Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/177

Materials used in the Wall of the Enclosure. 159 of these blocks of buildings. As a preliminary we will pass in review the various schemes for dressing the materials used ; and essay to define and apportion to each its date. § 3. — Architectural Forms and Materials used in the Wall of Enclosure. With the mosques of El-Aksa and Es-Sakhra, rising within the area of the haram, we have nothing to do ; neither are we con- cerned with the small shrines dotted about the plateau, of no special merit beyond that attached to them by the various com- munities, Christian or Moslem, to which they belong; and which can boast of no ancient remains (Fig. no). 1 The temple of Herod was replaced successively by a Roman temple, a basilica, and a mosque ; but if stones of the old sanctuary were used in building these new edifices, their primitive character was effaced by recutting tofit them to their new destination. The policy that had caused the sanctuary to be swept away was not directed against the walls ; for they were the embodiment of no religious or national idea, and " souls " were not supposed to reside in them. Hence when they fell to the enemy, they were found too valuable as means of defence to be destroyed ; on the contrary, the gaps made by the battering-ram were promptly filled in, and great care was taken in repairing them. Unfortunately this was done in the style of architecture of the day, without heed as to the aspect the work would have when finished, or whether it would harmonize with the older sections. If stones bearing the chisel mark of Solomon's workmen still exist, the best chance for finding them is to seek them in the lower courses of these walls. We say chisel or quarry marks, because it is pretty generally consented, that like the Phoenicians, the Israelites have left very few inscrip- tions ; and that until contact with the Greeks had induced them to imitate their example, their epigraphy was meagre in the ex- treme. Almost the only well-known Hebraic inscription of ancient date is about 150 years later than the Moabite Stone. It goes by the name of Hezekiah, in whose reign it was very likely written to 1 Numbers in the plan correspond to the following structures : 1. Kubbet-es- Sakhra ; 2. El-Aksa ; 3. Birket-Israil ; 4. Golden Gate ; 5. Single Gate ; 6. Triple Gate; 7. Double Gate ; 8. Robinson's Arch; 9. Prophet's Gate; 10. Wilson's Arch; 11. Chain Gate; 12. Bath Gate; 13. Iron Gate; 14. Inspector's Gate; 15. Solomon's Stables ; 16. Kubbet-es-Silsileh.