Valley of Hinnom. Potter’s field. Singular properties attributed to its earth. Will not act on the citizens of Rome. Gloomy character of the valley. Job’s well. Pool of Siloam. Fountain of Siloam. Periodical in its flow. Stones and columns belonging probably to the court of the ancient temple. Monuments of Zachariah and Absalom. Tomb of Jehoshaphat. Burial-place of the Jews. Valley of Jehoshaphat. View from the Mount of Olives. Plain of Jordan, and the Dead Sea. Garden of Gethsemane. Tomb of the Virgin. Tradition about her death and ascension.

Another interesting excursion was along the valley of Hinnom or Gehenna, thence up the valley of Kedron, or, as I shall hereafter call it, of Jehoshaphat, (its present name,) to the summit of the Mount of Olives, and to the reputed Garden of Gethsemane.

We left the city by the Jaffa gate, and began immediately to descend into the first of these valleys, which here widens considerably and then terminates. At the distance of about 500 feet from the extremity we came to a causeway, stretching quite across, and supposed to be an ancient embankment for confining waters that were discharged from an aqueduct still to be seen in the rocks above. This aqueduct may be traced for some distance on the western side of the valley where the rocks have in some places been cut with great labor to make way for it; it passes on towards Bethlehem, and I was informed, has its commencement at the Reservoirs of Solomon, about two miles beyond that city. This causeway and aqueduct probably belong to the very few remnants of the ancient Jerusalem now to be seen.

Our road laid near the bottom of the valley, upon the debris of the ancient Jerusalem, consisting of loose earth mingled with pottery; immediately over us, on the left, rose the frowning battlement of the city; on the right at the distance of about 200 feet were the perpendicular cliffs which on that side bounded the valley; they are composed of parallel strata of limestone, and are pierced with numerous sepulchral caves belonging to the times of the Jewish ascendancy. Near the bend of the valley, in a recess among the cliffs, was pointed out the spot supposed to be the Aceldama or field of blood. It belongs now to the Armenians, and if we are to believe numerous strong affirmations, the soil has the property, miraculously bestowed, of destroying the flesh of any body deposited in it in the short space of twenty-four hours. Earth from this place has been transported both to the famous Campo Santo at Pisa in Italy, and to Rome; and in both is said to retain its miraculous properties, with the single exception, that in the latter city, though it acts on the corpses of strangers, instead of eating, it indignantly thrusts out from it the bodies of the citizens themselves. For this distinction the Romans have to thank themselves. The earth was sent to them in 270 ships by Helena (or St. Helena according to the Roman calendar), who expected that it would be joyfully received. On its arrival, the strangers then in the city joyfully proffered their services in assisting to unload it, but the citizens took the liberty of declining, saying that they had already sacred earth enough, since the whole of their soil had been consecrated by the blood of the numerous martyrs who had suffered there. “For which act of contempt it is permitted of heaven, that if the body of any Roman is interred in the Campo Santo of Rome, the earth thrusts it out, foeted and deformed, but operates on that of a stranger as has just been related. There are many books which treat on this subject; and when I was myself in Rome, I inquired with great diligence into it, so as to inform myself about the matter; and all affirmed it to be the fact.”[58]

This valley, which had presented a somewhat cheerful aspect at its upper extremity, became more sombre as we advanced; and our path, winding at last among large fragments of stones, was tiresome enough. We had lost sight of the city walls; the hill on our left was solitary and deserted, and around us were the ruins of habitations that had once covered it; the vegetation that had carpeted the bottom of the valley higher up had now ceased, and on our right were the rude large cliffs of the opposite precipice. The scene was adapted to recall to our minds the ancient times when parents here caused their children to pass through the fire to Molech; it was a place well suited to such abominations. The valley is about a mile and a quarter in length; and, wearied with its rudeness and dreary solitude, we were glad when we emerged at last into the more open valley of Jehoshaphat, and found ourselves in a wide space, and by a well of cool delicious water. It is called Job’s well, from a tradition that Job, when recovering from his diseases, came and facilitated his cure by washing here.

