Milford chronicle., 1909-07-30
A MILFORD BOYS VISIT
ABOUT THE HOLY LAND
[coNTINUED FROM LAST WEEK. ]

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.
A thousand years before Chris
David took from the Jebusites thei
stronghold and capital, Jebus, which
place was fortified with a natura
fortifcation of deep valleys around
it except on the north. The Jewisf
nation had already existed almost a
thousand years since the days o.
Abraham, and had overcome the
Jebusites in battle, but had never
until then got possession of theil
main fortress on Mount Zion, the
residence of their king. The Hebrew
power was at its heighth under
David and under Solomon, his sue
cessor, who built the temple, but il
began to decline when Israel re-
volted from the rule of Rehoboam,
the son of Solomon, during whose
reign the Egyptian King Shishak
entered Jerusalem and despoiled
the temple and the royal palace.
One hundred years later under King
Jehoram the Arabians and the Phil
lstines took and plundered Jerusa-
lem, Sixty years later Israel de-
feated Judah, broke down the city
wall, and carried off the gold Of the
temple and of the palaces. Fifty
two years of prosperity Jerusalem
was re-established and fortified, al
though within that period the city
suffered from a great earthquake.
About six hundred years before
Christ the Chaldeans under Ne
buchadnezzar pillaged the royal
palaces and the temple and carried
away to Babylon the remnant of
the multitude with King Zedekiah
but left the poor of the land for
gardiners on this occasion Jerusa-
lem had stood a siege with famine
for one year and four months. About
B. c. $50 Cyrus, King Of Persia,
sent the children of Israel back to
Jerusalem to rebuild the temple,
which work was stopped thirteen
years later by orcer of Artaxerxes
and only finished by permission Of
Darius about B. c. SIS. Nearly
seventy-fve years later the walls
were rebuilt by the Jews under Ne
hemiah. The city was now rebuilt
but later on it opened its gates to
Alexander the Great, and after his
death passed under the control Of
the Seleucidae and the Ptoleniies.
About $50 B. c. the Maccabees, a
noble family, maintained the natl
onality of the Jews for a hundred
years, but they were finally cap
tured and destroyed by the Romans. (
In the struggle with Pompey y 900 /.
Jews perished. The most terrible /
bloodshed attended the establish
ment Of Herod the Greats power
in Jerusalem, they having been be-
sieged for six months when they
were taken. Herod then refortihed
it and built several beautiful pal
aces ; one of the towers is still to
be seen near the Joppa gate.
After the death Of Christ Agrippa
enclosed the northern part of the
,ity, this being the only place not
by nature, and he began
o build a wall on such a large scale
hat he was forced to leave it un-
lnished on account of the iealously
# the Roman Emperor. Again the 7
ews tried to throw off the yoke of !
rome, and after a long and terrible :
eige by Titus came the burning of :
be magnificent temple and the :
nal ruin of Jerusalem, A, D. 10, Y
.nce which time ii has been of no =
ractical importance, except as a 3
of rival religions, which :
ill holds to a certain extent down .
} the present time. Hundreds of
ears passed during which Jerusa- le
m had almost passed from history, o
kept that the Jews were at differ j
1T times prohibited from entering a.
lie city. Constantine the Great D.
limited them to the city but later o.
4 they were again excluded, AS g
lristianitY spread Jerusalem began al
, be visited by pilgrims and Per n
an, Byzantine, Saracen, Turks to
Id Crusaders conquered it in turn OF
rough the middle ages, but ever OF
nee the collapse of the christian &C
ngdom of Jerusalem, established al
! the Crusaders under Godfrey de cl
it has remained under the oi
ray of Turkey, The Mohamedans m
lieve in the Old Testament pro- CT
lets and in Christ, and that the lat IN