Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-04-15

Christian and Mohamlnedan alike. is
y now to be besiegcd for the seventh time
IN history. The British invaders, making
their way up from Sucz, have taken the
shortcut almost due north, instead Of TAX
ing the roundabout path followed by the an
clen' Hebrews, when they came out OF
Egypt under the leadership of Moses. and
are drawing their lines around Jerusalem
itself.
There is no especial strategic Importance
IN the capture Of this city, which controls
no rich territory, and docs not open the
way to any great country but from SEN
tlmental point Of view the capture of the
Holy City is Of great Importance There is
hardly any spot on earth which has cost
more human blood in the course of he last
two thousand years than this city, unmport-
ant III commerce, unimportant in wealth, i'm
portant only in sentiment and from re.
ligious point of view
Every Bible student knows that KING
David was forbidden to build the Temple at
JerusaIc lem. because his hands were filled
with blood but not so many remember
that this same David had selected the site
Tor the Temple when. according to the com
mand Of the Prophet Cad he was told to
erect an altar TO God Of the Hebrews upon
the thrcshing- floor Of Araunah" in Jeru-
salem, and that he purchased The great rock
which Araunah had used as threshing-
foor, paying the sum Of fifty shekels of sill:
vcr for it, according to 2 Samuel, Chapter
XIV.
This enormous natural rock was after
wards covered by the ma gnihcent Temple of
Solomon and now is shown beneath the
dome of the FL Aksa Mosque also called
the Dome Of the Rock because of this
sacred stone.
The Mohammedans call it 'The navel Of
the earth, " considering it the centre of OF r
planet, second only to the great stone of the
Caaba at Mecca
Long before there was any thought Of
Mohammcdanisn, Jerusalem was a great
city; even before tile Hebrews came into the
Promised Land is seems to have been An i'm
portant centre, probably being capital of
the Amorites. In the famous Te-Amarna
tablets, those cuneiform bricks which have
much of royal correspondence Of the Six
teenth Century B. c., are letters exchanged
between great king Of the Amorites living
in Uru-Salimu (Jerusalem) and Amenophis
III. of Egypt. Later letters in this collec-
tion, between the kings of Egypt and Baby
lon, refer to disturbances in Palestine and
speak of attacks upon Jerusalem by tribes
of the 'Abiri or IIabiri which some schol-
ars believe refer TO the invasion of the
country by the Hebrews under the leader
ship of Joshua
David conquered the hilltop of Zion from
the Jebusites, and thereafter Jerusalem was
known as "The City of David, - for he made
it great city. Solomon, his son and sue
cessor, was the builder of the Temple, which
he erected on the ridge east Of the city,
where the threshing- floor Of Araunah had
been consecrated by the altar erected by
David. This rock was called by the Hebrews
the Sakhrah, and is held to be the "Founda-
ton of the World" by the Moslems, and
they also believe that it is Crock of
Paradise, suspended over the abyss where
souls dwell until the Judgment
When the northern kingdom of Israel was
formed, Jerusalem still remained the Cap
ital OF the southern kingdom of Judah. The
city had been attacked by the Assyrians.