Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1872-01-26
SCIENTIFIC.
THE HOLY CITY.
RESUME OF DISCOVERIES THUS FAR
MADE.

count of discoveries made in Jerusalem
| by the English working party, under
| the direction of those who control the
Palestine Exploration Fund.-" are Of
much interest. Excavations have now
been in progress for nearly three
years. In spite of obstacles thrown in
the way by the ignorance, stupidity
and cunning of the Orientals; in spite
of perils from falling stones and pois-
OnOus air, freezing waters and suffoca-
ting heat; in spite of the superstitions
of Turkish dignitaries, the results
thus Tar reached are most satisfactory.
In fact, typographical controversies
centuries old have been settled by pos
tive discoveries. AS an example OF
the Moslem stupidity which the eX-
plOrers had TO encounter, take the OBJ
jections of the Pacha of jerusalem, a
well-edueated military man, not want
ing in brains. He assured Captain
Warren that it was unnecessary to
dig about the Holy City to settle
archaeological doubts. Mohammedan
traditions were all-sufficient, he said.
.Sdkhrd, the sacred rock. lay Oh the
top leaves ofa palm-tree, from the roots
of which sprang all rivers. TO pry
into such matters, he thought, was a
sure precursor of dire calamity. The
Excavations proceeded nevertheless.
Jerusalem is built on a ridge of rock
which is the backbone of PALESTINE
1t is approached only by rough noun
tain roads. The position has great
natural strength. 1t is at the present
time surrounded by a massive, we'll
built wall. Five of the city gates
are open five are closed. All are an
cient.
TIIETEMPLES OF SOLOMON AND HEROr.
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 of this area rises Sakhra,
the mosque, with it's surprisingly
beautiful dome. This mosque Chris
tians call the "HOly Sanctuary
Within the same area once stood both
the temple of Solomon and that erec-
ted by HerOd. All traces of both dis
appeared ages ago, and the exact po-
sitions occupied by them have for
years been fiercely-cOntested points
in regard to the topography of Jerusa-
lem. Was SolOmon's Temple cock
tensive with the Sanctuary? Was
it confined to a square of six hundred
feet In the southwest corner? Or was
it placed elsewhere in what it is now
the great open space? These ques-
tiOns excavations only can answer
1t is certain that the SfOd Bdsiiie0,
built by HerOd, stood OH the southern
wall. More than this we do not yet
know.
Within the sanctuary enclosure and
under its solid floors it las hitherto
been supposed that there were water
sprlngs. Such is found not tc be the
fact, but, on the contrary, the whole
mount is honeycOmhed with series
of remarkable rock-hewn cisterns, in
which the water, brought by an eque-
duct from SOlOmOn's Pools, near
Bethlehem, was stored. These cis-
terEs arc connected by a system of
channels cut out of the rock, so that
when one was full the surplus water
ran into the next, until the final over
flow was carried off to the Kedron.
One of the cisterns had capacity of
two million gallons, and the total
number of gallons could be stored in
all the cisterns exceeded ten millions.
And yet, with these gigantic means
of supplying the city with water,
which, at 10 eXtravagant expense,
might at any time have been made
available, the dependence of the in
habitants for a thousand years has
been upon cisterns which receive the
rainfall from the roofs of houses and
the cutters of streets.
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPUL-
CHRE.
Next to the Sanctuary, in point of
interest, is the church of the Holy
Sepulchre, said to contain within its
walls the tomb of our Lord. 1t is sit
uated in what is called the Christian
quarter of the town, at a considerable
distance from The Sanctuary. The
authenticity of the Holy SePulchre
has been the subject of fierce dispute
for many ages. This dispute is not
settled, though much progress has
been made toward its -sulutiOn by the
excavations. At the time of the Cru
cifixion, it is agreed by all parties,
the place of our Lords burial was
outside of the walls. The place now
pointed out is within them. This has
always been explained by the alleged
fact that after Constantine built his
"Church of the Resurrection, the
town was spread out and surrounded
it. Others are certain that the pres
ent site must have been always within
the limits of the ancient city, and
that the sepulchre must be looked for
elsewhere. The solution of this diff
cult question depends upon-first, the
existence of an earlier wall surround
ing the city; and, second, upon its
course if it existed and ran to the
east of the alleged place of the sepul-
chre, the position claimed is doubtless
correct; if it ran to the west, the posi-
ton is certainly wrong. 1t is signifi-
cant that up to the present time, in
spite of every effort, no portion of this
wall has been discovered. The point
at which it started and that at which
it ended are alike unknown,
RoBINsoN's ARCH.
More than thirty years ago Professor
Edward Robinson believed that he
had discovered in Jarusalem traces
of the arch of bridge which led from
the temple to Zion. If this was true,
it would furnish key to unlock sew
eral archaeological difficulties. But
the great antiquity of the arch was
doubted by travellers as erudite as the
Professor himself He nevertheless
supported his theory stOutly. 1t be-
came finally ole of the many "mOOtcd
questions" and "RObinson's arch"
was one of the curiosities of the Holy
City. Whether belonging to the time
of Solomon or Justinian whether the
support of a vast viaduct or the en-
trance TO royal cloisters; this jutting
out of few large stones, as if burst
from the wall by some heavy shock
the fragment of the arch" is nothing
more than this i'm appearance-the
place mas been sought eagerly of late
wears by American and European
tourists, in spite of the discussions Of
guides and the dangers of narrow
streets. At the convent, were tourists
from the west generally stop, the in
quiry of newcomers for "Robinson's
arch," became a subject of constant
merriment, and the demand to be ta-
ken there, always followed by oriental
shrtlgs and gesticulations, was the