The valleys both of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat were quite dry at the time of our visit, but the numerous rounded pebbles in the bottom, particularly of the latter, gave evidence of rapid torrents in the rainy season.

Following up the latter valley on the western side, we came, at the distance of about 1200 feet from Job’s well, to the outlet of the valley of Siloam, and our road was here crossed by the first stream of water that we had seen any where in or about Jerusalem; it is a mere streamlet however, a few drops oozing among the clods, and these soon lost in the thirsty soil. They come from the Pool of Siloam, which was a hundred yards on our left, and presents a chamber once apparently arched, and walled on either side, but open at the lower end, while from the upper part of the other extremity, a small stream drops in a light cascade, and forms a pool below, still much resorted to for water and for washing. Whether it presents the same appearance as in ancient times it is impossible to say; but there can be no doubt that the site is exactly that[59] of the pool to which the man blind from his birth was sent to wash, and whence he returned with his sight restored. There is great satisfaction in being able to identify a spot so highly interesting, and connected with such tender associations as this.

About 150 yards further on, as we were passing along the steep descent to the valley of Jehoshaphat, an opening in the rock suddenly presented itself on our left, and we found here the Fountain of Siloam—the spot from which the Pool is said to draw, by a subterranean channel, its supply of water. It is called the Virgin’s Fountain, from a tradition that she used to resort to it frequently, and its waters are still used for diseases of the eye. It may, perhaps, have some medicinal qualities; for it is brackish, and not very pleasant to the taste. The fountain is subterranean, and is reached by a descent of thirty steps cut in the solid rock. At my first visit the water was gushing out at the bottom of this in a full stream as clear as crystal, and in this land of drought was really an attractive object. At my second visit, I could scarcely recognize it to be the same. The flow had ceased, and it was a stagnant pool; which a lad, filling some jars on a donkey alone, had defiled with sediment so as to give it a yellow muddy color. Its flow is periodical, and my visits must have been at times when the phenomenon is most striking in its operation. The waters of the Pool of Siloam have always been represented as sweet and pleasant, and those of this fountain are brackish. Can the former be supplied from this? It appeared to me also that the latter is lower than the Pool of Siloam; but my time did not allow me to settle the question. The water is conducted off from it by a subterranean channel deeply sunk in the hill.

Not far from this fountain is the south-eastern angle of the present city; and the wall here, projecting a little into the valley, is on this account about twice the usual height. Even at a distance our attention is attracted by some remarkable stones at this corner; and an examination satisfied me that they belonged to the ancient Jerusalem. I have frequently been asked, since my return, whether I could see any remains whatever of the ancient temple. These stones probably did not belong to the temple itself, but there is little doubt in my mind that they were a part either of its cloisters, or of the huge wall that supported its courts. They are just at the foot of Mount Moriah, and are in all respects quite different from the stones that form the remainder of the present city wall. The latter are of irregular shape and of no great dimensions, such as are to be seen in any common wall. These are all rectangular, with a remarkably fine joint, and are sometimes of very great size; I noticed some, the length of which would measure twenty-one feet; and they were all of considerable dimensions. Though the stones are of the common compact limestone found northward of the city, the joints are so closely fitted as to be perceptible only on a close inspection. On the outer surface of each stone, is a pannel, raised one fourth of an inch, and approaching to within two inches of the joint; there is an edifice at Baalbec, supposed to belong to the time of Solomon, the stones of which are all ornamented with a panelling similar to this; the castle or citadel of Damascus is also in the same peculiar style of architecture. Josephus, when speaking of the wall that supported the court of the temple, seems to refer to something like this when he tells us that, although the stones were neatly fitted together, yet “the vastness of the stones in the front was plainly visible on the outside.”[60]

Built into the wall, at different elevations, from this angle on to the Golden gate, are also a great many columns, that appear to have belonged in ancient times to some splendid edifice. They are in a horizontal position; their extremities, which alone are visible, projecting two or three inches beyond the face of the wall. Some of them are of verd-antique of remarkable beauty, some are of a common kind of cipoline, and others are of a very handsome rose-colored marble. Their position, directly under the site of the ancient temple, and their beauty, lead me to think that they belonged once to the courts of that splendid edifice.

