The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-12-08
THE HOLY CITY.
Rsss,ae Of sfBisce-eriesThssF Far Made,

| Excavations have now beeH in pro-
gress for nearly three years. In spite
of obstacles thrown in the way by the
ignorance, stupidity and canning OF
the Orientals; in spite of perils from
falling stones and poisonous air, ffefz-
ing waters and suf1ocating heat; in
spite of the superstitions of Turkish
dignitaTies, the results thus far reach
ed are most satisfactory. In fact,
Typographical controversies centuries
old have been settled by positive dis
coyeries. As an example Of the Mos
lem stupidity which the explorers
had to encounter, take the objections
of the Paeha of jerusalem, well-edu-
Gated military man, aot wanting IN
brains. He assured Captain Warren
that it WAS unnecessary to dig about
the Holy City 10 settle Archaeological
doubts. Mohammedan traditions
| were all-sufflcient he said. Sdk7,rd,
the sacred rock. lay on the top leaves
of palm-tree, from the roots of which
sprang all rivers. To pry into such
matters, he thought, was a sure pre-
cursor of dire calamity. The excava-
tons proceeded nevertheless.
| Jerusalem is built on ridge of rock
which is the backbone of Palestine.
IT is approached only by rough noun
tain roads. The position has great
natural strength. 1t is at the present
time surrounded by massive. we'll
built wall. Five of the city gates are
open; five are closed. All are ancient.
THE TEMPLES OF SOLOMON AND
HEROD.
Upon Mount Moriah there is large
open space, studded with cypress and
olive trees, and surrounded with, per-
| haps, the finest masonry in the world.
In the centre ofthis area rise. Sakhra,
tho mosque, with is surprisingly
beautiful dome. This mosque Christ
ians call the Holy sanctusry.'
Within The same area onse stood the
| temple Of Solomon and that erected
hy Berod. All trsces ef both dis
appeared ages ago, and the exact Pc-
.ftions occupied by them have fnr
gears been fieIcely-contested points
In regard tO the toroSTaphy ofJeruss-
lem. Was Solomon, Temple cs,~x-
ten.ive with the Sanctuary Wes II
| confined In 4 sJusre of six hundred
FRET In the southwest corner? Or wa,
il placed elsewhere IN what il now
the great open space? These questions
excavation. sHly can answer. " j.
| certain that the HVi s1aiico, built
! bT NerO1. stood on the southern wall.
, More than this We do not We, know.
| Within the sanctuary enclosure and
| under lts solid floors Il has hitherto
been supposed that there were water
| spring.. Such !. found not 10 be the
! fact, hut, on the contrary, the whole
mount /. honeycombed with Il series
! of remarkable rock-hewn cisterns, in
which the water, brought by an squo-
! duct from Solomon's Pools, nesB
/ Bethlehem, was stored. These cistern~
| are connected by system Of channels
| cut out of the rock. 80 that when one
| was full the surplus water, ran into
the next, until the final overflow was
carried of 10 the kedron. One OF the
/ cisterns had capacity OF TWO million
! gallons, and the total number OF gall
/ Ions that could lie stored IN all the
! cistern- exceeded ten millions. And
yet, with these gigantic means ofsup-
! plying the city with water, which, at
I no cXtravagant expense, might at any
! time have been made available, the
| dependence of the inhabitants for q
! thousand ycaFs haas been upon cisterns
| which receive the rainfall from the
/ roofs of houses and the cutters OF
! streets.
! THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPCL-
CHRE.
Next 20 the Sanctuary, in point of
| interest, il the Church of the Holy
| Sepulchrc. said to contain within lis
walls the tomb of our Lord. Ii il sit
uated in what is called the Christian
quarter OF the town. at 4 considerable
l distance from the sanctuary. The
/ authenticity Of the Holy Sepuluhre
| has leen the subject of fierce dispute
/ for many ages. This dispute is not
settled, though much progress has
been made toward its solution by the
| excavations. At the time of the Cruz
tifiXion, il is agreed by all parties, the
place Of our Lords burial was outside
! Of the walls. The place new pointed
out is within them. This has always
been explaiied 10y the alleged fact
that after Constantine built hi.
Church Of the Resurrection. the
town was spread out and surrounded
il. Others arc certain that the pre-
sent site mus, have been always with
IN the limits of the ancient citv. and
that the sepulrhFe must ke looked for
elsewhere. The solution Of this difi-
cult question depends upOn-iirSt, the
eXistence Of An earlier wall surrOusd |
ing the city: and, second, upon its
cOur<e; ii il existed aud ran Ia the east
of the alleged place of the sepulchTc,
the position claimed I. doubtless car-
re,-t; IL il nau tp the vest. the position
i. CERTAINLY wrong. II ia significant
that up 10 the present time, in spite
OF every effort. no portion of this wall
hs> been discovered. The point ut
which 1t ended are alike unknown.
hosINsoN's ARCH. !
More than thirty y-srs ago rrofes-
~or Edward Robinson believed that
he had discovered in Jerusalem traces
Of the arch OF 81 bridge which led from
the temple to Zion. Ifthis was true.
IL would furnish key tn unlock seT-
oral archaeological difficulties. Hut
the great antiquity Of the arch was
doubted by travellers as erudite r. the
Professor himself. He nevertheless
supported his theory stoutly. II be-
came finally one sfthe many ''moo;ed
questions" and ''Iiobinson's arhr
was one of the curi0sities OF the Holy
City. Whether belonging Ia the time
of solomon or .Iustinisn; whether the.
support of a vast viadIIct or the en-
trance 10 royal cloisteI<: this jullinS
out of z few large stones, IA If burst
from the wall by some heavy shock
the fragment of the arch" is nothing
mere than this in appearancc--the
place has been sought eagerly of late
years by American and European
tourists in spite of the discussions OF
guides and the dangers Of n2rrow
streets. At the convent, where tour
lists from the west generally stop, the
inquiry of newcomers for "RObin- !
sons arch, y became subject of con-
slant merriment, and the demand to
be taken there, always followed by
oriental shrugs and gesticulations,
was the bette NOR of nuleteers and
camel-drivers. .s..s
The dispute on this subject has at
last been settled. At no inconsider-
able cost, in the face of strong opposi-
ton from the Pacha, and with great
perseverance, Captain Warren sunk
seven shafts in line east and west
across the Tyrop1noa Valley. He has
! settled it beyond question that DIR.
Robinsonis conjecture was correct.
The bulge in the wall is the fragment
| of an arch built in the time of Solo
mon. There exist in the vast masses
| the remains of a viaduct. There are
the fallen rOuSsoigS of the arches and
the ruins of the piers,
1t is impossibls within the limits of
q single article to do more than glance
at the results of this recovery of
Jerusalem, AS it has been called. We
know for the first time the form,
architecture and internal arrange
ment Of the earliest dwellings in
Jerusalem, and the sizes and charac-
ter of the thoroughfares-streets they