The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-12-11
JERUSALEM TAKEN
AFTER Centuries
Holy City With All Of Its Relics
and Historic Interest Res !
cued From Moslems i
tConcluded Prom Page u

the plain Of Jericho. Even today, with
proper irrigation, some districts Of the
Holy Land could offer to the Syrian
sun as splendid fields of grain as ever
fringed the Nile with green. and gold.
f falsS 81 p sSS SsSa Z. % rnin TER
Approach Always Impressive
The view Of Jerusalem as one APP
proaches II from Jaffa. is not so broad
and comprehensive as from other points,
but the. first glimpse of its historic
walls from any point can never be for
gotten. No spot on earth appeals so
powerfully 10 both the intellect and
sthe emotions. No equal portion Of the
4 globe has been the theater Of events
which have so influenced the history of
mankind II Is the city of Abraham,
Of David, of Solomon, and Of Jesus !;
the city. too. Of Titus and of Tancred.
John l.. Stoddnrd, in his lecture on
Jerusalem, says he could understand
the feelings of the old crusaders when
they first saw this City of the Cross,
and amid solemn prayers, exultant
shouts and sacred song. each sank
trembling in the dust, and mailed war.
riors from distant lands clasped hands
and wept for Joy. The warriors Of to-
day are from many nations, too, in
the now crusade to save the Sacred
City from the misrule of the Turk and
the kaiser. 49,
Old City Fortified 49, I'd,
"The first thing we accomplished on
the morning after our arrival in the
Holy City,, says Stoddard, "was to
make the circuit of Jerusalem outside
its belt of stone. It Is a short exeur.
sion for the area of the Holy City is
small The wall enclosing it is only
two-aDd-a-half miles long, and one can
easily walk around the city in an hour.
Even in ancient times, although reliev.
ed by suburbs, Jerusalem must have
been exceedingly compact. Small though
il be, however, line Of Notifications
has environed it from earliest times.
History and poetry alike refer to this
"Nor does it seems strange to find the
Holy City fortified. It's. situation ma
turally makes of it a fortress. for il is
altitude of 2600 feet above the sea- Had
it possessed valley on fourth side,
Jerusalem would have been impregna.
bile to ancient modes of warfare.
Walls Now Useless
tThe present walls, which were built
by Sultan Suleiman in l542, are worth
less now. Yet from a distance Jeru.
salem presents an appearance of for.
tress, for the old battlements are near
lyt forty feet high. .....
The handsomest Of the portals which
pierce the walls is the Damascus Gate,
built by a Mohammedan caliph about
three hundred years ago, but excava.
tons prove that it's foundations are of
great antiquity. The CITY of Sieges ;
would be an appropriate title for Jeru
sHlem for il has sustained more terri.
BILE and destructive sieges than any city
on earth.
"The most renowned and sacred
erect within the Holy City is the Via
Observation-Disclosures by many.t to be the
route along which the Saviour bore his
Cross to Calvary. , -.
Mosque Where Temple Stood
However, concerning one portion of
Jerusalem tradition is beyond question
trustworthy. It is the area now oc,
cupied by the Mosque of Omar Certain
localities in this world have been re-
served from earliest times for Worship
This hill is one of them. 1t antcdatrS
by centuries the age of Solomon. In
the splendid temple built by S0lomO u
on this site, the solemn ritual of the
Jews went on for centuries; and final.
ly. for more than Thousand years the
hill has been n place of worship for the
followers of Mohammed.
Eight handsome gateways open into
its sacred courtyard. Until recently,
no Christian, with rare exceptions, was
permitted to set foot within this hal
lowed area.
"The principal building in this great
enclosure is the Dome of the Rock
popularity known as the Mosque of
Omar. 1t is beautiful and graceful
embellishing and Identifying
the entire city. The mosque is the
form of a richly decorated octagon
The lower half Of the walls is richly
covered with marble, the upper portion
an exPanse Of porcelain tiles.
Rock In Chamber
1.-The antechamber Is a graceful pa
YiliOn, and hears the name of David 5
Judgment Hall, We gradually under
stood the peculiar construction of the
edifice as we made our way along the
serpentine corridor Iu the center, just
beneath the mighty dome is-what! A
precious shrine BY no means. A bare,
rough rock, ifty-six feet in length and
forty in breadth without a particle Of
decoration on it's surface, This rock
is the natural summit of the hill called
Mount Moriah-a real and tangible
relic of the great Jerusalem. 1t was
revered when Abraham and David knelt
on it in prayer, when the Ark of the
Covenant rested ON its summit, and
when the Son Of Man drove from His
Fathers house, which then surmounted
it, those who had made the place n den
of thieves. There seems to be little
doubt that when the Jews erected here
their wonderful temple, they chose this
rock as the foundation of its sacred
altar. Beneath 1t are enormous rock
hewn cisterns from forty to sixty feet
deep which served as reservoirs Of
water. Accordingly, few objects III
this world are deemed so sacred =. this
rock,
Church Of Holy sepulobr'
As the Dome of n... aock is the
building which Moslems deem most ga
crGd in Jerusalem, 80 the one most