through a place called Bethso to the Gate of the Essenes ; after
that it faced south, making a turn above the fountain of Siloam, where it also faced east at
Solomon's Pool and reached as far as Ophlas, where it was joined to the eastern cloister of
the Temple. In this wall there were sixty towers, each twenty cubits square. The first
section of the wall, there can be little question, ran from the Jaffa Gate to the " Gate of the
Chain " of the Haram esh Sherif, following a line a little to the south of, and nearly parallel
to, David's Street. The second section of the wall is more difficult to trace. There is, how-
ever, in the Protestant cemetery, on the western slope of modern Zion, a remarkable excavation
in the rock, which gives the line of the city wall thus far. The rock is here, for a distance of
one hundred feet, scarped, or cut perpendicularly downwards, so as to have a cliff twenty-four
feet high, on the top of which the old wall ran ; and there would appear to have been a
succession of these scarps, with rock-terraces in front of them, to the bottom of the valley. A
flight of rock-hewn steps led down from the wall above, and the position of three flanking
towers can be recognised. Beyond the steps the rock scarp turns to the east, and there are
traces of either a ditch or an entrance to the city. This point appears to have been the corner
of the wall at or near which was the Gate of the Essenes. The farther course of the old wall
and the place at which it crossed the Tyropceon are unknown. The word Bethso (Dung
Place) gives a clue to the route followed by Nehemiah when he went out by night to view the
walls. He apparently left Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate, Valley Gate, and rode to the Dung
Gate, or Bethso ; he then went on to the Gate of the Fountain and to the King's Pool in the
Tyropceon Valley, but the deep narrow ravine was so encumbered with the rubbish of the
fallen walls that there was no room for the beast that was under him to pass ; he therefore
went up by the brook, the more open Kedron valley, and "viewed the wall, and turned back,
and entered by the Gate of the Valley and so returned." In the account of the rebuilding of
12
81
wall is built on the remains of an older one ; there is here a great accumulation of rubbish, and
near the gate the original features of the ground are entirely concealed. South of the Jaffa
Gate lies the Citadel (see page 3), protected by its ditch ; thence to the south-west angle and
onwards to the Zion Gate the wall has been reconstructed with old material; and from the
Zion Gate to the Dung Gate in the Tyropceon Valley, and thence to the Double Gate, the
wall is of the same character (see page 75). From the Double Gate to the Castle of Antonia,
near St. Stephen's Gate, the wall of the Haram esh Sherif is also the city wall. How far the
existing walls follow the course of the old walls of Jerusalem is a question that has often been
asked, and it is one that it is extremely difficult to answer, owing to the limited information we
possess respecting the actual nature of the topographical features of the ground. There are,
however, certain points which may now be looked upon as certain, and, taking these as a
starting-point, future excavations may complete the good work commenced by Captain Warren.
Josephus describes the walls as follows. The first or old wall commenced on the north at the
Tower Hippicus, and extended as far as the Xystus, and then, joining to the council-house,
ended at the west cloister of the Temple. Going the other way, it also commenced at Hippicus,
and, facing west, extended through a place called Bethso to the Gate of the Essenes ; after
that it faced south, making a turn above the fountain of Siloam, where it also faced east at
Solomon's Pool and reached as far as Ophlas, where it was joined to the eastern cloister of
the Temple. In this wall there were sixty towers, each twenty cubits square. The first
section of the wall, there can be little question, ran from the Jaffa Gate to the " Gate of the
Chain " of the Haram esh Sherif, following a line a little to the south of, and nearly parallel
to, David's Street. The second section of the wall is more difficult to trace. There is, how-
ever, in the Protestant cemetery, on the western slope of modern Zion, a remarkable excavation
in the rock, which gives the line of the city wall thus far. The rock is here, for a distance of
one hundred feet, scarped, or cut perpendicularly downwards, so as to have a cliff twenty-four
feet high, on the top of which the old wall ran ; and there would appear to have been a
succession of these scarps, with rock-terraces in front of them, to the bottom of the valley. A
flight of rock-hewn steps led down from the wall above, and the position of three flanking
towers can be recognised. Beyond the steps the rock scarp turns to the east, and there are
traces of either a ditch or an entrance to the city. This point appears to have been the corner
of the wall at or near which was the Gate of the Essenes. The farther course of the old wall
and the place at which it crossed the Tyropceon are unknown. The word Bethso (Dung
Place) gives a clue to the route followed by Nehemiah when he went out by night to view the
walls. He apparently left Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate, Valley Gate, and rode to the Dung
Gate, or Bethso ; he then went on to the Gate of the Fountain and to the King's Pool in the
Tyropceon Valley, but the deep narrow ravine was so encumbered with the rubbish of the
fallen walls that there was no room for the beast that was under him to pass ; he therefore
went up by the brook, the more open Kedron valley, and "viewed the wall, and turned back,
and entered by the Gate of the Valley and so returned." In the account of the rebuilding of
12