In front of us, on the opposite side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, were now two remarkable objects, and descending, we crossed a bridge which here spanned the dry channel of Kedron, in order to examine them. They are two square monuments, lying about thirty feet above the bottom of the valley, and seem to be partly imbedded in the side of the Mount of Olives. In fact they are cut out of that mountain, being composed each of the solid undetached rock, but isolated from the hill by a channel ten or twelve feet wide, cut at the back and sides. They are called the monuments of Zachariah and Absalom.

The first of these is ornamented on each face with four semi-columns of the Ionic order, and a pilaster at each angle, crowned by an entablature, making, with the columns, an elevation of about twenty feet; all of this is one solid piece of rock. The whole is surmounted by a flat pyramid of masonry, the sides of which are smooth, and come down to the edges of the cubical mass. We can discover no opening of any kind in this monument, though there is doubtless a cavity beneath the pyramid.

The monument of Absalom stands about one hundred feet north of this, and is nearly of the same dimensions; the columns in this, however, are of the Doric order, and with an entablature to correspond. These are also cut in the same mass of rock, but are surmounted by a square block of masonry edged with mouldings; this again by a circular mass similarly enriched, and this by a sharp pointed dome, which, finally, is crowned by a stone ornament resembling a flame of fire. In the hinder side of this monument is an opening about ten feet from the ground, giving access to a chamber in it, which is now nearly filled up with pebbles. Both Mahomedans and Christians, as they pass along, throw a pebble at the monument, to show their detestation of the unfilial conduct of him whose name it bears. The authority for calling it after Absalom is in 2 Samuel xviii. 18. “Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s-dale, ‘for,’ he said, ‘I have no son to keep my name in remembrance;’ and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called unto this day Absalom’s Place.”

It has been conjectured that the columns and other exterior ornaments are of more recent date than the rest of the work; but the parts all correspond so well, and harmonize also so well with the shape and proportions of the main body of the rock, that I can see no room for such an opinion.

Between the two monuments is a cave, called the Tomb of Jehoshaphat, on what authority it would be difficult to say; it consists of three chambers, one of which borders on the front of the precipitous rock in which they are situated, and is there adorned with two Doric columns, placed so as to support the roof. Back of the tomb of Absalom the face of the rock is also ornamented with scrolls and other sculptures, in bas-relief, covering, apparently, the entrance to a tomb cut in the mountain.

Turning here into a footpath that by zigzag lines begins to ascend the Mount of Olives, we found ourselves soon in a scene of pathetic interest. Yearning ever after the holy land of his forefathers, the Jew, as life begins to wear out, often collects together his earnings, and rouses up his sinking strength to carry him hither, that he may die in Jerusalem, and have his bones laid beneath the mountain of the ancient temple. They are not permitted to set foot within the enclosure of Mount Moriah, but in pleasant weather they may be seen just without the outer wall, seated on the ground, and reading in their devotional books; and even for this privilege they have to pay the Turkish governor. Sad and humbled people! They come hither from the ends of the earth, and, excluded from the Holy Mountain, sit down in the dust without its walls to mourn over their desolations, and, cry, “Lord, how long, how long?” And the mark that is set upon them follows them, even in death. The Moslems occupy the slope down into the valley of Jehoshaphat for their own burying-place; and the Jews, desirous of having the shadows of Moriah fall upon their graves, have to take the opposite side of the valley along the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The ground there is whitened with the humble slabs that cover their graves.

“And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other; and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of the foot have rest.” The sleep of death! The graves of such a people here by the relics of the ancient city, are a touching spectacle!

The valley of Jehoshaphat, which takes its name from the monument we have just been noticing, is about two miles in length. It is the belief, both of Mahomedans and of the eastern Christians, that the Last Judgment will be held in this place. The authority given by the latter is in Joel iii. 2 and 12. “I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat,” &c.—“Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.”

