Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/167

Topography of Jerusalem. 149 by a ravine, which descended into the Tyropceon, forming a high ridge, especially to the south, known in Roman times as Zion, and crowned by the Tower of David ; whilst to the north-west of this secondary ravine was the Acra, or upper city, dominated by Zion, but dominating in turn the Tyropceon valley, along the whole of which it extended. In some texts the name of "lower city" com- prises the area covered by the Acra and the Tyropceon ; a mode of speech not difficult to understand by one who should look from the spot, west of Zion, formerly occupied by the fortress and palace of Herod. A fourth hill, on the north of Jerusalem, called Bezetha, was very late enclosed within the city walls ; an upper branch of the Kedron separated it from the Acra. We have summed up, as briefly as possible, the results yielded by late investigations, and now of general acceptance, without having entered into the fierce discussions waged as to dates, names, configuration, and sites of Jerusalem. Such arguments are, doubt- less, useful to those who wish to follow the history of Jerusalem to the Herodian epoch, when she received her greatest extension. But they would be more than superfluous in our case, since we do not go beyond the Babylonian captivity. On the other hand, it must be confessed that the topographical indications before that epoch are despairingly arid and scanty in the extreme. All we know or rather guess is that under the last kings of Judah, the bulwark ran athwart the Tyropceon to the south, near the pool of Siloam ; whilst to the north, no doubt on a level with the north wall of the temple, it partly surrounded the quarters subsequently called Acra and Zion, connecting them with Moriah. What was the direction of the first enclosure wall it is impossible to say, for its foundations run under the most populous quarters, and are thus lost to view; whilst if disturbed, they would bring about the destruc- tion of the modern city. 1 In default of a proper plan of the city of Solomon or even of Hezekiah, some idea may be formed of the aspect she presented under the last kings, by due regard to her 1 We shall follow the beautiful work of De Vogué, as regards the Haram-esh- Sherif ; except in one important particular, where, repeating Thenius's error, who had made a careful study of all the texts, but had never visited the locality, he places the fortress of the Jebusites upon Zion, instead of Ophel, on the south of Moriah. Le Temple de Jerusalem, Monographie du Haram-esh-Sherif, suivie dun essai sur la Topographie de la Ville-Sainte, M. De Vogué, in folio, 1864, Paris. See also Bas vorexilische Jerusalem, und dessen Tempel dargestellt von Otto Thenius, nebst drei lithographirten Tafeln, in 8°. Leipzig, Weidmann, 1849.