Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/351

Domestic Architecture. 321 universal benefactor. It may not have been a boastful spirit, therefore, which caused Mesa to record among other works, the wells and aqueducts with which he had enriched Kharah, his chief town. 1 The first rock-cut canals and cisterns on Moriah are doubtless contemporary with the temple and the palace; but they have been so often repaired or enlarged, that it is extremely difficult to separate pre-exillic from post-exillic constructions. All we can say is that the system of galleries connected with the spring of Gihon (the Virgin's Fountain) dates from the kings of Judah (Fig. 216). Of all the springs supposed to under- lie Jerusalem, this is the only one which, though much below the present bed of Kedron, necessitat- ing steps to reach the water, is seen above ground. When the Jebusites occupied the hill, the outflow of the spring ran at the bottom of the ravine, then much lower than it is now. The open canal cut in the side of the cliff to collect the surplus water and prevent its being lost in the sand and gravel, dates from that time (Fig. 216). 2 Under David or his immediate successors, a whole system of galleries and shafts supplied the inhabitants with plenty of water, which they could procure at any time, sheltered behind the overhanging rock and wall of Ophel, from the missiles of the enemy, who might be encamped in the Kedron Valley (C, D, Figs. 216 and 217). A semi-circular reservoir, with a conduit to carry water from the fountain to the shaft or ancient draw-well of Mount Ophel, which was reached by a few steps cut, as the tanks, canals, and the like, in the solid rock, were uncovered by the English explorers, even 1 The inscription referred to was translated by the late Professor VV. Wrigh , in Dr. Ginsburg's work, entitled The Moabite Stone. — Translator. 2 See Birch's Paper entitled " The Waters of Shiloh that go softly " (Quarterly Statements, p. 75, 1884). 2 Samuel y . 8. VOL. 1. Y Fig. 215.— Pool of Beersheba. Lortet, La Syrie.