I have already, I believe, mentioned that the Mount of Olives is about a mile in length, and about seven hundred feet in height. To a spectator on the west, it has a gently waving outline, and appears to have three summits of nearly equal height. On the top of the centre one is a Christian church, erected over the spot where, they inform us, our Saviour ascended into heaven; and, in confirmation of the fact, point to a stone with the impression of the left foot, made, as they say, as he was about leaving the earth; that of the right foot has been carried away by the Turks. On Ascension day they come up in great crowds, and have service here. The chapel had been shaken down by the recent earthquake, and the floor was covered by rubbish, so that we did not see the stone, nor did we care about it. In Luke xxiv. 50,[61] it is very clearly stated that the ascension occurred near Bethany, which is on the eastern side of the mountain, more than a mile from this. The Turks have a similar tradition with regard to Mahomet in connexion with this spot, and close to the Christian chapel have a mosque, also nearly laid in ruins by the earthquake.

From this central height a ridge stretches off towards the east for a distance of three fourths of a mile, when it terminates by a bold descent. We were conducted to the end of it in order to enjoy the view eastward, which is very extensive. The plain of Jordan, the mountain beyond, the Dead Sea, and the dark and singular chain of mountains on the east of it, were in full view, as well as all the country intermediate between them and us. Some of us thought that they could see the waters of the Jordan; but although this was uncertain, we could easily trace the course of the river through the plain by the verdure; and where this failed, by the broken nature of the ground. Beyond it towered the lofty mountains of Moab, rising peak above peak in great majesty, including among them Mount Nebo; and as I stood gazing upon them, I took pleasure in repeating the hymn which I had often sung among friends in my own father-land,

“There is a land of pure delight.”

It had a been part of our design to visit the Jordan and the Dead Sea; but the country was then filled with bands of people driven from their homes by the incursion of Ibrahim Pasha, and in a high state of excitement, as well from disaffection to the government as from their sufferings in consequence of the war; and when we proposed this journey, the men who owned our horses refused absolutely to let them go. The Governor of Jerusalem said that a guard of 300 men would be necessary, and offered to furnish us with such an escort, if the Commodore desired it; but this polite offer was of course declined. So we made the most of our mountain view, which was a very extensive one. The atmosphere in these lands of scanty exhalations is so clear that the Dead Sea and the Jordan appeared to be close to us, and we wondered that the journey to them should be esteemed so toilsome. But glancing at the country between us and them, we saw hill succeeding hill, till the detail swelled out into a distance of at least thirty miles. The country below us was a scene of complete and utter desolation; the hills were bare and red, and cut into deep ravines, and in the whole stretch between us and the Dead Sea, scarcely a spot of verdure could be seen. The mountains east of that lake of death have a very unique aspect, rising to a great height, and presenting an outline as smooth and even as if they were an artificial wall.

It was a relief to turn from this dreary prospect to the fertile and verdant mountain on which we were then standing. And as we returned, and, gaining the summit towards Jerusalem, looked down over its graceful slopes, and at the city, all displayed before us, no one could wonder that the Saviour often sought the Mount of Olives for meditation; and that the view around, then so varied, so rich, so beautiful, and soon to be changed by a fearful war into utter desolation, should incite to prayer.

