Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-09-11
THE HOLY YLAND--APPEARANCE OF
JERUSALEM.


letter written from the city Of Jeru-
salem to New York paper:
To many persons a visit to Jerusa-
lem has been one of the great expec-
taneies of life; it has been thought of
by day and dreamed of by night
To such the reality is indeed often a
appointment. On entering the
wall-girted city they find that the
streets are extremely narrow and
terribly filthy. A population of nearly
fifteen thousand persons is crowded
into a space so small that it is quite
easy to walk around the outside of
the wall in the short space of three
quarters of an hour. But little if any
of the city now remains as it was in
the days of Christ. The walls of the
pool of Bethesda still stands, their
tops being on a level with the ground.
The original length of this pool was
little over three hundred, the width
about sixty, and the depth not far
from thirty feet. These walls, like
those of the outer walls on Mount
Moriah, are built of immense blocks
of stone. The traveller now, while
standing on the top of this wall, sees
at the bottom of the pit before him
little stream of water, which comes
in under the wall at one corner of the
pool and finds its way out at another.
Here is all that remains of that pool
so celebrated in New Testament his
tory.
On the summit of Mount Moriah,
where SOlOmOn's Temple stood, the
Mosque of Omar now stands. This
Mosque is octagOn in front, each side
being sixty-fOur feet long. 1t is con-
sidered by Mohammedans one of the
most sacred mosques on the face Of
the globe.
Into this edifce it was not eusto-
mary to admit Christians at all prior
to the visit of the Prince of Wales
Since that time, by paying the sum
81 so, and going hatless and bOotless,
the visitor is permitted to enter and
walk upon the marble pavement Of
this, one of MahOmeps favored mos
ques.
There is one fact connected with
the government of the bigoted Turks
who here bear rule which I do not
recOllect having seen mentioned by
any writer, and that is this: The
Jews, although the most industrious
and thriving OF the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, are not permitted to enter
the sacred inelcsure where the Tenn
pie once stood. Every Friday after
noon the Hebrew people assemble in
q place known as the Jews wailing
place. Here, separated from the IN
closure by a wall, they weep over the
humiliation and degradation of their
once famous city, and pray for the
time to come when the city shall be
delivered from the thraldOm of the
Turk, and the glory of Israel shall
again abide at Jerusalem.
One of the chief places of attraction
in Jerusalem is the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre. This church was
built by the Roman Empress Helena
over what she believed to be the tomb
of Jesus Christ. In it she built
sepulchre for him; which still stands.
On entering this sacred editiee we
observed that Turkish guards are
seated on a divan at the left, and are
told by them that their office is to
guard the church and keep the Chris
tians from killing each other around
the tOmbs of their departed Lord.
The tomb of Christ is covered by a
yellow marble slab, in one end Of
which a number of crevices are seen.
Through these creviees on Easter
Sunday fire, called holy fire, is made
10 appear, and pilgrims. from different
parts of the world crowd around to
light their lamps by this sO-ealled
sacred flame. These lamps when lit
are reiigiously guarded and keet bur
ming while being carried to the far
off homes of the pilgrims.
1t may be astonishing to some to be
told that the place called Calvary,
where the crucifxiOn took place, the
rent in the rocks, the tOmbs of Adam,
Joseph, and many others noted in
Bible history, as well as the Holy
are all under the same roof
but such is the fact, at least we are so
informed in Jerusalem. I have tried
to feel enthusiastic and wonderfully
while in jerusalem, but. L
cannot. To me the country about
Jerusalem seems to be one of the most
barren and desolate on the face of the
earth. Rocks abound abundantly, but
soil is extremely scarce. The brook
KedIon is a mere little dry run, while
Mount MOriah, the Mount of Olives,
and Mount Zion would only pass for
hills in America The
River of Jordan, within two miles of
its mouth, is so narrow that one can
easily throw q stone across it; while
the Dead Sea is a salt lake but thirty
miles long and from fOur to six miles
wide.