The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-06-26
SCENES IN THE HOLY LAND
AROUND AND ABOUT JERUSALEM.
Mount olivet-Gethsemane-Th Potter's
FieId-Jnfra Gate-A Fourth COntri-
button From Jerusalem by the
Hon. w. T. English.

Mount of Olives from the tomb of Absa-
lon, described in my last letter, we come
TO a series OF ancient burial places cut
out OF the rocky hillside, known as the
Tomb OF the Prophets" and from there
We continue on up the steep sides OF the
mount, following the same road taken by
the Savior on His journeys from Bethany
to the holy city, Over this very path, we
now ride on the backs OF donkeys He
rode triumphantly upon the "colt of an
ass" on that great day when the multi
tude waved their palm branches over
Him, and shouted "HosanEa to the son OF
David" and here, when the most mag
nihcent view of Jerusalem obtainable
anywhere burst upon his vision, HE be-
held the city and wept over it."-Luke
xix, A.
On the top of Mount 0livet stands the
small AIoslem village OF Tur and Mo-
hammedan place of worship covering the
spot from whence the Savior is believed
TO have made the ascension, and the Mus
suIman in charge they even show the
footprints He left behind. St Luke says
far as Bethany" and while this is not
Bethany proper, 1t is in close proximity to
1t. The view from this elevation is indie
scribably grand and it is one point at
least from which Jerusalem presents a
most attractive appearance A little be-
low the summit, over the place where
Christ prayed with His disciples, stands
the handsome chapel erected by the Prin-
cess Latour d'Auvergne and intended as
her future place of interment. On the
walls OF the corridors running around the
inside Of the chapel court are thirty-three
large tiles, upon which the Lords prayer
is inscribed in thirty-three different Ian
guages.
Descending the mountain we came down
By another route, this time taking the
road over which David and his followers
fed from the rebellious Absalom when
''they went up, weeping as they went. -
II Sam. Ky, so. Near the foot of this
hill small Enclosure surrounded by high
wall is reached, which is the "Garden of
Gethsemane." Inside are eight old olive
trees, said to have grown from the roots OF
those that stood here in the time OF our
Savior, and as the olive tree attains re-
msrkable age, it is not wholly improbable.
The Franciscan monks, who are in charge
of the grounds, point out the spot where
the disciples slept while Christ prayed that
the bitter cup might pass from Him, where
He suffered the "agony and bloody sweat"
and where Judas betrayed Him with the
traitorous kiss when ''thev laid their
hands on Him and took Him. MARX xiv,
IS. Adjoining the garden is the chapel
OF the virgin" claimed to be the oldest
church in the world, the scene of the as
sumption and the burial place of the vir-
gin, Joseph, her husband, and Joachim
and Anna, her father and mother.
Ascending the hill again from the dry
bed of the stream, the place where St
Stephen was stoned is shown and est
Stephens gate, one of the principal en-
frances to the old city wall is passed,
from whence a short ride brings us to the
'tombs OF the Judges" which, like the
''tombs of the Kings, some fifteen minutes
further north, are curiously carved out Of
the natural rock of the mountain.
Returning toward the Damascus gate
the ''tomb Of jeremiah" is shown, a grOtto
where jeremiah is said to have written
the Lamentations before his death and
burial In the same place. Near by are the
vast subterranean quarries from which the
stone for Solomon's temple is supposed 10
have been taken. Retracing our steps
again in sight of the Mount of Offense to
our starting point at the tomb of Absalom
and continuing on further down the wind
ing path that follows along the banks of
Kidron we finally enter the valley of Hin
NH oh ITviI Al
hill OF Evil Counsel, upon which
the house Of Caiaphas, the high
priest, stood, and which in the
biblical days separated the land OF Judah
IRON the land Of Benjamin. Here it was
that King Solomon, wandering after
strange gods, kIndled the wrath of the
Lord by building "an high place for Che
mosh, the abomination Of Moab" At the
behest OF his MISUNDERSTANDING wives. for
poor Solomon had 200 wives wives prime
esses, and 500 concubines, and his wives
turned away his heart. - Kings XII, 81.
The Lord punished him for this back
sliding, but not very severely personally,
probably reasoning that a man with ZOO
wives had already fully realized the acme
OF human suffering. 1t was here also in
TINS "ge hlnnom" or "gehenna" that
wicked Ahaz and Manasseh burnt their
children as offerings to "Molech, the abom-
ination of the children of Ammon,"
cruel practice more or less continued until
King Josiah, in righteous indignation,
'dehled Topheth, which is in the valley
of the children of Hinnon" and "all the
denominations that were spied in the land
of judah and Jerusalem did Josiah put |
away. III Kings, xiii, 1924.
This gloomy ravine with its repulsive |
embraces within its con-
fines also the celebrated "Potter's field" |
or 'Aceldama," field of blood, where |
Judas is believed to have hanged himself |
and been buried in ground purchased |
with his miserable thirty pieces of silver. |
wherefore that field was called the field |
of blood unto this day. Matthew xvii, |
8. There is a cave near here called the |
apostles cavern" in which il is asserted |
the apostles concealed themselves at |
the time Of the crucifxion. On the /
high rocks above the valley il /
perched the wretched Arab village OF |
Silwan (SiloOml, many of the Inhabitants |
the ancient rOck-built tombs as |
and hereabouts was the En- |
Rogel "where Jonathan and Ahimaaz |
stayed by En- ROgeP when they concealed
themselves as spies IN King David's in
terest. Along through the valley below
winds the stream described by Milton and /
quoted by Cook "Siloahs brook that
flowed fast by the Oracle OF God" which
further along enters the pools of Sloan"
where chin that aforetime was blind" at
he divine command of Jesus "washed |