The Republican journal., 1871-10-12
Glories of the Temple at Jerusalem.

htN. III. pWttlnVlon writes: he tlS-
coveries Of the "Palcstine Exploration
FUND.- have been made at great cost of
money and labor, and no little danger, bv
sinking shafts 100 feet deep and running
galleries ut right angles to these shafts,
the explorers foeling their way un.lnr
ground. burning magnetism Wire. and so
throwing light upon stone and payements
which have been buried ? 900 and 3 900
years from human sight. Mount Moriah
ms been found to be a sharp crae or
ridge, with 50 little space upon the top as
scarcely to afford room for Il temple of
small dimensions. On all sides it fell off
rapidly and stceply, except from north
west to southeast. the direction in which
the ridge ran. The area on the summit
was enlarged by wall built along
the declivitics, the outside walls deep
down the valleys from 100 to $50 feet be-
low the area on which the temple build
ings stood. One hundred feet again be-
low this lay the original bed of the brook
kidron. The foundations OF the temple
therefore, We're 80 feet above the deep
deiles around This area, originally
built by solomon and enlarged by Ierod
still exists, running on the south along
the Valley of Hinnon | 900 feet, and
along the kidron 800 feet.
This incloSure was originally covered
with splendid editices. First were the
porticoes or covered walks, built along
the outer walls, and overlooking the Kid
ron and 1innom. They were magnificent
structures, resembling the nave and aisles
Of Gothic cathetlrals. The middle walk,
or nave, was fortytve feet broad, and
the two aisles thirty feet The aisles were
fifty feet high, and the nave, rising like a
cleyestory between the two, vas more
than 100 feet high. Add now terrace
walls to the height of the porticoes, and
we have 4 solid and continuous wall of
masonry 21O feet high. But these We're
only the outer buildings Of the temple
area. The porticoes opened inwaldly up
on a court paved with marble, and open
to the sky. Steps led up to u second
court Beyond this, again, through beau
titul gateways, was Il third. and rising
above them all was fourth, in which
stood the temple proper, ascending story
above story, and said to have been 100 or
even $50 feet high.
These horizontal measurements have
been verified. OF course we cannot vouch
for the correctness of the reputcd height
Of these immense structures We have
the less reason, however, to doubt the
last as we have established the first. If
one looked upon Mount Moriah from the
Mount.ot Olives opposite, coming round
the brow OF Olivet on the way from Beth
any, rs our Lord did when beholding the
city, 1t must haYe been n sight which, for
architectural beauty and grandeur, per-
haps, has never been equaled, certainly
not surpassed. 1t was an artificial noun
tain from the deep ravines below, wall,
column, roof, pinnacle, eliminating in
the temple within and above all, and
probably measuring between 800 and 600
feet.
The palace of solomon, too, added to
the lmpressivcncss Of the sight. 1t is set
tied by recent discoveries that this pile of
buildings was on the southeast corner of
the area, joining on the House of the
Lord above, and extending below to the
Kings gardens, where the two valleys
meet and ''the waters of the Siloah 90
softly"
James Ferguson, Esq, the distinguish
ed architect, writes: ''The triple temple
Of Jerusalem, the lower court standing on
its magnificent terraces, the inner court
raised on its platform in the center, and
the temple itself rising out of the group
and crowning the whole must have
formed, when combined with the beauty
OF the situation, one of the most splendid
architectural combinations of the ancient
World.''
Josephus wrote: ''If any one looked
down from the top of the battlemcnts he
would be giddy, while his SIGHT could
not reach to such an immense depth. "
This passed for foolish exaggerations un-
til recent explorations vindicated the
statement
All these buildings, porticocs, columns,
pinnacles, altar and temple have persisted.
mot one stone remains upon another,
which has not been thrown down." The
area alone remains, and the massive
structure for 5000 years have been Sleep
ing in their courses. The preservation
has been due to the ruin. Buildings so
vast have been toppled down the slopes
OF the NOriah that the nripinal defiles aud