The Oskaloosa herald., 1901-05-30
JERUSALEM, PALESTINE.
MAY 10. 1901

/
May 10, 1901.
Editors Herald, Oskaloosa, Iowa -
One morning bright and early party
of nine started from the Hughes Ho-
tel for hard day of sightseeing, do
ing day and a-half in one. Our route
lay to the southwest, down past the
Jaffa Gate, across the Valley OF 0ihon
where Solomon was crowned king,
into the territory of Judah. The Hill
of Evil Counsel and the Pool of ST.
loan were to the left. We crossed
the sloping plain of Rephaim, where
the Philistians made an unsuccessful
attack on Israel and second time
put themselves in battle array, but at
1.-THE sound of going in the tops of
the mulberry trees" King David be-
stirred himself to their entire discom.
future; Sam. 5:1s 25. Over this same
road the wise men passed in search
of the Babe that was manger born.
By the wayside is cistern still in use
where tradition says the guiding star
appeared second time to the wise
men after they had visited Herod the
king. Close by is stone with pc
culiar depression about the size and
somewhat the shape of the human
form. A Greek myth makes this Eli
jah's bed one night when the prophet
xuaS Aoainn from tho Ta1ahal
A score of pious pilgrims were kneel-
ing by turns and bestowing profus-
ion of kisses thereon. A short dis
lance further on is Rachel's Tomb,
while half mile to the west lies the
neat looking village of Telzah where
Kish, the father of Saul, dwelt.
POOLS OF SOLOMON.
A half hours drive through fine
vineyards and beautiful gardens
brought us to some remarkable reser-
voirs called the Pools of Solomon.
They are fed by the rains, melting
SHOWS and a fountain situated about
two hundred yards above the upper
pool. The entrance way and the two
chambers of the fountain, cut in the
solid rock, were until recent years
securely closed up by large stone,
the removal of which required great
mechanical force and appliances. AL
fusion may have been made to this in
the words of Solomon: "a spring
shut up, fountain sealed" Located
between two shelving hills these pools,
three in number, stand on different
levels so that the overflow of the first
empties into the second, and that of
the second into the third. Their con-
struction consists in part of rock cut
ting and in part of masonry. The
middle pool is hewn almost entirely
from the solid rock, while the lower
pool, by far the finest and largest of
the three, is a combination of rock
cutting, excavation and high grade
of masonry. The second and third
have steps from the topic the bottom
at each end from diagonal corners.
The upper has measurements as fol-
lows: Length $50 feet, width 233 feet,
depth IS; the middle: length 423 feet,
width 233, and depth 80, the lower:
length 5o2, width It's and dpth so.
If the mathematician of Penn college
will compute the liquid capacity Of
these huge reservoirs they will come
to the'conclusion that there was moth
ing small about King Solomon. Fec.
1855: ~ made me gardens and plant
ed trees and l made me pools of
water" The gardens were further
down the valley at Etam, now called
Artas, still noted for it's prosperous
and beautiful gardens and fruit orch
ards Hither came Samson to hide
himself from the Philistians. Some
distance to the right is the hill upon
which stood the City of Tekoah, the
home of Amos, the prophet.
HEBRON.
The carriage road from Jerusalem
to Hebron lies through most inter-
esting country, for the valleys and
hlltops have witnessed striking &C.
currences, marked by ancient and
medieval relics. An hour before we
reached our destination halt of half
an hour was made for rest at the
fountain where Phillip is said to have
baptized the Ethiopian Euoch. Heb
ron is one of the oldest towns in Pal
estine, "built seven years before Zion
in Egypt" and the place of much i'm
portant Hebrew history. In Judges
1:1O it is called Kirjath Arba. 1t was
the home of Abraham in the days of
his greatest prosperity. In the divis-
ion of the country under Joshua, the
fields and villages of this section,
which includes the Valley of Eschol,
fell to the lot OF the faithful and he
roic Caleb and the city Itself was as
signed to the sons ofAaron to become
a city of refuge. Here David was
crowned king and ruled over Judah
seven and one-half years and was at
last annointed king over all Israel.
Under the pretence OF worship in full