Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894/Notes of Changes in Jerusalem Buildings, &c.
III.—Notes of Changes in Jerusalem Buildings, &c.
1. A minaret of the "Haram Esh Sherif," the one standing on the western wall and near the Mahkama and Bab es Silsileh, was hitherto surmounted by a spire made of wood and covered with lead. On its middle stood an upright strong beam, on which the rest was fixed, and this beam having become rotten had to be replaced by a new one, or some other top to be made to the minaret. The spire was entirely removed, and a dome-shaped stone top put on. The appearance from some distance is rather different now from what it was before, and one feels as if something were missing. Existing photographs have now to be altered in order to give a correct view.
2. In the street El Wad south of the Austrian Hospice, where there are shown the houses of the rich man and Lazarus (according to tradition), there were on its eastern side and close to the lane Daraj es Sarai, some inferior and partly-ruined houses, which were sold by the proprietors to some Jews, who pulled them down and built up a grand new building three storeys high, giving this quarter also a new and much better appearance. No diggings of any importance were made, but the new buildings were erected on old foundations, so that in regard of antiquity nothing of interest appeared. In order not to be obliged to put the new wall backwards to widen the street, they left the old walls, of about the height of a man, so no signs or proofs appeared (as I hoped) that the second wall ran through here, which I believe was the case, and hence the crooked line of the lane. If I had known the state of things at the proper time, I would have tried to obtain permission to make a shaft. Since it has become the custom to use iron beams or rafters for covering rooms, there is no need of such strong walls and foundations as when every room was vaulted with stones. The Jew used at the said house such iron beams, to avoid digging.
3. On the opposite side, or western slope of the valley (el Wad) in the Tarîk or Sarai al Kadîm, generally called Via dolorosa, on its southern side, and about the middle of its length, is situated (according to tradition) the House of Veronica. A few years ago it came into possession of the Franciscan brethren, who are since working there, breaking down unsound and Mohammedan masonry and replacing it with new, in a better style and durable, and so giving the building some dignity. Nothing of special interest was found, and as the place is on a slope, stairs take away a good deal of the narrow space. I have visited the place several times in the hope that I might see something of interest; especially as the back of this house leans against the hill, or, rather, the scarp with the second wall, but nothing was moved there.
4. The Rev. J. E. Hanauer thinks he has found one more of the Crusading Churches opposite the Austrian Hospice on the west, the lower part of which was once, for a time, the magazine of the Palestine Exploration Fund. I knew the place for a long time, and never considered it to have been a church, but when the Rev. J. E. Hanauer spoke about it to me I went there and examined the remains, which proved to be Mohammedan, and the building to have been once a small mosque. The place has been somewhat cleared, and people are living there now.
5. I recently examined the barracks at the north-west corner of the Haram Esh Sherif, in order to find some remains of Antonia; although I have not found what I expected, yet it is an interesting place, and I am now about to draw plans, and to make some remarks and necessary explanations.