The sun was now beginning to approach the western horizon. We descended by a steep zigzag path leading directly down towards the gate of St. Stephen; and near the foot of the mountain, now immersed in the broad shades of the city, came to a spot, that, as soon as it was named, excited a universal and powerful interest. It was the Garden of Gethsemane. It lies near the foot of the mountain, at an angle formed by the branching of the lower road to Bethany and that to Jericho, by which we had just been descending; and is marked by eight olive trees, that look as if they may have stood almost as many centuries. The Latins, to whom they belong, say, indeed, that they were here in the time of our Saviour, and would punish with excommunication any person of their order who should venture to break a limb or otherwise injure them. They allow pilgrims to peel off any loose pieces of bark that they may find on the huge trunks; which accordingly are kept white and raw looking by the frequency of such visits. They are very large; and as the olive tree is of very slow growth, there may be some truth in the declaration, that the Turks, on regaining the city from the Crusaders, having imposed a yearly tax of ten cents on every olive tree then standing, and half as much on any that should be planted, the records of the monastery show that the former sum was then paid for these trees; but as to the statement that would carry their age to the early times of Christianity, we cannot believe it; for if the olive tree itself were ascertained to last so long, we know that Titus had all the trees within several leagues cut down[62] for the construction of banks and instruments of assault.

As to the query whether this is the Garden of Gethsemane, I do not see that we have any reason for deciding in one way or the other, the notice of its location in the Scriptures (and I believe we have no others) being so very slight. The ground here slopes off more gently than in most other places, and is favorable for a garden; but it is quite near the foot of the mountain, and I think the expression (Luke xiv. 26.) “they went out into the Mount of Olives,” would have led me to look for it higher up; and it seems probable, also, that a spot more retired than one so immediately adjoining the thronged city would have been selected on such an occasion. But these objections are not entitled to much weight, and I feel loth to disturb the belief in a spot of such tender interest. I broke off a few of the branches, and gathered up some of the earth, which I have brought home with me.

Although few of these places can be identified, and all have changed, it was still a high gratification to know that we were among scenes often blessed by the presence of our Saviour and Lord; that here, in this region, he had healed the sick, making joy spring up in bosoms where it had been long a stranger; here had given sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and had taught his pure and benevolent doctrines; and that from the scenery around us, and now in our sight, had drawn elucidations and found the subjects for his parables.

About twenty paces northward from this, is a cave twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter, to which we descend, by eleven steps; and here they say our Lord retired for prayer on this occasion; and they show also the spot where the three disciples reclined and slept.

Proceeding again to the northward, we come, at the distance of thirty yards, to a large subterranean chamber called the Tomb of the Virgin. It was lighted up for us; and having descended by a noble flight of steps, fifty in number, and twenty feet wide, cut in the solid rock, we found ourselves in a lofty apartment, branching off into small chambers on the right and left. The latter chamber is used as a chapel by the Copts, while in the other is the reputed Tomb of the Virgin, together with an altar. On either side of the flight of steps, about half way down, is also a recess, containing the reputed tombs of her parents, Joachim and Anna, and of Joseph the husband of Mary. This region is fruitful in traditions connected with the virgin and the apostles; but I pass them by, with the exception of one that is so full of poetry that I trust I shall be pardoned for noticing it.

The Virgin being sick, and now at the point of death, prayed her Son that the apostles might all be permitted to be present at her departure; and they were accordingly transported in a moment from all parts of the world, whither they had travelled preaching the gospel; and found themselves together by her bedside at Jerusalem; all except Thomas, who by a particular judgment was left behind.

She died, and was buried by the apostles in this spacious tomb, which they left not for three days and nights; during all which time sweet music from unseen angelic harps was floating amid the vaults and through the air above. At the end of this time, Thomas was placed among them, and was disconsolate when he found he had been denied the privilege of witnessing her death. He begged, however, that as he had not been allowed to see her while yet alive, he might be permitted to look at the corpse; they complied, and the tomb was opened for him; but the body was gone, nothing remaining but the grave clothes and winding sheet. At the same time the music of the angels ceased, by which they knew that the body was ascending to heaven. Thomas, with tears, gazed upward, and caught a glimpse of the ascending form; and to comfort him she dropped for him a girdle of marvellous beauty, which fell upon a rock adjoining the tomb; “which rock,” says the book, “is held in the greatest veneration by all persons, and has granted for it indulgences, like those of the other sacred places of Jerusalem.”[63]

Maundrell says of this stone, that there is “a winding channel upon it, which they will have to be the impression of the girdle when it fell, and to be left for the conviction of all such as shall suspect the truth of their story.”