Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/193

Materials used in the Wall of the Enclosure. '75 at the extremity of the first course, forms the sill of the doorway, with mouldings of decidedly Graeco- Roman character. The wall seems to have had but one opening over the Kedron valley, on the site occupied by the doorway which, since the Middle Ages, has been known as " Golden Gate ; " from a mispronunciation of the word ojpaia, "beautiful," applied to this portal, where St. Peter is supposed to have worked his first miracle. Beyond it, in a space cleared for the purpose, stood the small church of Justinian, whose capitals, De Saulcy, with strange perversity dates from Solomon. We now propose to review the sub- structures, which in places become great chambers, and which on the north-east support part of the area of the haram. 1 Those popularly called Solomon's Stables, are known to all travellers who visit Jerusalem. Here De Vogué failed to discover ought ancient, save some blocks that had been used in modern masonry. But Sir C. Warren was more successful. Under the Single Gate he penetrated into one of the passages that ran along the substructures of the temple and led outside. The passage, one metre broad by four to six metres high, was built of monumental stones with sunken face, beautifully wrought all over. 2 A second passage, identical with the first, was uncovered at the north-east angle. 3 The existence of these subterraneous structures is attested by old writers, 4 notably Josephus, who states that when the city fell to Titus, hundreds of the besieged found shelter in them for weeks, and even months, until driven by famine they would appear, like ghosts, among the Roman soldiers encamped upon the hill. But in the siege which lasted from April to September, when the least 1 De Vogué, Le Temple, Plate XII. 3 Recovery, pp. 132,134. 3 Ibid., pp. 163, 194. 4 Josephus, Bell.Jud., VI., vii. 3 ; viii. 4 ; ix. 1 1. The solidity and extent of these subterraneous galleries struck the Romans with wonder ; and are noticed in the following words by Tacitus : " Templum in modum arcis, fons perennis aqua?, cavati sub terrae montes et piscinae cisternœque servandis imbribus." These words are in reality applied to the whole city of Jerusalem. Fig. 122.— Plan of Double Gate. De Vogué, p. 8.