while on the north there is no material difference between the general level of the country outside the walls and that of the highest parts of the city, on the other three sides, so steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the promontory, at whose foot they run, as to leave on the beholder the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress, rather than of valleys formed by nature.
The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine—called the Tyropœon Valley, running up it from south to north, rising gradually from the south like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west—the Upper City of the Jews, the Mount Zion of modern tradition—is the higher and more massive; that on the east—Mount Moriah—is at once considerably lower and smaller, so that, to a spectator from the south, the city appears to slope sharply towards the east. The central valley, at about half-way up its length, threw out a companion valley on its left or west side, which made its way up to the general level of the ground at the present Jaffa Gate.
One more valley must be noted. It was on the north of Moriah, and separated it from a hill on which, in the time of Josephus, stood a suburb or part of the city called Bezetha, or the New-town. Part of this depression is still preserved in the large reservoir with two arches, usually called the Pool of Bethesda, near the St Stephen's Gate.
All round the city are higher hills: on the east the Mount of Olives; on the south the Hill of Evil Counsel, rising directly from the Vale of Hinnom; on the west the ground rises gently to the borders of the great wady; while on the north, a bend of the ridge connected with the Mount of Olives bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a mile. Towards the south-west the view is
